Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are the laws for owning Black Rat snakes in Ohio. I live in Ohio and am thinking about getting a pair of normals. Do I need to do anything or can I just buy them and raise them?

Thanks,
Dan

Go to this site for some info
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us

In general, you need to pay a yearly fee (I think $25) and you also need to pit-tag them after they get to be at least 18 inches long (I believe), and that costs $10.

If you want to breed them, that's a different story...more fees.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake
0.0.13 2004 Eggs (potentially normals, hypos, caramels, and ambers)

I believe you are allowed to have four WC animals as long as you can tell ODNR where they were collected. I try not to deal w/ WCs, so I'm not sure but ODNR does have a website. As for C.b. animals, you are allowed to have them as long as you have a receipt stating that you obtained them legally. For either WC or C.b. animals you need to have a permit - $25 for keeping or $40 for commercial (selling animals). Animals that have a Snout to Vent length of (or over) 18" need to be PIT Tagged w/ an AVID microchip - available from ODNR. You need to obtain a permit w/in 10 days of receiving the animal(s). If you bring in animals out of the state, they need to have a Vet. health certificate BEFORE they enter the state of OH. You then need to obtain a permit # from the Dept. of Agriculture w/ the Health Certificate #. Contact me if you would like to avoid the whole Dept. of Agriculture thing as we are from OH & do have the permits.....

>>I believe you are allowed to have four WC animals as long as you can tell ODNR where they were collected. I try not to deal w/ WCs, so I'm not sure but ODNR does have a website. As for C.b. animals, you are allowed to have them as long as you have a receipt stating that you obtained them legally. For either WC or C.b. animals you need to have a permit - $25 for keeping or $40 for commercial (selling animals). Animals that have a Snout to Vent length of (or over) 18" need to be PIT Tagged w/ an AVID microchip - available from ODNR. You need to obtain a permit w/in 10 days of receiving the animal(s). If you bring in animals out of the state, they need to have a Vet. health certificate BEFORE they enter the state of OH. You then need to obtain a permit # from the Dept. of Agriculture w/ the Health Certificate #. Contact me if you would like to avoid the whole Dept. of Agriculture thing as we are from OH & do have the permits.....

IMHO that is absolute crap. IF it was an endangered animal I could see it. All this for the very common black rat????? What the heck is a "pit tag." I can just picture this; there is a knock on the door then you here, "Step away for the black rats, place your hands on you head and come out ." LOL! News flash man caught with to black rat snakes deTAILS at 11:00pm. The ODONR needs to get a life.
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Like I said; I`m Gonna Getcha Good!

Well, it indeed may be crap, but it is VERY real. In all actuallity once the ODNR people know that you have the snakes (or other native herps) they will come visit your home to make sure you know how to care for them and have them in escape proof cages.

Also, I guess you hadn't heard but there was a HUGE bust (at the All Ohio Reptile Show in Columbus) last year regarding the illegal ownership and sale of these and other animals. Hundreds of people were sited and many more animals confiscated.

Also, just so you know the law pertains not to just normal black rats, but all of the morphs, so a white-sided or albino would be illegal without the right permits too.

A pit tag is a microchip that is implanted inside the body of the animal, used for indentification purposes. There is big controversy around these as to whether they are safe for the animals, as the chip itself is a little bigger than a grain of rice (big to a 18 inch long snake) and the needle used to implant it is huge (the ones normally used on cattle). And of course, the ODNR doesn't care if you have a vet implant it or if you do it yourself, just as long as it gets in the snake. Also, I've heard that many vets will tell people that they will not put such a small snake through this proceedure, so many owners have resorted to doing it themselves, usually killing the snake in the process because they don't know how to do it. There have also been stories that the mortality rate of animals pit-tagged is very high, but there is no actual proof for this. It's just that a lot of wild animals (usually the endangered/threatened ones, like Massasaugas and Plains Garters) are pit tagged by ODNR people and then these animals are NEVER found again.

>>IMHO that is absolute crap. IF it was an endangered animal I could see it. All this for the very common black rat????? What the heck is a "pit tag." I can just picture this; there is a knock on the door then you here, "Step away for the black rats, place your hands on you head and come out ." LOL! News flash man caught with to black rat snakes deTAILS at 11:00pm. The ODONR needs to get a life.

-----
alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake
0.0.13 2004 Eggs (potentially normals, hypos, caramels, and ambers)

They got to keep the paychecks coming somehow. With all the money funding the war efforts & all, you know they are feeling the economic crunch like everyone else. If it wasn't all about the money, it would be illegal to go out and kill everyone you find but is that illegal?? NO!!!! They got to protect all those wild populations of Leucistics & White-sideds runnin' around out there AND yes, I am being sarcastic. The size of the PIT Tag applicators are obscene. They are the same applicators used on elephants, cattle, & horses.

You're not kidding about this ruling being a pile of crap. In addition, albino and other color morphs that are obviously captive bred are regulated too (unlike most other states where morphs are exempt). This ruling is just a way for the ODNR to make easy money and hassle the legitimate breeders who are actually supportig conservation by offering an alternative to wild caught animals.

Tim Spuckler