Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yeah, I stood outside the reptile show in Columbus for three hours, and finally had to give up and go home.

People outside were inconvenienced - in some cases, GREATLY inconvenienced. One fellow I talked to had come from Pittsburg...

And people inside were undoubtedly hit hard financially, with most customers giving up and going home after a long wait.

And who is really at fault?

Ohio regulations are not horribly complicated nor expensive. Those who failed to comply have no excuse in my opinion.

I have had numerous conversations with people at the shows in past months, and I got the same response from nearly all of them, with answers ranging from "Well, let some wildlife official find a motley sunglow cornsnake in an Ohio field, and then he can tell me it's native" to "Oh, I don't need a license, cause none of my herps are native to Ohio... I only have red-eared sliders, green snakes, and rat snakes..." and the real loser "I'm not gonna tell big brother what I have and ask permission to keep what I have."

For anyone else out there who might have a more mature outlook on life, the Ohio regulations can be found at the URL listed below. Compliance is easy, cheap, and reasonable when compared to states like Georgia, where native herps are just plain illegal in all forms.

Just make sure you check out the LIST of natives... some of them may surprise you!
Ohio Reptile and Amphibian Regulations

and grounded in common sense. I wish Georgia would follow this example.

I don't disagree with mose of what you say - but I think the out-of state requirement is a killer!!! and we all know in this business there are few vets who are qualified to certify reptiles as healthy - let alone the cost involved. Lets start imposing these requirements on pet stores first and maybe you could find a well taken care of healthy decent animal there.

I checked out the Ohio Herp Laws website you listed, and it seems quite complete (and reasonable) at first glance. But I'm missing the part about the killer out-of-state regs, which I assume means veterinary inspections of all animals for out-of-state dealers. In what portion of the Ohio Fish & Game site is it discussed? Thanks!

- Bill Love

I am not sure the vet requirement has to do with reptiles. We have several Columbus vendors with live mammals, such as Zebra mice, prairie dogs, and the like. I suspect that because these mammals are being sold at a reptile show, the show must be vetted... (?) but I am guessing...

THey made it clear it also applied to reptiles - but of course you made our point - who knows about this reg and what are the specifications??????

The regulations are simple, but I understand that breeders offering albino and licorice stick black rats were sited. I think that is a ridiculous interpretation of the regs. Its like charging someone for having a Labrodor retriever because the timber wolf is protected.

that one didn't make sense to you? as a herper , I would think you would understand that a motley sunglow or other cb morphs would only help take the strain of wild populations. also they can not be confused for wild animals and only help to build a greater respect for wild populations for those keeping them.all non wild morphs should be exempt from all conservation laws. i'm sorry you lost three hours of your afternoon, but think of those that are loosing thier investments in thier herps both finantial and time. P.S if you can tell me why a sunglow mot. should be illegel in ohio or anywhere i would like to hear why. griffindor

I am from Ohio and was at the show. Now I'm not saying the laws are to tuff for us n fact I think they are great. I don't have any snakes native to ohio or even the U.S. but I think it was just a waste of OUR money for THEIR 2 year investigation. Now I agree that our wildlife has to be protected but insted of harrassing a local reptile show they should have spent that money and time trying to find the quarter of a million children missing. I'm not going to rant and rave all day about this but I sure would like to see headlines read " All Ohio Reptile show big hit hundreds turn out" But it just don't sell newspapers I guess. Just my 2 cents take it or leave it.
P.S. I have lived in Ohio all my life and have never seen a native ohio luecistic texas rat snake. come on.
Gregz
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I'm not mad with insanity...I'm perfectly happy with it.

The courts of California did not consider these to be lame excuses years ago when Terry Lilley was arrested and had his colony of amelanistic California Kings taken nor did they when Lloyd Lemke had his Arizona Rosy Boas taken. In both cases the animals were deemed by the courts to be non-native and the charges dismissed and snakes returned. In Lloyds case many of his confiscated animals died or were distributed illegally to zoos or just plain unaccounted for. Lloyd later won a lawsuit valueing the missing snakes AND their potential offspring to the tune of over $100,000.