Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Where can I find a copy of state venomous laws...just a quick run down of wether a state allows, natives, exotics, permits or not etc etc

thanks
Patrick

Go to the Kingsnake.com home page. On the left hand side there's a scroll down that lists all the states and you can look up any herp-relevant laws for each state.

it's not that great. I had to do a bunch of extra serching to find specific laws.

>>it's not that great. I had to do a bunch of extra serching to find specific laws.

If there are things we are missing, we would love everyones help to keep it updated! We gathered these back last year with HR669.
-----
Cindy Steinle
PHFaust
Email Cindy
Visit kingsnake on Facebook!
Follow Kingsnake on Twitter!

contact the fish and wildlife department for your state.
I'm in Oregon and was able to find everything online at the ODFW website.
-----
Jason

The problem i had is that i don't like in a big city or even a county that has a big city, so there wasn't a link to where i live specificly. It helped me with state laws, but since it was a link to a gov. website it was kind of confusing so i wanted to research to make sure i was understanding right. I understand it would be impposible to list the laws for every town, city, state, ect. I was just pointing out that if you don't live in a big city you won't find your specifics and you shouldn't just go by what your state laws are since most of my searches have show that city laws are usually more strict

I have never encountered a problem finding info I need regarding herp laws by just picking up the phone and talking to people. Once I get the info I need, I usually cross check it with the web site they provide to me. Maybe I'm missig something. Sure, there are times when you have to do a little digging and calling several departments to get the info you need but sometimes its easier than surfing the web.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>The problem i had is that i don't like in a big city or even a county that has a big city, so there wasn't a link to where i live specificly. It helped me with state laws, but since it was a link to a gov. website it was kind of confusing so i wanted to research to make sure i was understanding right. I understand it would be impposible to list the laws for every town, city, state, ect. I was just pointing out that if you don't live in a big city you won't find your specifics and you shouldn't just go by what your state laws are since most of my searches have show that city laws are usually more strict
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Sometimes its hard to find the numbers to call. We all don't work at museums

That remark was un-called for.

Randal Berry

What was wrong with his remark?
-----
Jason

Well I thought the comment "We all don't work in Museums" was directed at Rob because he works at a facility that's opened to the public and the implication was that HE, (Rob) had better connections than most. That's how I took it. If I am wrong, then I apologize. But that's how I read it. Why would he make a comment like that anyway?

Randal Berry

I kind of took the remark the same way (seemed like a dig). But it's really easy to take things the wrong way with e-mail type communication. Humor, irony, sarcasm, etc all can all fall flat. If it wasn't a dig, a thousand pardons, please. If it was, uh, can we try to be a little nicer here? We're a small enough group as it is, we really don't need to splinter...

Back to the topic - state-agency websites can really suck. Frankly, I'd say of the 56 or so (I'm including Guam , Puerto Rico, USVI, etc), most of them kind of suck: early-gen user interface, out-of-date content, broken links, etc. Sometimes one wonders "Are you trying to hide the info, or what?" (See, that's sarcasm, I don't think they're really trying to hide it, I just wish they had websites that better conveyed the info they want & need their constituents to have.) So, don't feel bad if you can't find what you're looking for. Info & education is usually the first thing to get cut, and have you seen state budgets lately?!? It's gonna get worse before it gets better.

As for phone calls, well...that's no sure thing either. You need to make sure you're talking to someone who can give you the full, up-to-date answer. Sometimes a long-time admin in a field station might not be up-to-speed on an admittedly esoteric topic. The date of the general-gun deer hunt opener, yeah you bet. But venomous keeping? Maybe, maybe not...so get ready for what might feel like the run-around, getting transferred all over the state. Or within a big office building at the capital.

The downer in all this is, "ignorance is no excuse". You can do your best to keep legal and still run afoul of the law. I'd document everything I did to get the info, where I looked, what I found there, who I talked with, what they said, names, dates, all that jazz. Sounds kinda paranoid but...it might come in handy some day in court. The judge might look more kindly on your honest (but inadequate) efforts to stay legal, and less kindly on the other side's lackadaisical efforts to help you stay legal.

I have found it takes more and more patience and care to exercise our hobby in full compliance with the law. Best of luck to you, and all the patience and care you can muster.

I took it the same way Randal but I just let that stuff roll off my back. Today's younger generation would have a hard time surviving back in the day when we didn't have computers, internet, etc. But, we certainly do have a lot of info at our fingers with the net, web sites, etc...almost makes it too easy.

>>That remark was un-called for.
>>
>>Randal Berry
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

wasn't trying to be rude. just ment we don't all have as many resources as others

Hay we all have the same ability to research any topic we choose.It is just so much easyer to just post a question than to do so.This has been my experience.
-----
Archie Bottoms

Its ok when you r talking about state laws. I live in a COUNTY with no museums, serpentariums, natural science centers, ect. If we have a town hall ive never seen it. Who do you call when your town is that small. I'm talking about specific area laws not state. I know the big city one county over forbids venomous and any snake that is over 6 feet long. I've made the calls for my area and the "official" told me it was legal "as far as they knew", they don't even have a website and they have never been asked that question before. What do you do?

I'd go with the "its legal" and get whatever snake you want.
-----
Jason

Steve, I understand your predicament. Please have another look at my post from a couple days ago - where I said "document, document, document".

I cannot strongly enough discourage the "just go with it's cool and do what you like" approach.

This is one way we get screwed, our snakes get taken away and usually killed, and the media (and sometimes overzealous prosecutors or bureaucrats) make us out to be dirtbags or worse. When we honestly thought we were acting in a legal manner.

Please don't do anything that could come back to bite venomous keepers in the behind. I guarantee you have a county government. I guarantee someone there is responsible (even if they're unaware) for knowing and enforcing the county's wild animal regulations. Or they'll know if there aren't any. It'll be the sheriff, animal control officer, or someone like that. When you talk with them, write down their name, title, what they said, the date and time, etc. And file that info away for later, just in case. If you tell them you're taking notes, they might take the time to go look up the 100% right answer, not just the answer they already know (which may or may not be 100% right).

A possible downside of looking into the legality is, they might decide now they need a law against what you do, and make one. (I have seen that happen.) But...inertia is a powerful force, a new anti-keeping law isn't likely. You might provide some reassurance of your capability (caging specs, hot room specs, handling protocols, etc). Or you might just ask general questions about "keeping wild animals" and not go into details unless they ask (which they might, if there are county laws about, e.g., lions and tigers but not monkeys, or whatever).

cheers,
Jimi

This was a while back that i was looking and i have found my answers. I was just pointing out the difficulty one can have finding these answers.