Ball Python Breeding Banned

I hate it when a story of a snake killing a child gets way out of hand. I mean yes this is the most traggic thing ever but whos fault is it usually. It ends up being a burmese python someone bought as a baby and it got too big for them and they keep it in the basement and never feed it. Baby gets loose, crawls downstairs and apparently the snake should have known it was a baby. People go nuts and ban them from the county. They need to take a look at pitbull accidents before snakes. Its insanity.

you can see i don't read newspapers or watch the news... i had no idea :eek: thanks for the heads up chris.

i'm going to contact some of the breeders who are local and ask them what they know about this,... and what they are doing and see if i can assist in anyway. IF they aren't doing anything... which i can't imagine... i'll cross that bridge when i get to it.

i know i'm considered rural... so some things which affect the city don't affect me... but as a provincial issue... this is insane!

First the Sutherlands have problems, now this. Utah is fast becoming less and less herp friendly. I was saddened to hear this yesterday.

-Evan

Yea, this isn't good news....:(

wow I sure hope florida will be the last place they make crazy homaphobic laws like that. The majority of americans are frightened by snakes. Need to get over it...

I cant stand the wrong speculations snakes have on the world. I hear things like " I kill snakes because they chase me in the yard. " I hate snakes becuase there slimy. "I hate snakes becuase there a symbol of the devil. These are the dumbasses that go and fight for these laws.

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Originally Posted by crisstyle21

wow I sure hope florida will be the last place they make crazy homaphobic laws like that. The majority of americans are frightened by snakes. Need to get over it...

I cant stand the wrong speculations snakes have on the world. I hear things like " I kill snakes because they chase me in the yard. " I hate snakes becuase there slimy. "I hate snakes becuase there a symbol of the devil. These are the dumbasses that go and fight for these laws.

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People fear what they don't understand. Education about our hobby and responsible keepers is our only hope. Misunderstanding combined with fear added to an accident caused by irresponsibility would spell the down fall of any hobby from bird watching to stamp commecting.

Certain things can be done only in areas for commercial or agricultrual zoning...and there will always be restrictions on animal. There are tons of 'restrictions' on this sort of thing already in place although they may not concern reptiles.....reptile keepers are growing in number so it was only a matter of time that local officials felt the need to put an ordinance on it. I deal with this kinda stuff all the time. I know of neighborhoods with restrictions on the community that state that no animals are to be left unattended outside of the home under penalty of fines(that means you can't let your dog run around in the backyard unsupervised), parishes that limit the number of animals kept per acre of land, cities that restrict the number of cats/dogs per household....I could go on and on about subdivision, town, city, and parish ordinances.

LMAO.....some subdivision restrictions around here are out of this world. Some keep you from having certain things on your property(ie. boats, RVs, campers), prevent hanging certain decorations on your home for holidays/occasion, require certain maintance and appearance of your lawn and garden.....

....I have found that there is only one thing to do if you don't agree with a local ordinance......move or try not to live there in the first place.

These sorts of restriction on reptiles are going to continue to increase as the size of the community increases. The best solution is to educate as many a possible, so that when these restrictions are placed....they are done responsibly instead of carelessly based on fear, myths, etc.

If I can suggest only one thing Aleesha, it would be to downplay the breeding and or selling/trading for profit aspect in any conversation you may have with any authority figures. I'm sure you saw this quote from the City Councillor...

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an "overwhelming majority" of the public support the initiative, and "the only people who are opposed are people who profit from the sale of [exotics]."

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As far as the breeders around there doing anything about it.... I'm not sure that they are the best candidates to deal with this, as they would just fit the description in the above quote and likely just be blown off.

Perhaps you could try to get some people involved in your community that don't have anything to do with the breeding or sales of reptiles, just some people that like herps or other exotics but dont necessarily own any.

Maybe you could try to get some more people into herps in your area? Have an "open house" kind of thing for the community, where people can come see your herps and interact with them so that they see for themselves that there is nothing to fear? This would help with the "ignorance breeds fear" aspect that generally plays a big part in these types of bans ;)

I'm not really sure of the best ways to go about it. All I do know is that I dont like to see this kind of thing anywhere, because if it happens in somebody elses hometown, you can rest assured that someone will try to do the same in yours ;)

Like I said in PM, if you need something, hit me up ;)

I wouldn't have said anything in the first place. Don't ask don't tell. It's their property, they pay for it and everything on it. The town should have no say unless it was something big like a big boids/pythons or hots. But little Ball Pythons? Ridiculous. But I'm loud and don't like to go quietly about things. I'd make a huge stink about it. I just hope they can find a place where people have brains and will welcome the educational opportunities that many breeders offer.

chris i hear ya. i do want to know what avenue they are going in though. i'm not a breeder... only have one ball python at this point anyways... my concern is the bylaw being passed and no one being able to have one as a pet. :( that would suck.

i've contacted any and every one i know who has herps... alas... the list is smaller than you can imagine... most of my herper friends are not from bc... they are over the net.