First off, I'm new to California, and although I could tell you all about all the reptiles in my home state of new jersey, where I grew up, and probably a dozen places to find each, I haven't had the benefit of having all the free time I had as a child to flip over logs in the woods out here. I'm familiar with several of the western rattler subspecies in the area but am a little unsure if there are other species in my area, and flipping through my old wornout audubon society feild guide to north american reptiles has turned up some pretty vague descriptions as to some of the ranges of the snakes out here in the west. Where as I agree that most herp fans would be interested in indigenous species, I don't see how this is a pre-req for owning exotics. You've said i need to do a little more research on the topic, and overlooked the fact that that's EXACTLY what I was doing by making this post. Who better to ask than an entire board of people that obviously have a strong interest in this topic? Simply because I have made the decision to hold off on hots until I felt I was a little more ready for them (7 years of snake husbandry) doesn't mean I can't "realistically consider the consequences of such whimsical thoughts" More realistically I CAN and waited until I felt it was the right time to take on the endevour. You also assume because I'm interested in a gaboon that I obviously don't know the first thing about keeping them, when infact I have done my research on the species, and just don't see the merit of "working my way up" with species I'm not as interested in, that will only teach me the behaviors and traits of a species that are complelety different from the animal I want to move on to. I wouldn't be the first person on this board with that thought, and some of the others are experienced gaboon keepers. As far as knowing who to contact with my local venomous questions, I've been pointed towards California Fish and Game, but thought I'd ask some questions here, and educate myself a little further before I made that call. Thank you for your suggestions, as I appreciate any guidance, but please don't be so quick to judge.

-jeff

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