Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I just called a known reptile breeder in Philadelphia PA asking if he had an Eastern Kings. He said techincally Eastern Kings in PA are illegal to own as a pet since they are listed as rare in PA,close to endangered. Now I looked up some PA herp laws and found nothing about this. I was wondering if anyone in here is from PA and owns Eastern Kings or knows the laws regarding ownership of them in PA.

Thanks a lot!
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Reptiles
0.1 - Early 2002 Anery Motley Corn 33 1/2"
1.0 - Late 2003 Yellow Rat Snake 15 2/3"
0.0.1 - 2003 Banded California King Snake 29 2/3"
1.0 Green Anole
0.0.0 House Gecko
0.1 Painted Turtle

Mammals
4 female ferrets,1 male cat and 1 male doberman...and a few kids!

RIP - Nala my Rottie 08/19/2004

... the fish and game commission in PA. (maybe fish and boat?) they will send you a brochure, or I'm sure you can surf their site.
It is my understanding that you may own one (or a pair), but cannot legally buy, sell, trade, or whatever any native PA. snakes without a permit.
There are bag limits, and seasons on some like timber rattlers as well.
Please don't take my "understanding" as gospel and check into it deeper before acquiring any.
:Mark

Easterns are concidered native snakes in Pa (even though I read SOMEWHERE that the last one sighted was in 1910). You're allowed to collect 2 of any native species without a license or permit (except Timber Rattlers and protected species) but can't buy, or sell them. Someone did tell me that if you have "papers" stating where, when and how they were collected out of state you can buy them legally AS LONG as they were collected legally in that state. I tried E-mailing the Fish and Boat Commission about it, but never got a response. So, take that for what it's worth. Here's the regulations about collecting herps in Pa. sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/fishpub/summary/repamp.html
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Ace

What info I could find indicates that the Eastern King is still considered native to Pennsylvania, and is listed as rare - not protected, not endangered, and not a species of special concern. That means, according to their fishing/hunting regulations, you can keep up to 2 WC specimens if you can find them in PA. And you don't need a hunting/fishing license. But if PA is like many other states, you can't buy, sell, or trade any species that are native to that state. So even if there hasn't been a getula documented in PA since 1910 or whatever, you may well be out of luck as far as purchasing one in state.

As I recall (I used to live just across the state line in southern NY) , the range of L. getula barely encroaches into southeast PA, but I'm unable to find details on where or when they were last reported. Keith Hillson's site might have some info in this regard, but as far as I know, locale-specific Eastern Kings from PA are very rare at best, and may be totally absent throughout the trade.
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MichaelB

Yeah I have never seen an Eastern King in PA at all and trust me I have looked..lol..I have seen them in the NJ Pine Barrens but trying to catch one is a different story! Everytime I have seen them they hang near a bank of water right on the edge sunning themselves and when you get maybe 15 feet away they are gone right into the water! I have spotted a few snakes in NJ this year but no corn snakes Very rare in NJ now..I always check the sandy parts of the pine barrens since that is where they seem to hang out.NJ laws are strange also so when I do herp there it is only to look around. I went this year twice and got covered in ticks so I haven't been back since.Caught a few racers,seen three Eastern Kings,some milks,garters and copperheads..lots of turtles NJ also ...Pine Barrens are FULL of deer ticks which carry lyme...even using deep woods off they cover ya! Pulled off about 10 ticks the first time out and about 7 the 2nd time...
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Reptiles
0.1 - Early 2002 Anery Motley Corn 33 1/2"
1.0 - Late 2003 Yellow Rat Snake 15 2/3"
0.0.1 - 2003 Banded California King Snake 29 2/3"
1.0 Green Anole
0.0.0 House Gecko
0.1 Painted Turtle

Mammals
4 female ferrets,1 male cat and 1 male doberman...and a few kids!

RIP - Nala my Rottie 08/19/2004