I have long wondered about how many if any of the current Mexican-line Rosyboas in captivity come from legally collected adults.

I made this insinuation on the internet sometime around 10 years ago and got lambasted by Rosyboa people saying that there were large legal collections in the US dating back to the 70s and those were the source of Mexican lines. Sorry, I'm sure that is true in part, but those legal snakes are a front to hide all the illegal lineages that have been smuggled into the country and continue to be smuggled in.

I personally have been to the home of someone who breeds rosyboas that they personally collected illegally in Mexico and sell on the open market. This person went to Mexico with another well respected Rosy Boa person. They both came back with snakes. The person I visited seemed to feel that it was no big deal. What was strange was this person didn't know me at all except by a few emails. He invited me into his house and freely showed me all the poached snakes describing how they brought them back illegally! I could have worked for USFWS for all they knew.

On a similar disturbing note, I know a person who is a respected researcher who collects (under scientific permit) species of coveted mexican herps and sells the offspring for big $$$$ (triple digits) to the public. If the Mexican government knew this person was doing this, I think they would look very poorly on it indeed.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

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