Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Ga and I like all kinds of kings esp. easterns a lady that owns a pet shop said I could not have any types of kings that are from Ga. but what if they came from another state like Pennsylvania or Tn and a private breeder? would it still be illegal?

thanks,
john

Just curious is that
Electric Blues Cat or
Electric Blue Scat?

Both I think refering to jazz

Bob

Its Electric Blues Cat I am huge fan of blues.

The way the Georgia laws are written, you cannot keep indigenous NON-VENOMOUS snakes without the proper permits. All snakes are considered protected non-game species except for venomous snakes. It's pretty clear on that part. That means you can keep a Canebrake Rattlesnake, an Eastern Diamondback, a Pygmy Rattlesnake, A Cottonmouth, a Copperhead, or a Coral Snake without a permit, but if you want to keep a Gray Rat Snake, you have to get a permit. They will issue you a permit for educational purposes, but you have to show that the animals are being used for educational purposes. Eastern Indigos are even stickier. You can get an educational permit to have 2 of the same sex. They want to make sure you aren't breeding them. The only confusing part is that they specify that you cannot keep Corn Snakes without a permit REGARDLESS of the origin. That would lead you to believe that the others would be OK, if you could prove they didn't come from wild Georgia origins. Not so, I've been told. That same rule applies to ALL non-venomous species that occur in Georgia.

Every year the DNR considers changes to all of the wildlife laws in Georgia. Mostly they are discussing changes in hunting seasons, bag limits for game animals, etc. At that time, they would hear arguments for changing some of those laws regarding keeping native reptiles. The problem is, not enough people ever show up to argue for keeping Corn Snakes and the like, so it just gets shelved.

I emailed the dnr in atlanta they said the same thing. do you have to have permit if you have a small collection lets say of california kings and you want to breed them. I will be getting 4 of these guys would I need a permit to breed them.

To my knowledge, a permit is not required to breed California Kingsnakes. You may need a license to sell the offspring (business license)depending on the amount of your income from selling them.

Thanks.