Interview with a Keeper – Mitch Daly

What started your passion for reptiles and getting involved in the hobby?

It probably all began before I can really remember. From an early age I had an immense love for animals, not just reptiles. I have early memories of my grandmother helping red bellies and browns off the pathways of our acreage property whilst also taking a lot of photos. From reptiles to birds to plants, all things nature. My passion for reptiles grew from there. I started keeping reptiles that I caught on the property or neighbouring bush before letting them go again a few days later. Back then I had no idea licensing existed. I incubated skink eggs in the early grades of primary school with good success in empty plastic bottles with dirt for fun.
I guess I got involved in the hobby when I got my first python on license in primary school in the early 2000’s. From there I found the Aussie python forum where I got a little obsessed with black and gold jungles. I was breeding bird mutations in high school at the time and that then transitioned to breeding snakes. The rest is history as they say. I still love all animals and plan to get back into more wildlife caring when I can free up some time again.

What age did you start your journey?

You could say the journey started very early. As soon as I was old enough to catch stuff, I loved catching skinks, frogs and tadpoles in preschool. I got my first legitimate on paper python in primary school which had to be in my mothers name, however my step brothers had a blue tongue skink maybe when I was around 6. 

What species do you keep?

That would be a long list, I might forget a bit here. In pythons, I keep Green Tree pythons, Carpets, Antaresia, White Lipped Pythons, Olives, Barroni, Oenpelli pythons, scrub pythons and BHP.
Off the top of my head the monitors i keep are Emerald tree monitors, Kimberely rock monitors, Pilbarensis, Hamersleyensis, Perenties, Lace monitors, Spencers, Mertens, Mangrove monitors, Rusty monitors, Rosenbergs, Scalaris, Tristis, Storrs and Ackies. Geckos I only keep Chameleon geckos and Cornutus leaf tails. Dragons only Boyd’s and Beardies. Skinks only a few Blueys.

What is your favourite species and why?

I have a very cliche answer for this one and I can’t choose just one so I will split it into monitors and pythons. Green tree pythons are hands down my favourite python. For as long as I can remember green or blue reptiles have fascinated me. They were the first python I bred so they have a strong nostalgic feeling tied to them for me. I think they are underrated to keep. I have been lucky enough to keep every Australian python and I hear a lot about green tree pythons not doing anything and being inactive but in reality, I find them to be the most active of all Australian pythons especially if you keep them correctly. They also have a lot of quirks that are fascinating such as the ontogenetic colour change, they undergo, the way they perch and their caudal luring.

My favourite monitor species has to be the emerald tree monitor. They are green and that ticks my love for blue and green reptiles however they have prehensile tails which is very unique and they probably have the most interactive and inquisitive personalities I’ve experienced in many monitors.

Do you breed your animals, and what is your secret?

I breed a lot of my reptiles. As reptile keepers we are incredibly lucky to be able to keep and breed reptiles. To be able to pay for my passion by doing my passion I’m very lucky. My secret is another cliche, do what you love and love what you do. Time and time again we see people come into the reptile industry that do not love reptiles as their priority and they often find it very hard and don’t stick around. So definitely only keep what you love and love what you keep.