Repticon Dallas, Part 3: My Herp Haul

Besides the Zoo Med VIP Bag, there were several other items on my Repticon shopping list. I didn't find everything I was looking for, but I did buy (and win!) some nice goodies...and ended up coming home with more than I originally intended.

Some of the vendors at Repticon. Front and center was Feeder Source.

The first item on my shopping list was to pick up some more feeders and a new treat for Pakku. Unfortunately, none of the vendors had Blaptica dubia or any other feeder roaches for sale. I was really hoping to pick up more of those to add some genetic diversity (and volume) to my B. dubia colony. But, Feeder Source did have a good selection of *almost* every other feeder. I picked up a tub of 25 wax worms (Pyralidae moth larva) for $3 and didn't have to pay shipping, so it was a pretty good deal. There was an over count...but there were also a few very dead worms in the bottom, so it worked out to be 23 worms. Still a good price. I'm trying these out as treats for Pakku and the other frogs this week. Hopefully, Pakku likes these more than the nightcrawlers.

A tub of Pyralidae moth larva (aka wax worms) from Feeder Source.

The next item on my shopping list was a new edition to my frog collection...and I ended up bringing home two new, beautiful baby horned frogs for the price of one. The first one I picked up was mislabeled as an "Ornate Frog", but is actually a Fantasy horned frog. "Fantasy" horned frogs are hybrids--usually between an Amazonian horned frog (Ceratophrys cornuta) and a Chacoan horned frog (C. cranwelli). For now, I'm calling this little frog "Thing One" until I have a better idea of personality and sex. The second new edition to my horned frog collection (aka "Thing Two") is an ornate horned frog (C. ornata) that was just labeled as a "Pacman Frog". I'll post more pictures of these two this weekend.

"Thing One", a fantasy (hybrid) horned frog.

Once I checked off the items on my shopping list, I wandered over to the Leander Rattlesnake Fest Silent Auction table. (I'll have more information about the Leander Rattlesnake Fest, Rise Against Rattlesnake Roundups, and N.E.W.T. next week.) There was a great selection of items donated from several of the vendors and people involved in Repticon Dallas--all to help raise money for the Leander Rattlesnake Fest. There was a Cen-Tex Custom Reptile Cage, an Exo Terra incubator, a nano Exo Terra terrarium, a corn snake, a beautiful snow morph leopard gecko (that I wanted to bid on), several herp books, etc. Since I'm not quite ready for a Cen-Tex cage or incubator...and I probably would have ended up sleeping on the couch if I'd bid on the gecko...I bid on a few of the books. And, I won one of them...

Reptiles & Amphibians for Dummies...and me.

Reptiles & Amphibians for Dummies. Yep, right about my speed! (Or, a relaxing read between journal articles.) I'm actually surprised that I hadn't already picked this book up at Half Price Books. Well, now that I have it, I see another book review in my future. For now, here's a preview.

I love how well organized these books are.
Click on the picture above to see a larger image.

I also love the use of humor in these books.
Yes, I am one of those people who starts reading these books by checking out Rich Tennant's The 5th Wave comics.

Most of the books in the Dummies series are printed completely in black and white, so I was very pleased to see a section of color photographs inserted in the middle of this book. I'm even more pleased that it includes a picture of a beautiful adult ornate horned frog.

In addition to the silent auction on Saturday, door prizes from sponsor Exo Terra were given away hourly on both days of the show. I was glad I stayed through Sunday afternoon because I won one of the last few prizes...an Exo Terra Breeding Box...pacman frog size!

A small Exo Terra Breeding Box.

Pacman frog sized!

And, I couldn't leave any vendor event without gathering flyers and business cards from everyone I spoke with.

A pile of flyers from various vendors.

I brought home a small stack of business cards from Repticon Dallas.
If you were a vendor at Repticon and I didn't get your contact information, please email me at paraherpetology@gmail.com

I hope you enjoyed sharing in my Repticon haul. Stay tuned for more Repticon posts tomorrow and throughout next week.

[Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Repticon, Exo Terra, Zoo Med, or any of the other sponsors of Repticon. I was not asked to write these blog posts and was not compensated for them. Everything in these articles are my own observations and opinions.]