Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Florida and have been told that it is illegal to own (or capture) an Eastern Indigo....however.....@1.5 yrs ago, I purchased Florida's Fabulous Reptiles and Amphibians book published by World Publications (written by Winston Williams and photographed by Pete Carmichael copyright 2001) and it reads that an Eastern Indigo CAN be owned (or captured) WITH a permit (however it cannot be sold commercially). So, I have called (repeatedly) Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commissions to see if this is valid.....and everytime I have called "they" act like I am speaking French. They direct me to different departments, different phone numbers, (blah, blah, blah).....and no one seems to know how to answer my questions. I even contacted World Publications and they said they are *just* publishers and could not validate this nor could they direct me to another means.

SO.......does anyone here have any information to validate this or another contact for me to try and see if this is valid?

I tried again today (FGFWFC....in hopes of speaking with someone who understood English....and zilch! So, I'm about to give up!

Your help will be appreciated and thanx in advance
Tom Murphy

I have tried via e-mail to get the same answeres, but so far no reply. I got the name of the person in charge, "Angela Williams" from a lawyer named Curt Habsmeier. He was sucsessful in obtaining that elusive permit. I got his name from George Van Horn who is the owner of the Orlando Serpentarium. He has several indies as well. Angela Williams can be reached at:
angela.williams@fwc.state.fl.us 850-921-5990
Curt Harbsmeier at 863-619-7330. George is at 407-892-6905.
If you talk to George see if he has an e-mail address. I'd realy like to have it. If you get a chance, I recomend going to George's place and catch his venom milking show. I hope you have better luck than I.
But please,...no matter what happens, don't ever take any indies from the wild! Good luck.
Tony.

Thanx Tony......I'll give them a try. Nothing else has worked, but it's worth a shot.

And no worries about taking from the wild...first off...I haven't seen one yet..and secondly.....I know better.

Thanx again
Tom

There is a provision in Florida law for permits for Eastern Indigos. However, getting one could probably be equated to getting the IRS to tell you that they don't want you to pay income tax any more. If you just want to have one for personal reasons...such as for a pet, you have almost no chance. A few have been issued, but VERY few. Forget about the possibility of breeding them...that ain't gonna happen. If you can show that you are going to use the animal for educational purposes, you have a slightly better chance.

Thanx oldherper......it makes sense now as to why I was being "ignored".