Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a notice in the mail that the FL fish & wildlife conservation commision is holding a meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the laws pertaining to Venomous reptiles. The location and times are below.

January 23 2007, 7:30-9:30pm
Kissimee Civic Center
201 E Dakin Ave,Kissimee,FL,34741
Copies of the proposed changes can be found at www.myfwc.com

If you have venomous permit or plan on getting one some day please make every effort to attend this meeting! The subjects being discussed will be the proposed rules regarding identification of exotic animals,definitions, record keeping, reporting and caging requirements.

Ryan Mccullah

they are meeting and speaking about the same issues regarding the large constrictors. I have one question, what is wrong with their proposals? The want people that own these animals to keep records of their animals and the breeding results, have a set rule about cage requirements and have all animals microchipped. Again if you are a responsible keeper, what is wrong with these rules? It's better than an all out ban isn't it?
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Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.0 spider
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
0.6 50% poss het pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of normal female breeders
a bunch of normal female holdbacks and several rescued normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I agree with most of the regulations.I have a locked separate building on my property, all of my cages exceed the proposed requirements, all my cages already have ID cards, I have the same plan in case of hurricanes that I have always used, My bite protocol sits in a folder hanging on the wall by the exit door, as is the case with everyone else I know who keeps venomous in FL. like you said these requirements are things that anyone responsible does anyway,they are just are adding a lot of paperwork to go along with it. The micro chip regulation sucks.

"It's better than an all out ban isn't it?"
I don't agree with this logic,
If the law will solve a problem then make the law. If there is not a problem don't make a law to fix what isn't a problem.
venomous escapes simply are not a problem in florida.

We have used pit tags for 15 years without problems. Why are you against using them? Some say it puts the keeper at risk. I would say if you can not tube your animals to pit tag/check pit tag then you should not have a permit.
Also there have been escapes of venomous. One such escape was made famous on Miami Animal Cops.(Spitting cobra, king cobra, forest cobra and a few others)
A strong permit system over a ban. Its up to the keepers to decide which.

Jim Harrison

It's not a matter of not being able to restrain a snake and inject a PIT tag, I would bet that any primate with an opposable thumb could be trained to do so, its not rocket science. It is a matter of being told I must handle my animals and inject them with a tag that I don't like.
In all the discussions I have had with various indivual members of the FL FWCC, and as has been pointed out at many of the meetings held over the last year or so, all of the escapes in FL have been the result of a small number of repeat offenders.
One individual in the orlando area in particular comes to my mind since I saw news story after news story covering it. The neighbors clutching their children on camera while relating the story of finding albino rattlesnakes in their back yard, revoke these peoples permits and solve the problem that way. but that would make sense.

the main problem as you have stated is the uninformed public. With these regulations perhaps some of them will feel a little more comfortable knowing that if a cobra (just as an example) gets out, we can track it to an idividual person and that person will be held liable and be able to be prosecuted(sp) without the defence of "that wasn't my cobra". While I don't keep any venomous anymore, I feel that these regulations are a step in the right direction where as many other municipalities are going in the wrong direction by banning these and other animals.
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Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.0 spider
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
0.6 50% poss het pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of normal female breeders
a bunch of normal female holdbacks and several rescued normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

The uninformed public will never be comfortable at any real level with this hobby, no matter what regulations are in place.
Do you really picture someone saying "oh well if they have microchips in them then thats a different story!!" If the comfort level of the average person is the criteria for passing laws then bans are going to happen. If the regulating agency studies the situation and passes laws based on actual danger to the public, the keepers and the snakes rather than perceived danger then maybe some good laws will come of it. I think the FFWCC has done an excellent job of looking at the issue in an unbiased manner and like I said I agree with the rules that I believe will raise the bar in regards to husbandry standards and safety, I disagree with the rules that seem to add a lot of unnecesary BS to the mix. Thats my opinion, but maybe I'm being unrealistic expecting reality to be used to pass legislation.
Ryan,