Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im looking to buy a king, but after some serious issues with both UPS(opened my box and dropped turtle!) and Airborne(overcharging and squashed a box with turtle inside), im not wanting to ship and would really like to meet and buy. looking for yearling brooksi or chains. i really wish i could do shipping, because i know guys like brandon osbourne and others here have some great snakes and great reputations. unfortunatly, i just worry about the snakes becoming victims of the local shipping morons.

thanks for reading!
greg

... I was under the impression you need permit(s) there for any indigenous species. Do you know where I could get info?
:Mark

yea, im not sure. ga laws are the biggest run around. im mostly inquiring about brooksi, which arent indigenous. if i was a real hardcore, "F the powers that be" kind of guy, id snag myself a baby chain from the numerous land development around here. i catch and release alot because atlantas growing so fast, the kings are losing homes. most go to protected woodlands around the chattahoochee and etowah rivers. i just want to be an honest-joe and buy (a nice CB king) one and hopefully try my hand at breeding one day.

Hmmm, assuming you have good habitat is that "protected" habitat, what makes you think you are doing the snakes a favor by relocating them into that area? I understand thedisgusrt over the loss of habitat (I hate seeing it, too), but that is no reason to introduce genetic pollution and possible parasites/diseases from one area into another. Besides, if the receiving site is already at carrying capacity (as it should be if it really is protected), then what makes you think you are saving a snakes life by relocating it? If the site is at carrying capacity, it can't sustain anymore without negative affects to the habitat. Either the relocated one or a native one has to die.

I suggest you follow the laws that are in place for a reason. I don't agree with Georgia laws, but breaking them isn't the answer, either. That said, any state that makes it illegal for an average person to release/relocate wild/captive animals has my utmost respect in that regard.

KJ

true, true! you are quite right, but it is very hard to just let them die. usually, i only relocate the ones that i feel are in pretty dire straights. i agree the laws are there for good reason, though they sometimes dont cover things like introduced species polluting their subspecies gene-pool(i.e. the former pet RES population is wiping out the naturally occuring YBS population in many areas). there needs to be laws in place for those who feel the need to release animals the no longer care for. every summer there's an alligator or caiman runing around..

Something needs to be done about Ga's crazy laws. Here we can have a native venomous snake with out a permit but not a native non venomous one. You can get a permit through the dnr and have eastern kingsnakes and corn snakes but first you have to prove to dnr that the snakes would be used for educational purposes.
Today I was cleaning out my 2003 female het for albino desert banded cali king I put her in a plastic shoe box with some air holes in it. It locked with a button and I thought it was secure enough well when I come back after cleaning her cage she was not in it. I looked every where in my room. Luckly I found her trying to blend in in a corner of my room. I was so glad to find her. Don't use shoe boxes that secure with buttons they are no good. We need to do something about these messed up laws.

when we gonna have a ga herp meeting?

I live in Temple Georgia its 50 miles northwest of Atlanta. How far are you from me? Each the Dnr meets to vote on which wildlife laws need to changed. I don't know what month they meet. Recently I wrote a letter to the Georgia Herpetological Society in Ga and the letter came back returned the address could not be found so I guess sadly Ga does not have a Herpetogical Society any more. I am working on getting a small herp club started in my area. You can bring your pets as long as they are on leash or in a cage. No venomous allowed. I am not against venomous just dont want anyone getting hurt or sued if one escaped at a meeting and bit someone. I belive that if more herpers banded together in Ga then maybe some day these crazy laws would be changed. The pet industry I know would support the change.

i agree some laws definatly need a change. i live in marietta, about 20 min from the ATL. how many ga herpers do you know? i think i know about 3...pretty sad, huh?

I know about 3 to 5 in Georgia that do it. Also have gained support in Alabamba. I belive theres enough people in Georgia to get some of the laws changed we just need to get more organized about it. You are probably about 37 miles from where I live. I live in Draketown. Would you like to help me put together a small free herpetological club in north west ga?
email me if you would like to discuss this further. I belive if herpers got more support and organized some of the crazy laws could be changed eventually.

The ones specifically listed by the state that you can't keep are Eastern (chain) Kings, Florida Kings (?), and Black Kings.

well, ive bought a hatchling florida king from a law-abiding pet store. i wish ga would change its laws. i can see that they mean well, but some of its ridiculous- you can take all the snapping turtles you want with a hunting/fishing liscense for food, but take one for a pet and youve broken the law.

Well, they do, but they are no longer recognized taxonomically. That means you can't really own them in Georgia unless they specifically recognize them asbeing legal animals for you to own.

BTW, that "law abiding pet" store selling a floridana ain't very law-abiding, is it???

KJ

L. g. californiae - California Kingsnake
L. g. floridana - Florida Kingsnake
L. g. getula - Eastern Kingsnake
L. g. holbrooki - Speckled Kingsnake
L. g. nigra - Black Kingsnake
L. g. nigrita - Black Desert Kingsnake
L. g. splendida - Desert Kingsnake

i suppose not, huh? actually, the large chain petstores like *etland, *ETCO, and *etSmart have all sold brooksi in the past, as well as corns, which are also illegal to own or sell in ga.