ST MARYS STAR (Australia) 18 April 07 Mad as cut snakes (Katherine Fenech)
People who sell from car boots in parks or car parks might look a bit dodgy but some aren't as shady as they might seem.
With theft of reptiles becoming more prevalent across the region - some snakes can fetch $10,000 - licensed keepers have taken to advertising their wares on internet forums and meeting buyers in public places away from their homes.
Hawkesbury Herpetological Society vice-president Michael McFadden said a reptile keeper who was selling 20 babies from a litter did not want to have 20 people knowing where the snakes were kept.
''Quite often they'll meet somewhere down the road, just for the sake of not bringing people to your house,'' he said.
Mr McFadden said that snakes could cost from $150 to $10,000 but he had not heard of keepers installing extra security, apart from perimeter alarms, in their homes.
A National Parks and Wildlife Service licence is required by anyone who keeps or sells snakes. Anyone buying, selling or possessing snakes without a licence can be fined up to $11,000 and face up to six months in jail.
Brendon Neilly, the service's wildlife licensing officer, said buyers were responsible for finding out whether the seller was licensed.
Featherdale Wildlife Park's senior park curator, Evan Harris, said two Arafura file snakes, a Collett's snake and a water python stolen from the Doonside wildlife park in October had not been located.
''We've had our ears to the ground, so whoever's got them was pretty keen on them and wanted them for themselves, and kept it quiet,'' he said.
He said some of the six snakes stolen from a Colyton home last month - an Atherton python, Centralian python and the black and gold jungle python from Central Australia - were rare on the Sydney reptile collection scene and therefore valuable.
Mad as cut snakes