Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Oklahoma where it is illegal to own a hot species. At the last herp show i went to, there was someone there from kansas who said all his snakes come with permits, which makes them legal. is that true? does anyone live in Ok with venomous snakes? i tried to ask the fish and wildlife dept and no faster than i got my question out, they wanted my name address phone number ss# and a list of what animals i had so they could send someone to 'inspect my property'.... they didnt answer my question.... any help?
oh and i havent found any info online either.
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Yes, you can have venomous snakes in Oklahoma.. IF you have either a commercial and/or non-commercial wildlife breeders license (Under Title 29 of the Wildlife Statue). It costs $10 and you have to list all species you are keeping and have the game warden come to your facility to inspect your cages to make sure they meet the state's requirements. It is VERY IMPORTANT to also check your local county and city laws as well because in some cities it is illegal to keep them. ALSO...just because its legal doesn't mean its acceptable...without proper trainning and experience keeping venomous reptiles is wrong (legal or not).

My suggestion is call the wildlife dept. back and ask them to send you the regulations on caging and keeping requirements. Best whishes.
TCH Zoological

i beleive i have that application laying around here somewhere. It sounds like the same app to do wildlife rehabilitation. I'll send it in when i find it- and just for your peice of mind- i dont have any plans on getting anything venomous any time soon for the simple reason that i'm not experienced and i dont have the proper equipment. I have cages that would work great but no tubes or anythign like that- i have a snake hook that i use when i go snake hunting at the lake but thats the only experience i have- nothing about caging or temps or feeding or anythign like that. after i do A LOT (and i do mean A LOT) more research, i'll decide if its right for me or not.... thanks for the info though
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I certainly wouldn't give the F&G guys your name, number or
contact info. The last thing that you want is them flagging you
as a 'person of interest.' Or, worse yet-sending their gestapo out to harass you.

believe me i didn't tell them anything. I'm in pretty good with most of the 'animal control' type people around here. the lady i worked with before i started reptile rescue had bobcats and you aren't allowed to have exotic cats in oklahoma and certainly not in city limits- she never got in trouble simply b/c she knows the people that would come take her cats, and they wouldn't come take them. and she knows the people that would tell them to go take her cats and they wouldnt do that either. i've made friends with those people but fish & wildlife ppl are nuts and they're just way too many of them to 'get in good with them'. but i think im pretty safe as far as getting any of my stuff taken away- since they'd have to come right back to me since this is where most of the confiscated herps go anyway- and they all know that so they just leave me alone. none of my stuff gets out and eats the neighborhood dogs... or children (although that would be nice....) the kids around here come over and 'play' with some of the smaller snakes i have and occasionally we bring out the smaller burm for them to mess with under close supervision of course (by close i mean- i hold the thing and they pet his tail)

beth- who isnt a big fan of F&W
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue