Reptile & Amphibian Forums

in SF you can not even have a sand boa or ball python. Most boas cannot kill a person & only some large pythons would be life threatening.However a pitbull killed a teenaged boy last week in SF & they are legal to keep.I know if I left my retic alone in the house with my teen & something happened that the press would have a field day with it.Not to mention I would be criminally charged. The owners of the pit bull said the dogs had never shown aggression before. I wonder if a snake owner would be able to use the same defense??? Any animals that have the ability to harm someone, the owners of whatever the animal is responsible to use whatever precautions necessary for safety! That is why reptiles have such a bad rap,when people are careless with their herps, it makes it hard for all who have them. Everytime a snake gets loose or bits someone, you can expect a law reguarding keeping them not to be far behind. Let's see if SF is going to change the laws reguarding keeping pitbulls. Sometimes it takes a something like this to happen before people think! Sadly

note worthy is my homeowner insurance does not have any restrictions of me keeping any snakes including my rattlers-but they would not cover me if I had a pitbull or a rottwiller

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norcalsnakemaster@comcast.net

as i have posted on other forums recently. My OWN insurance company has the same deal where if i was with a Rottie or Pit Bull they would ( if not totally reject me or un-instate me ) they may not want to keep my home owners in force. BUT my hots are at this time fine with them. While I'm not necessarily addressing the locality or city/township thing, I am addressing the insurance thing. I thought I would " shop " around to see about maybe a cheaper home owners policy not long ago and found out that several major mid-west insurance companies didn't even want to discuss rates due to me telling them that i had reptiles and i did not say what/kind i had. One company stated that they would not insure people that had animals like exotics. Another company stated that they are not insuring people keeping iguanas due to salmonella. Some policies and mine, has a clause written about " inherently if not dangerous " pets/animals. Also my policy has a clause of them not paying out on any diseases passed from animals of exotic form and even livestock animals on me or my family but would possibly pay out on other people in an accidental situation happened and or brought on by law suite. Of course they would drop me like a HOT POTATO if this ever happened I would imagine........
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I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

First of all, anyone who lives in this sick disguting area called the "bay area" (including SF) would not want their collection here anyway. I dont live in the city, but trust me-- people out here just arent intellecual enough for the herp thing to catch on anyway (for the most part). People around here and in the city aren't into beauty and nature. Rather, it's cell phones and Ipods.

I would fight it, but SF is the exception. Let these people have their snake-free ordinances. They deserve each other.

This place is just a bunch of crap run-off with nothing but stores and garbage. Fortunately, I live in a suburb that allows the keeping of "exotics" (as if a forced dog mutant isn't) but is quite strict on its breeding zones. These people are very antsy and pent-up, and trust me...the first chance I get I will be out of here!

PS- the reptile shops here are terrible. East bay vivarium practices terrible husbandry from what Ive gathered (particularly with the more sensitive pythons) and the other stores are worse (Reptile Room. Now theres a place that should have been shut down long ago).
-enneagram

I think the East bay vivarium has improved over the last few years. You are correct about the city & how crappy it is. I have to commute over there every weekday & it is a regular "sodom & gomorrah" with rainbow flags everywhere. Hopefully a earthquake will drop it in the ocean one day! I too cannot wait til I can move out of here! but there are some good places to go "herping" that are not to far out. Livermore(coral hollow road) & up towards Napa & santa cruz mountains are good.

SF is the most liberal city when it comes to anything EXCEPT SNAKES!!!
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norcalsnakemaster@comcast.net