Hello and welcome to Invertecast at long last.
We took kind of a break, but that's okay.
I am Tarantula.
I'm Leah, of course, from Tarantula.
And today I'm not wearing a hat, so that's kind of interesting.
We'll see how that goes.
And with me as always is Simon from the Mantis Garden.
Hello, Simon.
Hello, Mantis today.
Well, today is...
Oh, no, what's up?
Oh, okay.
All right, all right.
Yeah, so today we're going to be talking about shows and expos.
This is actually a really great topic because this is the place where a lot of people get
their inverts and the pets that they collect and whatnot.
If you don't want to shop locally or sometimes if local stores just don't have the selection
that you'd like, invert shows or here in the States we have the exotic reptile and invert
shows.
And yeah, it's a great place to find rare animals that you can't find really anywhere
else and rare, just rare gems that are awesome.
Plus it's also another great place to connect with your local community of other keepers.
You're lagging.
Cockroach Island.
Okay.
Yeah, this one is completely unplanned.
We're both doing this one because obviously it's about shows so there's no facts.
It's about opinions and about experience.
So there's no facts to actually tell anybody about particular things.
As they just said, the connectivity within the shows is a great thing within the hobby.
It's easier over here in the States because it's a small country.
So therefore we have a lot of Facebook groups where there have been young everybody.
There's a lot of YouTube streamers like Scott Sinner, people I know and Dave's little beasties,
etc.
Guys will turn up at the shows.
So I'm not self, of course.
And we turn up at the shows and we do stuff and most of us bend and whatnot.
So it is more about experience but the great part about that I enjoy more than anything
is meeting the people that you've been talking to who are asked however much on your keyboard
instead of just doing that, you're actually talking to somebody and having a proper conversation
which is very nice to do.
I find that fantastic.
Yeah, it's that community.
It just brings people together in the show.
Every show that I go to I run into people that I know and have been asking me things
or been talking to me.
Sometimes I get recognized for Inverticast and my YouTube channel Torrentia.
So every now and then I feel like a celebrity but for the most part it's really great to
just connect with people and to talk.
You get a feel for what the hobby is doing, where it's at, what's happening, if there's
new species that was just discovered, when they plan on introducing them into the hobby
and that kind of thing.
So there's a lot of really great reasons to go to an expo for sure.
I have nothing else.
It's a great day out.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
It's always fun.
You can go somewhere else but you have a fun day out.
I mean you don't even have to spend money.
You can just walk down the store, look at all the weird stuff that people have got.
If you're not even into the hobby and you don't have stuff yourself.
You can still spend it.
A lot of people like looking at things like when I go I will look at all the tarantulas.
There are people with rows and rows of tarantulas in boxes with clear tops and I can't stand
looking at bloody things but I do like the tarantulas.
They fascinate me still and to look at them.
Absolutely I agree with you on this.
I just want to ask for the other and it's a lot of fun too if you're not a keeper on
top of that.
So we'll talk a little bit about that.
Oh but I don't keep reptiles and I don't keep inverts.
Can I go to the show?
Of course, everybody would be welcome at the show and I think anybody who doesn't keep
these animals it's a great experience to go and actually just see them up close, learn
a little bit about them, talk to the people who keep them, that kind of thing.
For me, my very, very first show ever I ended up going home with obviously a pink toe tarantula
and I learned so much.
Every show that I go to I learn a lot.
So I learned new things about boa constructors and the seriopagos species of tarantulas that
come from like porno and Indonesia and Thailand.
So I feel like that's another really great experience about shows and expos.
So I guess that answers kind of one of the questions, what to expect?
Expect to learn, expect to have an open mind, come with an open mind, come with a feeling
of I just want to see something, I want to learn about nature and our environment because
yeah, I mean that's a great place to do it for sure because you're not just talking to
vendors, you're also talking to keepers and so yeah, it's wonderful.
So I got a fruit plant, it's landing on my ear, it's driving me nuts.
Oh no.
It's just landing on here, I can see it out of color right away.
Oh, so I'm just waving his hands.
It's like, look at the stage, look at the stage.
I think one of the other things is seeing stuff you can't afford.
There's always something there that you want but you don't want to risk spending the money
on.
So it's nice, I've been watching, looking at Google pictures or videos on YouTube, they
pick up a thing and go, oh wow, they are cool.
That can help you make a decision in the future whether you are going to spend that money on
such a thing.
I tend to look at stuff, especially isopods.
Ridiculously expensive isopods.
I know how big they are, I know the size of them.
Right.
Not the same as when you see them in your hand.
Yeah, no, I agree.
If someone says, oh, they are 16 millimeters, to me my brain doesn't tell me anything.
I can say, oh, that's big.
That's very thoughtful.
It pops.
Yeah.
It's seen things in real life, I think, than it is seen among Google.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I absolutely agree.
There is a big difference between watching it on a documentary or learning about it from,
like you said, Google.
Sometimes you can find misinformation, stay away from Wikipedia, it's full of misinformation.
Just FYI.
If you want to know how I do my research, I stay away from Wikipedia, there is that.
I can't tell you all my tricks and trades because then you won't need to watch us.
But okay.
No, I'm kidding.
But yeah, no, like I said, there's something about it.
There's something about being in the presence of that animal and actually being able to see it and watch what it does,
watch it move, watch all those things, even with tarantulas.
There's just something about being able to be up close and personal with that creature that just makes it that much more real and more interesting, I think.
So I'm going to do kind of an early plug and I'm sorry.
You can comment and tell me how awful I am for doing that.
But I am going to plug the butterfly pavilion right now because they actually just opened a new exhibit that's like, I cannot wait to go see it.
I think I'm about to go see it actually on Monday.
So they have, they got leaf cutter ants.
And the leaf cutter ants are fascinating to me because I've never seen them in person. I've always seen them, you know, like in videos and documentaries and stuff like that.
So I'm really, really excited to go to the butterfly pavilion and check out these leaf cutter ants in person.
Because again, it's that learning experience, it's that you actually can observe their behaviors and spend time with them and understand them.
I think with Expo's it's a great way to do that for sure.
Going to a zoo is one thing.
They're still behind a glass.
Obviously they have venomous snakes and vipers and stuff like that.
And, you know, our zoo here in Danver, they have a couple of tarantulas on display, which is really, really cool.
They usually have a couple other inverts that are pretty interesting.
But if you really want to see some up close and personal inverts, definitely check out in Expo or the butterfly pavilion.
It's all about learning.
It's all about, you know, conservation and checking everything out.
Yeah.
So let's talk about kind of what to expect when you go.
For me, I didn't know what to expect from my first show.
And it was a little overwhelming.
So, you know, when you go into the show, you're going to find, you're going to see basically a huge room full of like tables and tons of people, of course.
And everybody, all the tables are, excuse me, usually vendors or people who, you know, they breed, you know, like Brazilian rainbow boba's or they're breeding tarantulas.
Or they have, you know, assassin bugs and stuff like that, like roaches and isopods.
And so you're going to find a lot of vendors, a lot of people.
You're going to find, you know, a lot of different animals that you've probably never seen or heard of.
So just, you know, take everything with a grain of salt, kind of take your time.
It's okay to totally take your time and walk around nice and slow and just kind of learn everything.
Here in the States, like they do get pretty crowded.
So sometimes you have to like stand amongst a bunch of people and just like wait your turn.
But it's totally worth it.
Yeah. What can you say about what to expect there?
I can't remember the first time I went, but Liliana's wife has always come with me and she had no real interest or experience with it.
So going off how she acted and lots of different things that I just heard me speak about,
but actually seeing them like I was saying earlier, it was a different thing and now she keeps tarantulas.
Yeah.
And it's basically because of the shows that she keeps them.
If anyone knows why the guy, that wasn't a book for him, but it can be if you want.
He gave her a tarantula at one of the shows.
Oh.
I didn't like the idea.
I always thought I'd never have tarantulas.
I don't want to put the tarantulas in here.
Right.
So I fell in love with it and now she has a wall full of tarantulas.
So I think there's just over a hundred tarantulas in this room now.
Oh, wow.
That all stems from guess what it was.
A pink.
Well, and you're doing you're still doing your mystery boxes.
Yeah.
So you're putting.
Yeah.
That's cool.
Because of the shows.
Because I sell a lot of mantis in bulk.
Yeah.
When the shows come up and we've had one every week now for five weeks, I think it is.
Oh, wow.
So what you get is get the vendors running out of things.
So.
You know, they'll be buying like bulk stuff from people like me who has shelves of the
stuff and then you end up with nothing yourself.
You know, when it comes down to selling it.
So you end up with a very fast.
I'm looking at my shelf that it's quite fast.
It's quite fast.
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I would say, you know, I like I.
No, I mean, as a vendor, that's that's really interesting.
I'm glad that you, you know, sell a lot of things because I think that's really important
as a vendor.
Obviously, that's kind of what you do.
So you got to pay the bills, right?
But yeah, for me, it's, you know, if it's funny because when you say that, you know,
you're running out of things on the shelves, I feel that way as, as just a, you know,
as somebody who's just, you know, attending an attendee, if you will, like, I always want
to get, get there early so that I can see all the cool, rare stuff that, you know, will
sell out quickly.
Like right now in the States, we have a big, you know, there's kind of a big push for
like jumping spiders and Erassus.
So the velvet spiders.
So anytime I go to an expo.
Yeah.
I mean, it's a big deal.
And anytime I go to an expo, I'm looking for those because those are the rare, those are
kind of hard to find.
They, they take a while to breed.
So, and also, you know, velvet spiders aren't native to the States.
So that also makes them a little more difficult to find.
You know, we can always find new world tarantulas pretty easily here, but old world tarantulas,
unless they're, you know, like established in the hobby pretty well, you're going to want
to get there early and really, really look for those animals because otherwise, you know,
you get there kind of late or whatever, and you might not see them.
Although it's weird because it seems to fluctuate, you know, sometimes the economy is really
good or the expo is like right after a good payday, usually like the first of the month
or something.
And so people are buying stuff.
So that's when, you know, they run out of things or they don't have, they don't have the beautiful
rare species that you're looking for because everybody's got money, you know.
But then there's other times when it's like, you know, it's kind of, kind of weird and it doesn't
seem like anybody's really buying anything.
And so they have like huge amounts of the things that you're really, really looking for.
So I really feel like it kind of depends on like what's going on kind of in the economy
and like what's going on with money in general.
So there is like a lot of money transferring in these shows.
So that's another expectation that you should definitely be aware of is that if you're going
to go to a show, you don't have to plan to purchase anything, but understand that the
vendors that are there, they want you to buy stuff because, you know, again, it's their
livelihood.
So if you're interested in something, then, you know, definitely, you know, be interested,
definitely check it out, definitely learn, but make sure, you know, just as a common
courtesy, let that vendor know, hey, I'm just browsing, I'm just learning because they're,
you know, then they're not going to spend all that effort trying to sell you something
that you're still just not interested in buying.
I don't know how it is in America because like shops and stuff in America, they physically
try to sell you items.
Definitely.
Over here, we have a completely different attitude to sales.
People will stand behind the camera and you can look at all everything.
You can have a conversation with the person you're with and not once will that person
behind the camera say, have you seen this?
They'll totally disinterested in trying to sell you something because that's how our
customer service is here.
We're just, we're not interested in trying to put the hard sell on you.
And I think that works better in this business because if you put the hard sell on people
that are new to the hobby, for instance, and you're selling them something that takes a
lot of care, you're basically killing the animal by selling them that particular one.
You should be sort of, anytime, this is as a vendor speaking, if somebody comes to me
and says, I want one of these, let's start Mantis, now pick up, say the other Mantis before.
Sure.
I'll update, first question, you know, if you had this before, if you had this before,
and then try and help them when they get it home, look after it, you know, and then you
remind them if you've got an enclosure for it, have you got food for it, you know, do
you know how much to feed it, do you know how to spray it, do you know how it seems.
I think that's important for the vendor to be doing those things, and if you go to buy
something at a stall and the vendor is not asking these questions, walk away would be
my advice.
I actually, yeah, I totally agree with that advice, that's very good advice because that's
one of the, you know, here in the States we have the thing called capitalism, okay, but
so because of that, I mean, you do want to be wary of some vendors and like what they're
doing and what they're purporting, you know what I mean, like, if they really are pushing
stuff, then that is definitely a vendor that you don't really want to hang out with because
they're possibly, you know, having like bad business practices or bad breeding practices.
I do remember seeing a couple of times at a couple of shows that the, I believe the NARBC
came to one of the shows to like investigate somebody because they weren't taking care of
the animals that they were selling, and so there was a huge, yeah.
And so I'm going to enlighten yours and tell us what NARBC is because I have no idea.
It's the National Association of Reptile Breeders Conference and so they are, they're basically
an authority on like, you know, and we also have ARC, which I'm not really sure what that
stands for, but I need to figure that out.
I just know that they also are about, you know, conservation, making sure that these
are captive bred animals, you're not selling wild caught brown bagged, you know, all that
stuff, but that's basically what they do.
It's, you know, it's kind of a stamp of approval.
So if you have an NARBC like, basically like a, you know, if NARBC is kind of backing you
and what you're doing as a vendor here in the States, then you're doing something right.
So then, you know, you're following the rules, you're, you know, you're playing the game
in accordance with how it should be played here in the States.
I'm sure you have something like that.
Don't you?
The vendors?
No.
Really?
Well, there's no real need for it.
Okay.
You find that the other vendors, weed out the ones that are doing the bad things, the
reputation.
Okay.
So you're like, you're doing something terrible, the reputation and just hit rock bottom and
no one, everyone would find out.
Yeah.
So yeah, there's, there's definitely a couple vendors right now that are trying to, right
now, like in the hobby here in the States, they're, they're trying like some of the good
vendors and the good people who are doing, you know, their captive breeding, they're,
you know, making sure all their paperwork and ducks are in a row.
So when they are importing animals, these are animals that are, they're approved, essentially,
to be imported.
But there are a couple of vendors who aren't following those guidelines and I, I see them
at shows and I'm not going to call anybody out because I don't, I just, I'm not going
to do that.
But I know, I just, I don't want to like burn too many bridges as far as doing that.
But I will say that, you know, if you see me at a show, pay attention to who I talk to
because I promise you like, I'll, I'll let you know.
But no, there are a couple vendors who, you know, those of us in the know, those of us
who are close knit in the hobby are definitely edging them out of that circle.
So I would say in the States, it's kind of funny.
We have like the outer circle, which is just, you know, you're collecting to Lerantlase,
you know a lot about tarantulas, but you're not really in like that community of tarantula
keepers, but then there's like the inner circle of people who, you know, are very conservation
minded.
We, we're thinking about, you know, the, the longevity of the species in the wild.
We're also thinking about the captive bread where, you know, it's like a tight knit little
circle.
And so I really feel like you know, if you're not in that circle, if you're in the States,
you know, because you're just not going to get kind of other things, you know, I have
a couple of friends here in Colorado who are tarantula breeders and really, really great
guys.
I absolutely love them.
I go to see them pretty much every expo that they're at.
And it's great because, because I'm a part of that community, they'll, they'll send me
a message.
Hey, I have these super cool rare tarantula species.
Are you going to the expo tomorrow?
And I'm, you know, usually I'm like, yeah, I'll be there.
Cool.
You know, and then, and then I look for them.
I look for that, you know, so it's like when you're in the club, you know that you are
because that, you know, you'll, you'll get those messages or you'll see, you know, for
here in Colorado, we have a Colorado arachnid club.
And so I'm a member of that.
I've actually been pushing to become an admin or a moderator there.
So hey, Colorado arachnid club.
Hey, but yeah.
Because I'm a member of that group and that community and stuff, I kind of have the know
on like who's bringing what and, you know, how that's going to work.
You know, so I, I would like to say that I have a pretty decent, pretty good reputation
in the hobby.
I'm not a breeder.
Obviously I don't sell tarantulas or anything like that.
So it would be, it would be weird if I didn't have a good reputation.
But as far as like keeping and everything goes, like I, you know, I'm well known for
the most part.
So it's, it's, it's that community, man.
I'm telling you that exposing the shows, it's really a great way to really develop those
relationships and that community.
And then that's kind of how you, that's another way that you learn also of those vendors who
aren't doing, following the rules and they're, or say they're like brown boxing or they are,
you know, buying in bulk tarantulas that were brown boxed, you know, from somewhere else.
So yeah, the tighter you get into that community, the more you're going to know about that.
But I, I agree with you.
I, I feel like that's kind of the, the negative side sometimes about the shows and whatnot
is cause you're going to find vendors that all they're looking to do is sell you a, is
sell you something, you know, um,
It's all about money.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I'm not going to give you a backup as well.
And you want backup, you know, you're going to buy an animal.
I sometimes are expensive.
You get them home.
It's not doing as well as you thought it would.
You want to go back to the vendor and get contacted in some way and say, what am I doing
with all?
Can you help me?
Can you give me advice?
You know, if that vendor is going to turn around and say, yeah, do go it.
Then, you know, again, they're not a good vendor.
You know, like if that vendor can't tell you, oh yeah, no, they need this much humidity.
You want to make sure they've got this much dirt.
You want to make sure they've got a core ground, you know, stuff like that.
If they can't tell you those things, if they can't tell you even where the animal came from,
if they bred it themselves or if they, you know, bought it from Tom Patterson, let's
say, and, and that kind of thing.
If they can't tell you that stuff, then don't buy that animal.
Don't, don't buy from that vendor.
Okay.
Cause the vendors that do care.
Cause we do have vendors that, that really do care.
They're not out to make a buck all the time.
They're just, you know, they're better, better about it.
Cause there are vendors like what you said in Simon here in the States and, and, you
know, shout out to a couple that I know, like eight deadly sins and, you know, a spider
shop, you know, they're not just out to make a buck.
They also really believe in the tarantulas.
They really believe in what they're doing and conservation and captive breeding.
So, you know, when you have vendors like that, it shows, you can tell because they'll have
a passion about what they're talking about.
They'll give you, you know, at a show, it's funny because they will give you more information
than what you asked for.
Usually, you know, yeah.
And so those are the people you want to buy for or buy from, you know,
something I find I've met, I've had people like customers for several years.
Maybe I do customers only on Facebook or only on this or, you know, social media somewhere.
And then we go to a show and I'll, I'll wear a T-shirt, my mantis garter T-shirt.
So, you know, people know what I look like.
So I've got YouTube.
Yeah.
And I'm tapping on my back and go, hi, you're saying it, aren't you?
I'm such a buddy.
And it's something I've spunked to for years.
And I've never met them.
And, you know, you've had a real nice conversation with somebody.
It's like a, it's like meeting friends you've met on Facebook.
Yeah.
But in a safe way.
In a good safe, yeah.
In a safe way, in the middle of, you know, all these other people, you've got this like-minded
thing and it's nice.
I had, the last show I had people just come to the show to meet me.
Specifically for you.
That's cool.
Yeah, subscribers from our channel.
What an ego boost, huh?
To meet you.
They want to, they were saying they want to buy from me because they knew I looked at
the animals.
Yeah.
Seeing that I really cared about the animals.
Absolutely.
You can tell.
I mean, any, any, any episode, if you watch any episode of InverteCast, watch what Simon
talks about because you can definitely tell he cares about the animals.
He cares about the environment.
I know you hate cats, but you have a pretty valid reason for it.
Okay.
So, I mean, yeah, absolutely.
I think that's, that's a wonderful thing.
You know, so yeah, that's, that's one thing to look out for with vendors is, is definitely
check it out.
Like if they really care about their animals, they really love what they're doing, it's
going to show you're going to be able to tell because they will be able to tell you more
information about these animals and, and anything that they're selling than you probably asked
for.
Okay.
So next question, which I get a lot is, should I bring cash or should I just bring my card?
Um, I would recommend kind of a half and half.
So bring some cash because that'll be, that'll be great for those vendors who aren't really
set up with, um, like a, you know, card reader or anything like that.
Although if they're a pretty legit business and they're, you know, a good vendor and stuff,
they will be able to read your card.
Um, all, you know, obviously there are technical issues and that kind of thing.
So bringing cash is always a good alternative, but I don't think it's like the biggest necessity,
um, especially because, you know, like I said, there's a lot of transactions happening at
these places.
And so usually that draws out shady characters sometimes.
So just be careful with your cash.
Obviously don't, you know, don't flash it around or anything like that.
Um, but I would say that more often than not a credit card or, you know, debit card is
okay, um, but cash is okay to have to just for like little minor things.
So I would recommend credit.
What do you, what do you think, Simon?
I want to know your opinion on this as a vendor.
I think the UK would be a bit different.
Um, I would always advise take cash because all vendors can deal with the universal thing.
So I wouldn't go anywhere without the Queen's egg.
Um, as far as I'm concerned, if I've got cash in my pocket, I'm not buying anything.
Um, you're losing out to some of the stalls that don't have a machine.
So you're losing out to them for starters.
Uh, so you can't buy anything there, uh, stalls if you only got your card with you.
So that's, that's a lose.
Uh, yeah.
And we do, uh, cash and we do, uh, paypal, which is the farm.
Oh yeah.
PayPal is, is absolutely like I'm, I'm all about PayPal and Venmo cash app, that whole
thing.
Um, that honestly has changed how transactions are, are made here in the States as well.
Like especially for those, you know, artisan vendors, the ones that are super local and,
and they're kind of small businesses, um, cash app and Venmo is, is a huge deal for
them.
Um, but yeah, cash cash is king.
Cash is king.
It is.
Anyway, you're, you're on the cards and you always have this, but you get apps now for
a magnetic card readers for your phone.
Cause we do the, a lot of the contactless stuff.
Well, actually it's contactless now.
We don't really, we, I, yeah, you just tap, I tap the card and in my life, I've never
had to swipe the card like you guys do where you slide it down with it.
Oh yeah.
Oh man.
So I'm not young.
There's a clue.
So that takes me back to the eighties when they had the, uh, the carbon paper and you
put the card on it and it just.
We never did that.
That was never a thing.
But yeah, we, we, I want to think this phone apps now with the, the, the card tapper.
Yeah.
So there's lots of different things, but definitely if you're going to a show, take
cash.
Yeah.
You can buy from any store with cash, but you've not going to be able to buy with any
store with PayPal or any store with card.
Yeah.
Take all three, please take all three.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's a really good point.
I didn't even think about that like, thank you, Simon.
I appreciate it.
Um, cash is cash is king.
That's why they say that, you know, cash, cash will get you anywhere anytime.
Um, it works perfectly.
Everybody can accept it.
It's easy, easy.
So yeah, I, I, oh goodness.
My cats are crazy.
Sorry.
Um, so, uh, you don't have to.
I know my cats are weird.
They do this weird territory thing where they chase each other around and stuff.
I don't know.
I need to work on that.
But, um, yeah, cash is probably the best thing to bring.
Um, and, and it's, it works perfectly.
It works really well.
So Simon, as a vendor, what kind of things say, say there's a new vendor in town.
They've never done a show before.
Um, what advice and what things would you say that that vendor should expect at their
first show?
I have just spent the last few weeks, um, talking to two guys that, uh, and helping
them that, uh, was going to their first show as vendors.
So yeah, I can, I can do this.
Um, the first thing was don't expect to make an absolute fortune if it's your first show
and you don't have, say, a YouTube channel or you don't have a big following on social
media, but you know, expect people to turn up, see your name and then go, oh great.
I'll go over there.
Whereas, you know, if you, you have got a decent following, you can, you can always,
you're going to get the people there anyway.
It's having the name before you go is a good thing.
You know, if you're one, yeah, and it's a good thing, but if you haven't got a name,
don't expect to make an absolute fortune.
And I'll tell you what I tell to people who do what to vend is don't spend too much money
on stock.
Okay.
I find that that's what it was tending to do, which was, oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get
this.
I'm gonna get that and, you know, work out what fills your table and be happy with that
and try to find, you know, Siberian tigers and put them in a cage and karma.
Yeah, what don't sell you are taking home, you know, yeah, absolutely.
Then you're going to try and sell it online.
So yeah, and both of what you find, if you can spend money and expecting it all to be
back by five o'clock, it's not gonna be.
It's not going to work.
Yeah.
You know, you're not going to sell absolutely everything and make a fortune and get all
the money back to spend out on stock.
So then you're making loss and then you're like giving it up because, you know, you're
not, you're not, you're not making money out of it.
So you're going to give it up.
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's common sense.
That's the way you're doing.
And it's also making sure that you're ready inside, making sure that you pack books for
instance.
We pack hours when we just show we're up really early in the morning and we pack them on the
same day.
So they're not in boxes or talks for any longer than they have to be.
Okay.
And before you go, you've got to feed them.
You've got to water them.
You've got to make sure the book is okay.
It's 100%.
Right.
I see people that pack up maybe a day, two days before, put in a cardboard box for an
extra up in the car.
I don't agree with that.
I mean, if it works for you, it works for you.
I can't, I can't really, you know, I know.
That's what people want to do, but I'm saying that's not how I would do it.
I like to make sure they're okay before they even go in the car.
I want to know everything there just before we leave is all okay.
It's all healthy.
There's nothing wrong.
Everything's been fed.
Everything's been watered.
You know, it's got a label on it, a right label for it.
Yeah.
And you've got a list here with your prices on it, but everything you've got in them boxes.
Don't make the prices up as you go along.
Right.
You have to be good at that.
Yeah.
Right.
To put the prices on these things before and you need to calculate the oil, work it
all out.
This is just kind of sense and just business advice really.
It's, it's, you know, that's all it is.
It's business advice.
It's like, can I make enough money if I sell these?
If I can't, don't sell them.
You know, sell something else.
That's, that's not.
Bugs Galore says that, yes, I learned that lesson buying too much stock.
So.
Yeah.
But you're not alone.
Yeah.
You end up taking it home and then you've got to look after it.
If you don't sell it or it comes unpopular, this is a really big thing that I support.
The latest guys that's fashionable that week because.
Oh yeah, like the rubber duckies, right?
Yeah.
And you can be spending like hundreds of dollars on one.
And then all of a sudden they go out of fashion and the price plummets and you're doing just
to get your money back.
Let alone, you know, make a profit and you put working to get your money back.
So I refuse to stock any of the fashionable ones.
All the way I suppose in here are.
Oh, sure.
Simply I support the, what I call standard I support.
Okay.
Yeah.
Everybody has.
Yeah.
Even if you're all people who buy the fashionable ones, you still got all these.
You still got all these.
So I like to make sure it's about being smart of what you have on your shelf.
If you've got silly rare things, you know, the chances are you're not going to sell.
You don't buy them and in unless somebody is asking for them quite a lot.
If I get 10 people saying, are you taking X to the show?
I will take X to the show.
If I get one person, no, I'm not.
I'm not going to buy it in.
So you're buying one, I have to buy 10.
So that means I've got nine to take home with me and I still haven't made your money to
cover for 10.
I have to buy.
Yeah.
So we got a really great question as far, you know, for that.
It's from Carrie.
She's asking, what are your personal pet peeves at expos?
She says that she hates seeing lacked security.
I know people invest in these things, the time and effort dedication, people's livelihood
is on the line and little to no security is a big deal for her.
So okay, pet peeves.
So for me, I would say my pet peeves is, you know, if you allow your kids to just touch
every little thing or run around and be kind of obnoxious, I think that's definitely a
no go at an expo because it's just, I'm sorry, there's a parade outside.
I don't know if you can hear all the noise, but we rich where I live is having a nice
little parade.
So yeah, if you're, you know, allowing your kids to be super rambunctious and touching
every little thing on the tables, you know, that kind of thing, I think that's a huge
no go that for me, that's a big old pet peeve.
Or if you're like nudging people out of the way, that kind of thing, I don't, that's a
big pet peeve for me.
How about you, Simon?
Do you have any pet peeves as far as expo's go?
Security I'd say is what for?
Well, here in the state, okay, you know, we need, we do need that security because you
never know.
As far as people pushing around, this is England.
Sorry.
Everybody does it.
Yeah.
We want to keep up, so nobody's pushing yet.
We want to, we want to, we want to queue.
If that was going to be the word set, I'm not cheering, but we will be cheering.
So, we want to.
I will say, I will say that people here in the States, we seem to have a wider like
this personal space kind of thing.
We do definitely have a bigger like bubble because, you know, I spent time in Greece.
So I consider that a little bit of time in Europe.
And I will say that like standing in line at the McDonald's in Greece, I could feel
people breathing on my neck.
And you know, as American, I was like, what the heck is going on?
I didn't like it.
But it's definitely, that's, it's a normal thing in the, in, in Europe.
And, and, you know, I think.
My, you know, in a post office queue, for instance, when you've got to post something,
you've got something within a thought of you.
Yeah.
So that's, Americans don't tolerate that well.
We just don't.
We don't have, we don't really have that personal space issue with.
Yeah, no.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So yeah, there's, there's going to be the nudging.
I agree.
Any, any other pet peeves?
And well, the same as I have, if I go to a big city, which is people stopping in front
of you when you're walking.
Oh, come out.
It's so irritating.
So like you get your little like lines of egress.
Oh, like our children.
When people, people take a buggy or a, is that what you call it?
I don't know what you call it.
Like Prana, Puggy, Trolley, Walk.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
You know, a buggy stroller.
But you take one of them.
Why would you take one of them to a place where there's lots and lots of people?
Please carry the thing.
Yeah.
Booms or something.
Carry it.
Don't walk around taking people's ankles off with your wheels.
You're not riding a chariot.
Yeah.
And they take up like three times the space, you know, it's, yeah.
Although I will say here in the States, I see a lot, a lot of strollers.
And they can be very aggravating.
But most of the time the parents are very mindful.
They know where they're going.
You know, I've never been run over by a stroller.
But I'm sure it happens.
And that's, that sucks.
That's not a fun time.
Always your ankle.
That wheel.
Always.
Yeah.
No, it's always.
Carry him.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Put duct tape on them so they can't speak.
You know what you say.
But you know, oh yeah, God say, don't bring your stroller.
Yeah.
Liliana Liliana says that she has a peeve that she has a peeve that anybody like a client
saying that they saw it somewhere else cheaper.
Okay, go then there.
Okay.
I agree, I think that's kind of a cheap tactic that people try to use sometimes to like essentially
manipulate a vendor into lowering their prices or whatever.
I don't, that's, it's just rude.
It's really cheap.
It's classless.
Like don't just don't do that.
I agree.
That's an easy one.
If anyone says that's me, I've seen that somewhere cheaper.
Oh, good.
Goodbye.
Yeah.
Right.
If you saw it cheaper, why didn't you buy it there?
Like, what are you doing?
And if they come back, you just put the price up.
Right.
Yeah.
Come back.
Oh, it didn't have any left.
Oh, let's just go home.
Yeah.
Well, that's too bad for you, I guess.
Go away.
I don't, you know, I've no time for the people like that.
I pride myself in being one of the cheapest in the UK.
Sure.
If anyone comes to me and say, I find it cheaper though, good luck, because I normally just
manage it.
Well, yeah.
And, but you're not, you know, you're not like, you're not out here trying to make a
bazillion dollars.
You're, you know what I mean?
I think that's, that's, I think that's really good.
Oh, Carrie has another good pet peeve, snake snobs.
So I know this isn't something that you experience over there.
But we do get snake snobs here or people who, you know, so I was at an expo with Carrie
because she's my partner if everybody knows.
But in any case, we were at an expo and there was a breeder who was curious about the kind
of snakes that we keep.
And we told them, oh yeah, we have a Mexican black king snake.
And he called our Mexican black king snake the poor man's indigo, which is not what a
Mexican black king snake is.
Okay.
And I was actually, you know, I wasn't like totally offended.
I was pretty tolerant of it because I was just like, yeah, okay, whatever.
But Carrie really took offense to it because she was like, no, what?
No, if we wanted an indigo snake, we would save up the money and have an indigo snake.
We, you know, we wanted a Mexican black king snake.
We did the research on the species.
We found out where, you know, how to get them, where to get them, you know, what kind
of life cycle they have, what kind of snake they are.
They're, you know, all these things.
And so just because we have a Mexican black king snake doesn't mean we're poor.
So it was like he was insinuating that we were poor people who couldn't afford an indigo
snake.
And so it was very, it was kind of insulting.
So if you're a vendor here in the States for sure, and you're a snake snob, okay, and
you're going to call somebody snake like a poor man's indigo, like don't, don't do that.
Because that's a surefire way to lose clients very quickly.
We don't know how we have ice the box snob.
Yeah.
Don't worry about it.
Yeah.
People, I do got rubber duckies.
No, I don't stop rubber duckies.
And then the first thing is why not?
Are they too expensive?
That's the attitude.
Okay.
Not from the vendor.
It's normally from the customer.
Oh, interesting.
Attitude.
Now I just think go away.
Go away.
Yeah.
I don't stop them because they don't sell as well as they should.
Well, they're, you know, they're that designer, you know, they're kind of expensive.
You do have to save up some money.
Obviously.
I mean, like we said, with the indigo snake, like that's a thousand dollar snake.
I'm sorry.
That is not a snake that anybody, you know, unless you're rich, rich, like nobody's out
here going, Oh, 1000 dollars.
It's an impulse buy.
Cool.
Here you go.
You know, you're saving up the money.
You're doing.
Yeah.
Like, okay, cool.
No one's doing that.
The people who are buying these snakes are people who have saved up that money.
They've, you know, probably already have an enclosure ready.
They, you know, they, they take the time.
They really got to learn, you know, because there are expensive creatures.
There are expensive inverts out there because they are really rare.
Like indigo snakes are, are kind of hard to find.
Um, and it takes a little time, you know, to be able to afford them.
And then on top of that, you have to make sure that you're, you're providing the proper
care and, you know, you're feeding it properly, that kind of thing.
Um, it, you know, it's great to have a huge collection of like snakes and spiders and
stuff, but I will say after a while, like it's kind of expensive to feed them because
you have to be able to provide the, well, not so much the inverts, but my snakes, you
know, I got to buy rats every, about every week.
Actually, my ball pythons eat like every other week.
The colubrids eat, you know, once a week and my big old boa, he eats like once a month.
But, you know, again, that's, that's, it's a cost that you have to also incorporate
into, you know, purchasing the animal and keeping that animal.
Um, so yeah, like I think, yeah, that's, you know, I think a lot of people, yeah, the
time, I agree.
I mean, a lot of people go in and they expect that, oh, I'll just bring this snake home
and cool, I'm done paying for it.
No, you still got to feed it.
You still got to make sure it's got enough warmth and, you know, a lot of snakes that
we keep come from, you know, tropical and sub tropical areas.
Here in the States, we have a lot of cool species that aren't from tropical area.
Obviously, they're from, you know, temperate areas here in the States.
So we can keep some of those guys and, you know, it's pretty great.
Actually, I have, I have a corn snake who corn snakes are native to Colorado.
So I don't really need to heat her enclosure because she's used to this climate.
Like it's, this is the climate that she lives in, you know, anyway.
So, I mean, I do heat her enclosure, but I don't need to.
And I find that she does really well, just like that, you know what I mean?
If I had, like, you know, a Western hog nose, same thing.
But that's why the vendors who really care about what they're doing are so important
at the expos because they're the ones who are going to teach you all that stuff.
Like my Mexican black king snake, you know, I can't just expect her,
him to do well without heat because he's from Mexico.
He's from the desert.
Like he's, he's not going to do well if there's not heat under his cage.
So, you know, I'm, I'm, yeah, I agree.
I think, I think snooty snake keepers snooty isopods like, dude, why?
Why?
What's the point of that?
Same potential as well.
They get snooty.
Oh yeah, there's a few.
You don't get that with Mantis because Mantis are all furrows over here.
Right.
Quite a cheap animal.
So yeah, you don't get that same weird attitude with Mantis.
It's like, oh, good.
I might get more of that.
And it's funny, you know, which is, I do, I do catch the snooty spiders people,
but it's usually, it's usually, and I hate to do this, but like, it's usually the
people are like, oh yeah, I bred, you know, eresis walkenaries.
And it's like, dude, they are a pretty hard species to breed, especially here
in the States, just because it's not really their native area.
So people will brag about what they've bred and what they've, you know,
what they've produced.
I think that's where the snooty stuff comes in here as far as like the
tarantula community goes.
Otherwise, I mean, maybe like the super pretty rare species possibly.
Oh my gosh, there's a marching band.
I am so sorry for all this noise, guys.
We can't hear it.
It's all, no, you're okay.
Okay, good.
So we've got to be here yet again for it that way.
It's grossing.
We do get it as, not specifically with the breeding.
I find with the tarantulas and with the stormy, it's how spicy it is.
Oh, okay.
That seems to be a thing.
It's like, oh, these are really spicy, you know, but I mean, I get it.
I get it.
It's that it's kind of that like, oh, I can handle my spicy, spicy Borneo black.
And it's like, okay, but why, why are you like you're risking so much doing that?
But okay.
So, I mean, I keep both old worlds and new worlds.
And I will say that my old worlds are actually way better behaved than my new, than my new
worlds.
Most of my new worlds, you know, are, or the Western hemispheria is like they're, they're
spicy, but it's more like they kick hairs and stuff like that.
Whereas my old worlds are like, they just, they'll run.
But most of the time they're just like, oh, okay, we're chilling.
You know, I think it's really what you bring the energy that you bring to your tarantulas
is the kind of energy that they're going to give to you.
I'm a big time.
Yeah, I'm a believer in that because.
And they feel like the same.
They all like the same way.
Apart from the Nealia, which is just, I don't know, I have to check with the stick to make
sure it's not dead because it's so chilled.
But right.
They're all pretty much the same.
So I think it is that.
But yeah, we've gone way off topic.
Yeah, so sorry about that.
But no, I mean, this is, this is the kind of things that people will talk about at expos.
That's okay.
Like the kind of conversations we're having.
Same conversations that we, you could possibly have at an expert show.
So that's, hey, I think we're on topic.
Yeah.
Yeah, so our invert shows, our reptile shows, cancer shows, but we've had entomology shows.
So it'll be like, they do stay in their own way.
Yeah.
Rectile shows generally have about, I say about a third of the entire show will be inverts.
Wow.
In reptile shows, they're growing with that much ferocity at the moment over here.
Like lots and lots of people getting into the inverts more than anything else.
See, it's totally opposite here.
More people, I would say more people go to the shows for the reptiles.
It's easier for us to get inverts.
And for us, the cost of an invert is so little.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
A ridiculous high price, let's say, if you want a ghost mantis, and you pay the ridiculous high price, it's like $10.
Whereas I know that in America, you're looking at $40 or $50 and above for a ghost mantis.
Yeah.
So there's a big difference there.
If you're going to spend that sort of money, you're going to buy a reptile.
We're going to buy a lizard or a lizard.
Sure.
Whereas ours are completely priced sensibly.
Yeah.
Ours or not.
Some of them are.
But you can spend a lot of money.
A lot of money for a pet is something you could go to buy for a kid.
Right.
If a kid wants something, he goes like, oh, I want that one.
You know, I like $10 for that.
Sure.
And it's still there.
It's living it in its enclosure.
They're living anything.
Yeah.
Done.
Whereas if you spend $50 on it every single time you're sold one, it's going to change.
Yeah.
You're going to want something a bit more, it's going to stay around longer.
It's going to be, you know, because I don't know how much reptiles are at the US.
I know those are private stores.
So I will say, I mean, I'm a casual snake keeper.
Like I'm not crazy.
I don't have a ton of snakes and I don't really, you know, I'm not huge into the reptile keeping
community, obviously I'm more about ranch laws and spiders.
But I will say that as a casual reptile keeper, like again, with that whole poor man's indigo
snake, no, my Mexican black king snake was actually pretty pricey thing for me.
Like I saved up money to get my snake.
So, you know, obviously, you know, there are the big priced items, there are the big priced,
you know, snakes that you can get and same with inverts, of course.
But again, like those are the ones that, you know, you're going to save up and really,
really focus your research on that.
So don't be a snob because people are out here doing their best, okay?
It really gups you, hasn't it?
Yeah, it did.
I mean, I guess it did.
I didn't think it did.
But now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like, you know what, don't insult my Mexican black
king snake.
Get out of here.
It's a cool snake, okay?
It's a pet and it's a pet and if they want an indigo, then they can go out and get one
and you like it.
Yeah.
So you've got your black Mexican or Mexican black.
I don't know which one it is.
Either way is fine.
You've got, you've got that.
So it's your pet and once it's your pet, doesn't matter.
You get like dog snob, don't you?
The dog snob, there is like £20,000 on it, on a, on a pedigree, something or other.
Right.
And it's the worst dog you'll ever own.
Yeah.
It might be an ass.
You know, the guy down the street has found a stray.
There's 12 different dogs in this one dog and it's better than the other one.
So, you know, don't be a snob.
Don't be a crazy snob.
I agree.
I totally agree.
And I will say that Catalina, because that's his name is Catalina, my Mexican black king
snake.
He, you know, I've handled him a lot since he was a young, young thing because they
do have kind of a reputation for being a bit spicy and temperamental.
But my dude is so chill.
Like he, he doesn't even tail wag anymore.
He doesn't musk.
He doesn't even bite at me at all.
Like he used to kind of just because they're, they're so food driven that anything with
a little warmth, they're, they're going to try and eat.
Um, so, you know, that's, that's a colubrid thing.
But now mine, he's so, he's so chill and tame.
Like once you get them in your hands and stuff, he's, he's really great.
So don't let the people at the expos or the vendors trying to sell you stuff dissuade you
from something just because it's known to be spicy because you can kind of tame that
spice down.
Um, you know, like all, all my snakes are pretty docile, I would say they're all pretty
socialized really well.
And, um, they're not, not crazy spicy, but yeah, that's, that's a weird brag.
I think in the tarantula world is like, Oh yeah, I've got this spider is really spicy
and is like, okay.
Cool.
I am sort of attitude is like, yeah, you're an idiot.
Yeah, that makes you know, I was like, well, okay, I mean, what do you want?
Why do you want it to be so spicy?
Like do you want it to come out and bite you?
Is that what you're asking for?
Cause this isn't the hobby for you.
If that's what you're after, like, you know, pretty, you know, they're not, yeah, cause
I can appreciate, I look at some tarantulas and some scorpions and it, some of them are
really, really pretty.
They have lots of colors on them.
They're really, you know, good looking tarantulas.
They might only be $20, but it's still pretty of them.
This one over here that's really spicy and it's $500.
Sure.
Give me that $20 one every single time.
Cause I prefer to look at that, you know, I don't go around saying this one over here
is really dangerous.
So I can't go, you know, you know, I don't want to go around saying this one over here
you know, why are you going then?
Right.
I always, I don't want to look like this anyway because of that.
Cause I was thinking like, well, why have you got that spider?
If you can't play with it, you can't touch it.
You can't sit it on your shoulder.
Sure.
I never got that in my hair.
So I don't find them brilliant anyway.
Um, well, that's okay.
I can see pretty though, whether it really caught.
Yeah.
Like the postulatarias.
Yeah.
Same as fish.
You've got a really pretty fish in a boat.
You're looking at that fish.
It shows you're out.
Great.
Do the same with tarantula.
Exactly.
The nasty one that hides in a burrow behind a piece of log all day.
That's a point.
Okay.
So I'm going to answer this question for you because I do have, so it's old world tarantula.
Well, I wouldn't say she's super nasty, although if I dug her out of her burrow, she probably
would throw threat poses and slap the ground because that's just their nature.
That's what they do.
Um, but I will say that I love keeping the fissorials or the underground species, the
ones that live underground.
They prefer to burrow.
I do really like keeping them because when you do see them out and about, because it's
funny because we say, oh, you never see it or whatever.
Well, when you're looking is probably during the daytime.
So if you spend the time and wake up in the middle of the night, say you can't sleep,
you're hot, whatever, go out and check on those fissorial species because I promise
you they will probably be out and about, especially if they're hungry.
And those are the best times for those species because that's when you see just how beautiful
and pretty they are.
So my haploclastis divamantha or the chute, I don't know if I got that backwards, but
you know, the LSD earth tiger is one that they're really, really pretty.
They've got this iridescence to them.
They kind of have that goldish red and blue and stuff.
Never see the tarantula.
Middle of the night, she's out.
I usually see her legs just hanging, you know.
I see mils tarantulas more than she does because she gets ready at night before I do.
So if you go out the room first, turn the light out and there's just me sat there with
my PC on finishing up whatever I have to do going round spraying the last ones of the
day and the evening.
And when it gets to the tarantulas, I can see that they're all out as soon as you turn
the light out.
And the scorpions, they're all out when the light goes out.
They're not true.
When I put one of my ring lights on on my desk or something, I can see them all and it's
terrifying, I hate it.
Harry says that threat poses are an OBT's love language.
This is true.
It's a love language because they will stay in that threat pose forever.
But yeah, okay, so any, I don't know, do you have any other advice for anybody who's going
to expose or shows or anything like that?
Yeah.
The best advice I can give you is if you turn up behind there, buy everything.
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, if you, you've got the money, hey, buy all the things.
Plan before you go.
Yes.
If you're going for something specific, go for that thing.
If they haven't got it, just look it up with things, you know, and find somewhere else
that has it online or whatever, but don't, don't just go randomly spending money on things
you've never had before.
Right.
And you have to look after, you know, get some advice off the vendor itself.
If you're going to, if you have to buy something, get the advice and then double check it with
another vendor who's got the same thing.
Sure.
Shop around.
Yeah.
Shop around.
Get some more, get some more stuff.
Yeah.
But yeah, enjoy yourself.
That's the best advice.
I think so.
Be here if you're in the English ones because we have bars.
So there you go.
Yeah.
No, you guys are great.
I'm sure that I'm sure the shows there are probably a little more friendly than they
are here.
But I agree.
So the last bit of advice that I have also for Expos is we have a lot of very cute, crafty,
fun people and they will make like, you know, you got those taxidermies so they make the
picture frames with the butterflies or like with spiders, scorpion, stuff like that.
You know, there's a lot of graphic designers.
There's a lot of, I wouldn't say a lot, but there are a few of them, okay, that actually
really create these beautiful pieces of art.
Don't get, don't overlook them.
Give them a chance.
I really, really recommend checking out the, you know, creative, crafty people in the
input world because that's what you're going to decorate your house with if you get super
heavy into the hobby.
So don't overlook those guys.
Definitely give them a chance.
Check out their stuff.
And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
So it is time for the shameless plug.
Oh, look at you.
You got your mantis.
That's funny.
I'll do a famous plug then, not for me then.
This is for Gav.
He probably do anything for me.
Oh, okay.
And he made this.
This is made out of wood.
And yes, it's like an action map.
Yeah.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
This is one of the things you were saying about the, the don't overlook people who make
the art some crafty stuff and not just the books.
Yeah.
That's going to my shelf forever.
Oh yeah.
I have.
I have a shelf like that.
But this is her shelf where they live.
This is from somebody else who lives in Manchester.
This is cute.
R.T.
Crafty, you know, the little, the little legs.
Printed.
It is.
It's 3D printed.
Yeah.
That's from another friend in, from around here.
It's the art and craft.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So that's my channel.
I'm looking.
I'm on its garden.
Got a YouTube channel.
That's it.
Oh, awesome.
Okay.
Um, my shameless plug is going to be the butterfly pavilion.
Go check out those leaf cutter ants.
If you're in the broom filled Denver area, whatever, definitely go to the butterfly pavilion
because the leaf cutter ants are, are, are absolutely amazing on the videos that I've
seen.
Cannot wait to see them in person.
So watch my channel because I'm sure I'll probably make a video about it and how awesome
it is.
So that's, that's really all I got.
Um, yeah.
Thanks for watching Invertecast.
We love you guys.
Thank you so much for being a part of the show and we will see you next week.
I believe we're going to be talking about, uh, roaches, right?
Yeah.
Let's talk about roaches.
Okay.
Let's talk about cock roaches.
So we'll, we'll, there's so many really cool species of cockroaches that I cannot wait
to teach you guys all about, um, next week.
So we'll see you guys then.
Thank you again, Simon.