Visit to Ghana

[EJ]

For those of you into reptiles and even for those who might have wondered where some of those reptiles come from that you see in a pet shop...

I spent the weekend of the 24 of May on a job related trip. I didn't see much outside of the airport in Accra. It was my first trip to Africa and it was a very pleasant... but short trip. I'm definately going to try to go back. I work for Delta Airlines.

The people were fantastic and extremely friendly and made us feel very comefortable. It looks like a sad but really nice place to visit.

A friend of mine visited there a few months before and send me this recent video produced by a friend of his. Es ist auf Deutsch mit ein wenig englisch but well worth watching the whole thing.

There are over 150 species of reptiles with many of them being vemomous. Give that a little thought as you watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZqZGHtizeI

From the video I could not believe how dry it looks. When I was there I noticed very little standing water but it was very humid at the time.
Here's some added notes that my friend provided...

None of the ball pythons tried to bite, they reckon there are between 9 and 18 million ball pythons in Ghana, they are very common, and they are allowed to collect 3500 females to get their eggs and they are then picked up by the government people and released back in to the wild. They can export 50.000 babies a year. I saw the boxes going out while I was there. 2500 at a time.

[emma_mcraf]

I have quite a phobia of snakes but watched this film (skipping through sections) and found it really fascinating.
The poverty in the area was striking and you can see why the locals hunt snakes to sell. The villagers must be in danger farming in those fields with cobras and mambas in the area, but I guess they know no different. They're probably taking huge risks hunting for snakes though.
For snake keepers I'm sure it's interesting to see their natural temps in the caves.

I did have to look twice four minutes in at the little boy holding the HUGE knife.

[EJ]

The majority of the people I met thought I was crazy when I asked about the local wildlife including reptiles. I'll be willing to bet the majority are just as affraid of snakes as the next person.

When I flew in I couldn't help but notice the lack of paved roads even within the city.

Originally Posted by emma_mcraf

I have quite a phobia of snakes but watched this film (skipping through sections) and found it really fascinating.
The poverty in the area was striking and you can see why the locals hunt snakes to sell. The villagers must be in danger farming in those fields with cobras and mambas in the area, but I guess they know no different. They're probably taking huge risks hunting for snakes though.
For snake keepers I'm sure it's interesting to see their natural temps in the caves.

I did have to look twice four minutes in at the little boy holding the HUGE knife.

[emma_mcraf]

Originally Posted by EJ

The majority of the people I met thought I was crazy when I asked about the local wildlife including reptiles. I'll be willing to bet the majority are just as affraid of snakes as the next person.

When I flew in I couldn't help but notice the lack of paved roads even within the city.

It must have been a huge eye-opener for you. When we live in affluent countries, it's so hard to comprehend just how life must be for these people. We see it on the TV but actually seeing it in person must be a different thing altogether.

I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to snakes but are the locals in danger of being hunted by them? You hear of reticulated pythons eating humans - would this be the case with ball pythons too or do they not grow big enough?

[Catwoman63]

Shame i cant view the video while im at work, but will take a look on my mobile internet when i get home, i love snakes so will be interested to see it x

[EJ]

An extremely large ball python is about 4 ft long. They appear to be very docile. Their main defense mechanism is to curl up into a ball... hence the name.

I've been traveling the world over all my life so I've seen inpoverished areas before. I was kind of expecting what I saw but then again not. I was kind of a strange experience. Again the people made me feel very much at home so I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other.

In the reptile industry you are forced to look at the world outside of the box if you look at where the animals originally come from. My first experience with this was with a collector in the SE US in the 70s. Some people eek out a living anyway they can. Did you notice the part in the video where they found the baby snakes and how happy the kids and family got? They are only allowed to collect eggs, babies and gravid females. The gravid females are held until the eggs are dropped and then the adult females are released.

Originally Posted by emma_mcraf

It must have been a huge eye-opener for you. When we live in affluent countries, it's so hard to comprehend just how life must be for these people. We see it on the TV but actually seeing it in person must be a different thing altogether.

I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to snakes but are the locals in danger of being hunted by them? You hear of reticulated pythons eating humans - would this be the case with ball pythons too or do they not grow big enough?

[EJ]

It is an interesting video. I makes me jealous that I was there and didn't take the time to venture out a bit. That video was shot about 45 minutes from the center of the city.

Originally Posted by Catwoman63

Shame i cant view the video while im at work, but will take a look on my mobile internet when i get home, i love snakes so will be interested to see it x

[emma_mcraf]

Originally Posted by EJ

An extremely large ball python is about 4 ft long. They appear to be very docile. Their main defense mechanism is to curl up into a ball... hence the name.

I've been traveling the world over all my life so I've seen inpoverished areas before. I was kind of expecting what I saw but then again not. I was kind of a strange experience. Again the people made me feel very much at home so I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other.

In the reptile industry you are forced to look at the world outside of the box if you look at where the animals originally come from. My first experience with this was with a collector in the SE US in the 70s. Some people eek out a living anyway they can. Did you notice the part in the video where they found the baby snakes and how happy the kids and family got? They are only allowed to collect eggs, babies and gravid females. The gravid females are held until the eggs are dropped and then the adult females are released.

I did notice that the people were all so friendly on the film. I often think that they offer true hospitality and would be willing to share, despite having so little themselves.

Yes, I saw the bit where they pulled the babies out the cave and the mother holding her child was very excited about it.
It looks as if the pythons are thriving there and so perhaps hunting the babies and taking the eggs helps to balance the numbers. It's clearly a crucial income to those who live there.

[EJ]

The taking of these animals does seem to be well thought out. They used to come in by the thousands as adults but the dealers new that could not last so they offered this alternative which seems to be working quite well for this species and many others.

Originally Posted by emma_mcraf

I did notice that the people were all so friendly on the film. I often think that they offer true hospitality and would be willing to share, despite having so little themselves.

Yes, I saw the bit where they pulled the babies out the cave and the mother holding her child was very excited about it.
It looks as if the pythons are thriving there and so perhaps hunting the babies and taking the eggs helps to balance the numbers. It's clearly a crucial income to those who live there.

[Geomyda]

Originally Posted by EJ

The taking of these animals does seem to be well thought out. They used to come in by the thousands as adults but the dealers new that could not last so they offered this alternative which seems to be working quite well for this species and many others.

interesting Video!
Good to see Herr Pether, perfecting his German language presentation too.
These short programmes do provide an insight into the collection and trade in this popular vivarium species. The docile female in the clip shows I think several attributes which makes them suitable to the Vivarium hobby:
1. Size; not too large.
2. Natural colouration; beautiful in the wild form, not necessary to vary this too much in genetic mutations, and risk in breeding!
3. temperament; wild docile nature, is attractive feature in captivity.
The video clip also reminds me of the early Durrell collecting trips : "Bafut Beagles". Recommended read for hobbyists of all ages.