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MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 18 April 07 Rules put squeeze on snake owners - In an attempt to fight proliferation of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, the Legislature and wildlife officers are placing new rules on some reptile owners. (Stephanie Garry)
Tallahassee: If you've ever had an urge to buy a giant constricting snake -- resist. The state soon could charge you $100 a year for it.
Bills moving quickly through the Legislature would require the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to mandate permits and fees from owners of certain reptiles. It's part of a joint effort between the Legislature and the commission to increase the state's power to keep tabs on snakes such as Burmese pythons, which have invaded the Everglades by the thousands and are preying on native wildlife.
Under the bills, owners of large pythons, green anacondas and Nile monitor lizards would have to get permits, inspections and pay the state $100 a year. According to a new wildlife commission rule that goes into effect in 2008, ''reptiles of concern'' must have a microchip implanted under the skin so wildlife officers can match pet and owner if the animals are lost or let loose.
''We still can be in business. We can still have these animals,'' said Eugene Bessette, a snake farmer in North Central Florida who serves on a wildlife commission council. ``It's just going to cost you.''
The commission voted in February to create a new category of state-watched reptiles that aren't poisonous, but are considered a threat -- either to the public, the environment or both.
Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist in Everglades National Park, said 170 pythons were captured in the Everglades last year, but that's just a sliver of a population that has thrived without predators. Tourists have seen at least two fights between Burmese pythons and alligators.
''Nobody scares a full-grown python -- nobody,'' said bill sponsor Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge. ``Not an alligator, nobody.''
The problem, the sponsors say, is irresponsible pet owners. People buy cute baby pythons when they're about a foot long. But when the pets grow to 20 feet and start to handle the owners, they are released into the River of Grass.
''It's mind-boggling that someone would call something a pet when it can eat you,'' said Rep. Ralph Poppell, a Vero Beach Republican. ``You don't want to be part of the food chain.''
The legislation, which is headed to the Senate floor and has one more stop in the House, would also allow owners to be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor and a $750 minimum fine if they let a snake slither to freedom. To exhibit the animals, such as in schools or zoos, owners would have to buy a $10,000 bond.
The wildlife commission plans to launch a campaign after the legislative session to make sure owners of the estimated 3,000 to 6,000 newly regulated reptiles know about the rules. State officials hope the requirements will give snake lovers pause before committing to a constrictor.
''We're not telling you that you can't have it,'' Poppell said, though he added, ``That could be down the road if people aren't responsible.''
Snow, the Everglades biologist, said he can't even think about eliminating the python population until the dumped-pet supply dries up. And he's troubled by snakes that have been found farther away from their swampy home.
''We're concerned that they're moving out of the South Glades,'' Snow said, adding that Florida's climate would allow Burmese pythons to live anywhere in the state. ``There's a lot of potential there for spreading.''
Reptile rules
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules will go into effect Jan. 1, regulating ownership of certain animals designated ''reptiles of concern.'' They are:
• Indian or Burmese pythons
• Reticulated pythons
• African rock pythons
• Amethystine or scrub pythons
• Green anacondas
• Nile monitor lizards
Owners will have to:
• Be 18 years old, complete an application and a questionnaire to get a permit
• Have a microchip implanted under the animal's skin after it reaches two inches in diameter to allow the commission to identify the animal's owner if it gets loose
• Meet record-keeping, reporting and cage requirements
Under a bill the Legislature is considering, owners of such reptiles would:
• Pay $100 each year
• Face first-degree misdemeanor charges for deliberately dumping a reptile in the wild
• Also, the wildlife commission will designate ''amnesty days'' when people can turn in their pets to the agency, which will try to find other homes.
Rules put squeeze on snake owners

I may meet with some criticism on this but I agree with this new law 100%. It looks as though they finally got it right.

The only two lines I did not like was:
''It's mind-boggling that someone would call something a pet when it can eat you. You don't want to be part of the food chain.''
Part of the food chain?!?!??!? What the! I've never heard of an American being killed and eaten by a full grown python.
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Christine
Tails With Scales Reptiles
Looks, brains, and venom . . . . how do I stay single?

Kind of a moot point I suppose, but I have never seen any actual evidence that any one person, let alone "droves" of python owners have been releasing their pet pythons into the Everglades. I think this is a baseless assumption perpetuated by anti-reptile legislators and biased media alike so as to stir up negative controversy and structured in such a way as to assign blame to all herp enthusiasts as a whole. I think it is nothing more than negative propaganda at its worst so as to serve an ever growing, country-wide "anti-reptile" cause.

Personally I feel the most likely culprit is the numerous hurricanes in the 90's that destroyed many reptile import houses and inadvertently "released" burms and other non-indigenous species into the Florida wilds that then went on to reproduce and establish wild populations.

I think if there is any blame to be laid upon man for the presence of burmese in the Everglades it is only that "we" have managed to kill off all the truly large alligators over the last century or so and there is thus a lack of any real natural, Apex predator for any considerable-sized python. I think if there were more large gators very few if any wild-produced burms would make it to maturity to breed and reproduce.

These are just a few of my thoughts.
Our Website

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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

There are no warehouses within 10 miles or more of where all the ones they have been finding are being found.....there out in the middle of nowhere....

Ya you're right I mean there is no way on earth those snakes would ever travel 10 miles...

OR you're wrong.

Actually everybody's wrong. You can't say it's not due to hurricanes because we know that's true, but you also cant say that people didn't release their animals down here because it doesnt make sense. I've gone out to the glades and found bags of dead puppies and various other things people have left at dumping sights. Also, beginner herp keepers are careless sometimes. I know people who have left their animals outside for "just a minute" or were just holding the animal outside and it got away. I actually have a burm that the owner kept outside in a cage that wasn't exactly snake proof, who said that his snakes have scared the neighbors more than once.

It's everybody's fault.

MY main concern about it is that the ones they catch they "cant find homes for" and kill them within a day or two. Thanks for the effort fish and wildlife.

>>I think if there is any blame to be laid upon man for the presence of burmese in the Everglades it is only that "we" have managed to kill off all the truly large alligators over the last century or so and there is thus a lack of any real natural, Apex predator for any considerable-sized python. I think if there were more large gators very few if any wild-produced burms would make it to maturity to breed and reproduce.
>>

Why do you think that? Burmese and Alligators do not inhabit the same microhabitat-while they do overlap, it's not nearly enough to completely supress the population of Burmese in the Everglades. Even if there were more, large gators, the chances that they could make a significant difference is not very high.

While I am a huge supporter of keeping large constrictors as pets, thinking that "man" did not generate the presence of Burms in the Everglades may be a bit "optimistic". Furthermore, even if only the large-scale importers created the mess, they're still "man", and they undoubtedly were maintaining these snakes in substandard conditions which potentially made it more condusive for their escape. Saying that they "escaped" from warehouses seems to me like you're turning a blind eye to the same, basic problem: irresponsible reptile owners.
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~Brian Ott

www.squamations.com

I think this quote:

'We're not telling you that you can't have it,'' Poppell said, though he added, ``That could be down the road if people aren't responsible.'' kind of says it all.

And of course, they can decide later to add boas, balls, sand boas, or whatever they deem appropriate once they have the "foot in the door".

Hopefully, the kind of people who would release a python in the wild are also the kind of people who will dutifully pay the $100 and not just go to an out of state expo (or the Internet) and just buy whatever they want. Once they decide to go underground, they will be a lot harder to keep track of. But I have my doubts that this is the case.

Unfortunately, the people most likely to comply with the new law are not the most likely to illegally release an exotic in the first place.

Hope it works the way it is supposed to.

like gun laws so to speak, most gun owners are not drug dealers, killing each other in drive by shootings or going berserk and killing 32 people in a fit of rage. I live in New Jersey and am quite content with our laws, NY is insane, ball pythons are illegal to possess, they also said no iguana's , oh wait the NY law says no "Iguanidae" which = you can't even have a lot of smaller lizards as well. In NJ they made anacondas a potentially dangerous species, but since I had them on my permit already for years they are grandfathered. NY does no such thing, it is almost like communism in some instances. NJ does not often follow others legislation wise, at this point NJ is a dream and in the not so distant past was considered the most restrictive, but many states are going from "no laws" to outright banning of most snakes over 9 feet and in some instances like NY an out right ban altogether on Pythonidae.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

inside the city limits all 5 boroughs, No pythons or boas of any type....outside city limits = pythons or boas are allowed except retics,burms,anacondas(yellow or green),african rocks, and scrubs (all species). So in white plains for example they still are allowed smaller species, Staten Island is not allowed anything, not even a ball python or a sand boa.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research