Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is fairly certain that FL V.niloticus(not V.ornatus)owners will have to maintain a pet permit and get their captives microchipped following July 1st, 07. I have heard rumors circulating that Avid microchips that have been inserted into snakes have caused sterility once activated. Has anyone heard of this? There are some pretty reputable breeders making these complaints... Does anyone here have microchipped animals(monitors?), and have you produced viable eggs, offspring from these animals? I was considering having some of my animals microchipped as I fell victim to turtle theft(sounds funny but it wasn't) in 2006. Any info would be appreciated... Thanks ahead- Mike

Hi Mike, Pit tags do not cause any harm, unless the person placing it is a completely ding dong.

I do not use them on captive reptiles, but have been using them for many many years with our field work.

They have not caused sterility, even when we accidentaly inject IP instead of SubQ. Over the many hundreds we have made a few mistakes, hahahahahahaha.

The real problem is, these tags are not as reliable as they are made out to be. Reptiles are amazing creatures with their ability to heal. We found, and so have others, that over a period of time, reptiles migrate these tags and expell them out of their bodies. Even when placed IM or IP. Its very hard to know how often this happens as you have to catch one in the act of doing so, to understand it happens. If injected properly, they do not leave a scar, between scales.

If they do not have a tag, they are considered naive. And get tagged. You would not know if it had been tagged in the past.

So, we found evidence. This female is in the act of expelling a pit tag that has been SubQ for 5 years, during that time she had been recaptured many times and had produced at least two clutches of offspring. (find them gravid, find them not, skinny, lacking internal fat bodies) Enjoy the pic.

Thanks for the great info Frank... I am not as nervous about it now that I have some clarity on the subject, still, after viewing the pic I may still opt for a different method of identification when it comes to animals that do not require(by law) it. Thanks again-Mike

I have been using micro chips in monkeys, dogs, and cats for about 10 years now. The only thing I don't like about them is that they can "migrate". I have no experience with them in reptiles.
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Shannon in Reno
1 savannah monitor (Pombe-means "beer" in Swahili)
6 dogs
1 cat
32 rats
50 mice
54 chickens
2 beardies
1 black rat snake
~100 hissers
1 giant milipede