Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have rescued four ball pythons and one red tail boa all very mistreated or going to be put to sleep. Even thought snakes are allowed to be sold in newport news there is an old law somewhere that says you can not own them. now even though i have rehabilitated these snakes and the SPCA found them to be in excellent living conditions they are still taking me to court to make me get rid of my babies. If someone could help me either find out how to over turn this law or obtain a liscense to keep reptiles in newport news va i would ne very greatful just think there could be a law in your area you dont know about just imagine someone knocking on your door telling you your snakes will be taken from you because of some law please help thank you

I live in Indiana and there is a small town south of Indianapolis called Whiteland. There is actually a law in Whiteland saying you can not own snakes. But there is a pet shop in Whiteland who sells snakes. Sounds like the same situation. Anyway back to the story, a friend lived in Whiteland, and eventually had to move, just to keep his snakes. He ended up moving about 10 miles away, out of town limits, and now can legally keep all the herps he wants. I know you probably don't want to move, but this may be the only way out. I would try and fight it legally in the courts, but you may not have much luck. Anyway I know its not much help, just wanted to share a similar situation.
Jason
www.CircleCitySerpents.com

I think we all need to get together and change these laws how can a reptile be dangerous in one town and safe 5 miles away in another??? there is strenght in numbers and alot of people own snakes maybe we can finally do something about this?

Sorry to hear the bad news. I think it sucks when old laws that might not even apply today are on the books and then some butthead makes a complaint and the law has to be enforced. I do think there are ways around it.

But useing the old, "If its leagal 5 miles away, then why is it not legal here" will not fly. Got to remember that each State and county and city and town and village wants to be in control of its people with-in its limits. And sometimes different areas have different needs and that's why they do it.

Why is a max speed in one state different in another? Because someone decided on it. Is it any safer to go 5 miles an hour in one state than in another? No...

What you want to do is 1st find out more about the law and when and why it was made a law. Then find out if the town Reps know about the law and their feeling toward the law. You might get lucky and find that city Reps. might be snake lovers and own snakes and never knew the law way there. You might find that they are more than willing to look at the law and amend it or even change it.

But, the more you know about it the more they will see your not just some flash in the pan and will go away. It takes work to make changes. Show your willing to put work into it and the Reps will take you serious.

Also, find out if there are pet stores in the limits, if they sell snakes. If so, thats ammo. They will more than likely want to back a change in the law. Do you have a local club or Herp club that you can contact? They might be able to help. Heck, go around and get 1,000 people to sign a patition saying they want the law changed. Depending on how small the town is, 1,000 signatures can be a lot.

Bottom line, know everything you can about this, be ready to work for your goal and don't give up...

Just my thoughts... JAZ

How did it happen that you were confronted on this? If you dont mind me asking

dont mind at all it is actually really messed up thing me and my husband took in a married couple that were living in there car because they lost there home they were his co-workers but we didnt know them very well we were just trying to be helpful they lived with us 3 months they stopped paying us and owed us 500.00 when they left then one night in the middle of the hurricane that hit va they came and tryed to break into our house we chased them out of the yard and he then drove his car into our yard 4 times trying to run us over he later came back and smashed up all three of our cars so we filled criminal charges on him after he was served his warrant the next day an unidentified caller (who we assume was his revenge) called the spca and said i had my four feet snakes in 1 foot containers with no water or food and they were pooing on themselves ect.. anyway thats not even close to true my sankes have a 125 gallon aquarium cleaned daily and the others have home built containers that are very spacious for there sizes way over the requirements in books you read. He knew that doing something to my animals was the best way to hurt me so he took the cheap shot and unfortunatly it is working because i'm devestated anyway no ya know it's a long messed up story and if i could get my scanner to work i will post pictures of my babies and there housings for everyone thanks to all who care.

sorry i forgot to post that when the SPCA checked out the snakes and there conditions they were found to be in excelent conditions just dont want people think that i didnt care for my babies