We vended at our first local expo on Sunday! Turnout was great. We brought our handsome Eastern Indigo, Blackjack, along for the ride. He was definitely the star of the show! I also got to snap a few shots of some species I don’t keep but always wanted to photograph – a Leopard Gecko and an African Green Bush Snake (Philothamnus spp.)
My husband and I have extreme social anxiety (among other things), so this was a huge step for us. While we likely will never be able to vend at any of the “big” expos, the fact that we were able to get out of bed at 6:30am and interact with that many people for several hours was a major accomplishment. We are set up to vend the same expo next month and look forward to it!
So awesome to hear this! It should be a great move, especially to immerse yourselves into a crowd of people that share the same hobby and passions!
We aren’t terribly social, ourselves, and crowds get our anxiety spiking easily. Sounds to me like a big step forward, and I hope it only gets better for you guys!
That’s awesome! My fiancé and I also have social anxiety so we can relate to that. We’ve vended at our local expo a few times, hoping once we get more established and start producing more that we can vend at some of the others that aren’t as local
This was from last weekend’s expo — sold all but 3 snakes and 1 is pending pickup from a local who put a deposit on one
I also have extreme social anxiety and I have to say I’m so proud of you guys! That is truly amazing. It’s such an intense battle and you did great! Your display looks amazing. Congrats on overcoming and getting it done!
Congratulations for this huge step! Hopefully next month’s expo goes well also! I have severe social anxiety that has been a nightmare and really held me back. Glad to see someone able to get past it enough to go have a fantastic time!
Just realized you were the one that share your C. Paradisi experience/care sheet with me and some others that were having difficulty with this species. You have way to much to offer this hobby to just hole up and not get out and network.
Thank you all so much for the kind words and support! It means a lot to us and certainly encourages us to keep on vending, and perhaps to one day expand beyond our local expo. Taking baby steps for now, but the fact we have such a supportive community helps us a lot. You folks are the best.
Your setup looks really good. You’all are so accomplished with exotic hard to keep species, you may be the first person in the world to successfully breed dragon snakes, and you take unimaginably beautiful pictures. (are you selling pictures at the Expo, I would so buy one) I hope someday you venture out to bigger venues, you could easily hold you owe with the big breeders.
Congrats on your first expo, and overcoming your anxiety! I plan on vending some of my local expos in the future as well once I get more established. Since I will be selling ball pythons, I need to try and find a way to stand out from the other vendors selling them.
