Drache613":3vonkdzz said:
Hello,
Barbatas are stunning to say the least! I agree, size, color & the ability to sustain at higher humidity
levels.
There are a couple of breeders in the US I think that have some, but if so then they obtained them
illegally as they are not supposed to be exported from Australia. Unless there is old stock from
Germany or other countries that have had it for years before export halted out of Australia they are
not able to be obtained legally.
Tracie
Not been legal to take them out of the country since the 1980s so any that aren't being bred as pure barbata breeding programs (in zoos most likely) outside the eastern Australian states since then are guaranteed illegal / trafficked.
I occasionally get an adult wild barbata visiting my front yard (loves to get into the lower branches of my gumtree after catepillars and spiders).
I had a pet adult barbata as a kid , was gentle as and great very interactive peT, dad found it up under the Hillman's front fender and I took it home (was none the worse for the encounter and kept as a pet in big outdoor bird house).
I used as a kid go for holidays at Tamworth and at Ulan (near Mudgee) and I'd often find barbata's on tree stumps and "roadside" fence posts , I was able to walk right up them and I could see that they aware I was there but they'd do their I'm invisible and a piece of the tree stump / post thing and I was able pick them up and they were always very calm , rarely threat displaying at me. Never bitten by one (they'd rather run away than bite you).
Super easy to catch.
As soon as I put them back where there were they'd be off like a flash , often running on their two back legs …. and disappearing into the scrub / long grass or up a tree.
I also regularly get a visit from a wild adult male eastern water dragon in my yard. (He's a magnificient dragon close to a metre long !! & scared of nothing.