Being a "member of the reptile community," a veterinarian, and a Floridian for the last 7 years, I gotta chime in on this one. Without beating around the bush, I'm all in favor of restricting the importation and sale of giant constrictors. Very few private individuals have the facilities necessary to appropriately house and care for these animals when fully grown. With Burmese pythons being one of the most common and inexpensive constrictors available, far too many novice reptile owners bite off more than they can chew when purchasing that cute little juvie. Frankly, 95% or more of the people who own giant constrictors really have no business being the caretaker of an animal with the potential to grow that large. Even responsible owners sometimes have animals that manage to escape and these animals can and do wreak havoc on fragile ecosystems like the florida everglades. Granted, LOTS of other reptiles have been introduced and are flourishing and breeding in south florida. This is no less of a travesty. In the seven years that I have lived here, I have watched the native reptile populations literally disappear. You don't see the carolina anole anymore. They have been replaced by the more pugnacious and less attractive bahaman variety. Introduced species like the cuban knight anole, the haitian? curytail, the cuban treefrog, the african house gecko, and the green iguana are EVERYWHERE. With so many other more manageable, and less adaptive and destructive constrictor species available to the pet trade, an argument against such legislation simply makes no sense. I love my reptiles, but I'm a nature lover first. When pets threaten natural environments (and my sentiments extend to all pet animals not just reptiles) something needs to be done. Sorry if I've offended anyone, just couldn't leave this one alone.

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