Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to sell and breed cal kings. Living in los angeles, I belive that I need to obtain a permit from DFG. Any of you breeders that breed cal kings know how hard is it to obtain the permit and what alls involved? Do fish and game need to do checkups at my home where the snakes are? are these permits costly?

Do I also need to obtain a permit for albino cal kings or only the normal colored ones?

Last but not least. If I buy a lot and sell them individually without breeding them do I still need a permit?

Thanks for any advice.
Jason

Hi Jason,

I was one of the first hundred or so people in the state to have the DFG's captive breeding permit. It is not a hard process to obtain one and you only need to report sales of normally colored rosy boas, cal kings, and all subspecies of gopher. With amels you don't need to report them.

I'm not sure of the cost, I dropped my permit several years ago. At that time it ran around $100.00 total (I was selling maybe $40.00 worth of snakes so it wasn't fiscally reasonable).

I am always hesitant to deal with fish and game. I had a bad experience with them while trying to obtain this permit (email me privately if you want the details). Others I know have had no troubles at all. Once issued your permit, Fish and Game is allowed to make random inspections of your facility. Just make sure you follow procedure, document, and know where to draw the line with them.

I would check with Bob Applegate, I talked with him at one of the IRBA shows not long ago and he has his permit still, he can probably fill in all the details for you. He is an incredible mentor. You can reach him through his website (www.applegatereptiles.com - I think).

Hope this helps,

Ian