If your concern is with protecting our locals then I believe you are totally on the wrong track.

What do you think would happen if our borders were policed as strictly as you want with regards to Tarantula imports? Even playing along with your "these that are already in the country are different" scenario. Every Hobbyist striving for something more and different than Brachypelma albopilosum and Acanthoscurria geniculata (I also keep both these species-nothing wrong with them) would turn to our locals to feed that need.

One of the things that I love about the hobby is the hundreds of different species you can keep. Species with special needs, behavior, and yes appearances too. And if there is a certain specie I fancy, I will get it....

You can say all you want about playing the "at a time your spiders was illegal too" card. Fact is, if it was not for Illegal imports-not you,me or anybody would have been able to keep Tarantulas. Until the time comes when our Locals are legalized or Import Permits are issued.

So enjoy your Illegally-imported-8-legged buddies. I promise you I do....

Zane I think you missed my point there. There were talks with Natcon going on with the aim of legalising the keeping of locals. I think all can agree if we had a choice then we would rather have locals in our collections then rare imports.

I do not know what the progress is on those talks or if they are still going ahead. But this is the reason I feel that importation should be kept off public forums. Anyone with just the slightest knowledge can see that there are alot of rare Ts popping up more frequently and are imports.

If our hobby is know for its disregard for the law. How would anyone in there right mind give us the freedom to keep locals?

Hope this makes sense.







Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

No we can't all agree...I will certainly keep locals, but I will most definitely keep rare Exotics as well...

You my friend, are the one missing the point...Were it not for the imports you so vehemently fight against, our hobby would not exist...

I feel that trying to justify imports is like trying to justify Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Just because someone wants it/wanted it, doesn't make it right. I also feel that a price thread for imported ts is unnecessary as the importers will set their own prices anyway and people will buy them anyway.

That's my R1.74

I am with Zane on this one I'm afraid.
If we could get a standardized list going on the price range for the rarer T's it would help prevent people from not getting ripped off just because it's another blue spider.
As for the debate on legal or illegally imported T's, I think it is a senseless debate as the hobby is up and alive and largely due to illegally imported species, nobody can deny that. It's a fact.
Everytime somebody posts a breeding report of an as yet unavailable species, where do you think it originated from?? Probably fell from the sky I suppose.
Anybody against this is a little naive in my opinion, or perhaps jealous at not being able to afford the rarer species?
This is a great way of learning which of the rarer species are already in the country at the moment, if there is a breeding pair and that might be available in the near future.
@Zane, I would love one of those Olygoxystre diamantinensis that you have. Just saying.

My only rare T's are:
Ephebopus cyanognathus - Blue fang tarantula - 4-5cm. For me it's priceless. Probably worth R600-R700(paid R450)
Ephebopus murinus - Skeleton tarantula - 1-1.5cm. Probably worth R450(padiR450)

Great thank you Steven! Someone who gets what I was trying to accomplish with the thread...

Now everyone that wants to compare importing T's to Racism, World War 2 or 9/11, please start a thread for that...