Chlidonias

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Jan 2014 - Smaug (Cordylus) giganteus

in the fish section I found a very nice reptile shop with very nice set-ups where the staff were really friendly and professional. This photo was taken there.

In the stall areas the reptile sellers are often very wary and all the tortoises especially have signs saying No Photos - probably to cover themselves for when they have illegal species.
 
If it's the same shop, I think I remember this place. Did they have young star tortoises too? It was nice to come across more reputable shops like this, often with several young (presumably captive-bred) animals.
 
it is probably the same place, just a small shop. In the window there was a lower tank with baby star tortoises, then a row higher up with tanks of baby alligator snappers (really cute!) and a couple of tiger salamanders. Inside the shop there were the chameleon tanks on the back wall and on the right hand wall these Cordylus in a lower tank and chameleons higher up.

I did tend to find that all the fish sellers were very friendly and welcomed you to take photos (same in this reptile shop) but the sellers of mammals and birds (the wild ones) were extremely hostile. The sellers of the domestic birds (budgies, chickens, etc) were fine with it.
 
aha, they do look like Smaug! I had no idea the genus for them had changed!!
 
They look healthy, but to be honest this is a species I'd prefer not to see in an Asian animal market. Threatened, protected and very difficult to breed in captivity, meaning that this pair likely are part of the illegal wildlife trade.
 

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