ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 09 February 08 Central Florida counties seek stricter snake ownership laws - A state association will meet with wildlife officials to seek stricter requirements for owners of risky pets. (Denise-marie Balona)

Photo: Josh Kibbey holds a non-venomous Reticulated Python in his snake room. He has a license to keep venomous snakes as do several other people in the Central Florida area. (Dennis Wall)

Deltona: You'd never know that inside Brian Radenberg's house on Snow Drive are the things of nightmares.

Well, nightmares for many people. The 54 cobras, vipers and other venomous serpents slithering in locked glass cages are Radenberg's pets.

And, until recently, he was able to raise and breed them as he pleased. But city officials learned about the deadly creatures and now want them out.

"What if they get loose?" asked Dale Baker, who heads code enforcement inVolusia County's biggest city. "What if there was a tornado that dropped out of the sky? Then we'd have 50 venomous snakes crawling around."

However, keeping snakes at home is legal with a state license, and there's little that local governments such asDeltona can do. Only the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has authority over who can have venomous reptiles and other exotic animals such as tigers and bears.

Other Florida communities have long been frustrated about what they consider a public-safety hazard. Seeking action, the Florida Association of Counties has called a special meeting this month with the wildlife commission. The association, a tax-funded lobbying and education group, will ask the commission Feb. 25 to begin requiring owners of dangerous pets to undergo criminal-background checks and to somehow warn firefighters, paramedics and police about the animals.

Association leaders also will request that the state limit dangerous animals to certain areas, association spokeswoman Cragin Mosteller said.

Hundreds come to this state to raise snakes because the warm climate is ideal. In Central Florida, zoos, laboratories and universities are licensed to keep venomous reptiles. But the vast majority of the region's nearly 50 licenses are held by residents who keep snakes at home.

"People throughout history have been infatuated with wildlife and wanted to contain it and study it, and this is an evolution of that," said wildlife-commission Capt. John D. West, who oversees snake licensing.

Many owners try to keep a low profile so their neighbors don't panic. But West said enthusiasts such as Radenberg, 37, and Josh Kibbey, a 29-year-old snake keeper in Oviedo, are experienced and careful.

They also have met strict requirements, including completing 1,000 hours of training and passing surprise inspections.

Kibbey, who keeps about a dozen venomous snakes in the house he shares with his mom inSeminole County, has worked with snakes for years. He thinks more people would become snake fans if they took the time to learn about them. But they're not for everyone.

"You get people that they got to have the newest car or the biggest animal and this and that -- because nobody else has it," said Kibbey, who works at a pet shop. "I don't want somebody getting into it for the wrong reason."

Industry leaders and scholars said interest in reptiles and ownership has grown in Florida and around the world. The number of licenses issued in this state, however, has fallen since the permit fee rose from $5 to $100 about five years ago.

State officials acknowledge there are likely people in Florida who own deadly snakes but do not have licenses -- a crime punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Florida's snake-friendly rules are one of the main reasons the state is attractive to snake keepers, said B.W. Smith, who owns Southern Reptile Education, a Smyrna-Ga.-based consulting and training group.

Smith said some states and cities have been terrorized by snakes and, as a result, have prohibited venomous reptiles or adopted regulations so stringent that they amount to a virtual ban.

"We saw this happen inAlabama several years ago," he said via e-mail. "Some idiot had a couple cobras get loose in his trailer park, and the state promptly proposed an all-out ban. It was later changed to a permit system. We most often see this in cities."

Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said deadly snakes have no place in homes. If the reptiles escape -- even if they avoid humans, as scholars say they do -- they can endanger small pets.

In October, two policemen helped catch a 4-foot-long monitor lizard with potentially toxic saliva inEdgewood that had forced dogs and cats indoors.

"The zoos are very much capable of taking care of the exotics," Stewart said.
Central Florida counties seek stricter snake ownership laws

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