Dangerous Snakes-Should Sales Be Banned?

I saw on Animal Planet a show talking about how Florida is over run with Pythons and Boas now. Do you think that sales of potentially dangerous snakes,such as the breed that do get huge and the poisonous ones be restricted? Or possibly register the owners?

I find that so many people can't even handle a kitty cat and these same people want to buy something that will turn into something that can eat you. Florida wouldn't have this problem if people weren't dumping these guys when they got unmanageable and they bred in the perfect environment for them. I don't think it's fair that they now have to handle the problem by killing them, rather than dealing with how the problem started.

I think if I was a breeder of reptiles, any kind, I would require that the potential owner either exhibit some sort of knowledge on their care or actually put them through a class before I would sell them anything.....But then I would probably not be selling much of anything either.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

I saw on Animal Planet a show talking about how Florida is over run with Pythons and Boas now. Do you think that sales of potentially dangerous snakes,such as the breed that do get huge and the poisonous ones be restricted? Or possibly register the owners?

I find that so many people can't even handle a kitty cat and these same people want to buy something that will turn into something that can eat you. Florida wouldn't have this problem if people weren't dumping these guys when they got unmanageable and they bred in the perfect environment for them. I don't think it's fair that they now have to handle the problem by killing them, rather than dealing with how the problem started.

I think if I was a breeder of reptiles, any kind, I would require that the potential owner either exhibit some sort of knowledge on their care or actually put them through a class before I would sell them anything.....But then I would probably not be selling much of anything either.

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Snakes are not poisonous, they are venomous. The larger snakes can not consume a full grown adult. A child maybe, but not an adult. There was also an instance of a hurricane coming through and destroying a Florida zoo. Several large snakes were released into the wild by accident because of this. While this is not the only reason, the problem in Florida cannot be blamed solely on keepers.

As far as "dangerous" snakes being banned, I do not believe in banning animals. Put in restrictions, fine, but banning is a little over the top. There are PLENTY of people, some right here on this forum, that keep and breed the big species. Some even handle the hots. And they do it well. They know what they are doing and would not be dumb enough to let their snakes go in the wild "because they got too big." Responsible keepers like this should not have their beloved pets banned because of a bunch of idiots. I say there should be more restrictions, especially in areas like Florida. Now, this does not go for all species, but with the larger ones, some kind of permit could be put in place. If you plan to own a large snake (I'd say anything with the potential to reach over 15ft), you have to apply for a license, submit some kind of application that shows you have knowledge of the risks and proper care of such animals.

I don't think anyone on this forum is going to say they should be banned. This has been talked about endlessly for a very long time. Try to read up on HR 669 and other banning bills. You'll have reading material for months.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

I saw on Animal Planet a show talking about how Florida is over run with Pythons and Boas now. Do you think that sales of potentially dangerous snakes,such as the breed that do get huge and the poisonous ones be restricted? Or possibly register the owners?

I find that so many people can't even handle a kitty cat and these same people want to buy something that will turn into something that can eat you. Florida wouldn't have this problem if people weren't dumping these guys when they got unmanageable and they bred in the perfect environment for them. I don't think it's fair that they now have to handle the problem by killing them, rather than dealing with how the problem started.

I think if I was a breeder of reptiles, any kind, I would require that the potential owner either exhibit some sort of knowledge on their care or actually put them through a class before I would sell them anything.....But then I would probably not be selling much of anything either.

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First mistake there you did was Watch and listen to Animal Planet. About 99.99% they say is garbage the .01% is they get their name right.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

First mistake there you did was Watch and listen to Animal Planet. About 99.99% they say is garbage the .01% is they get their name right.

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Hahaha. Too true. I used to love Animal Planet. Now all they want to do is show how "horrible and dangerous" all these different animals are, especially exotics.

Although there are some irresponsible keepers that have released their giant pythons into the wild, I believe most of the pythons came from facilities that were damaged in the hurricanes. I do think that people who buy giant pythons in areas where they can inhabit should be required to register and chip them. If they did release their snake into the wild, they would be held responsible if the snake was found.

IMO, only licensed people should be able to own venomous snakes. They should have to take a safety class to become licensed. It would also be helpful if on organization had people to inspect their snake room to make sure that they were keeping their hots in proper enclosures.

Banned no.


There are far more wide spreading, dangerous alien species out there right now than the big pythons, including kitty cats ;P.
Banning the sale of pythons wont stop a problem thats far bigger than just a couple specie of snakes limited to the southern end of florida.
Education and proper coverage of the care and purchase of any reptile or exotic pet is something that should be pushed. Somthing that alot of people are working towards right now.
Animal PLanet is on the bad list of alot of reptile owners at the moment for their portrayal of released reptiles. Their questionable testimony's and fluffery have shamed a channel I once respected. IMO.


There are other options than punishing those who are responsible for their animals than an outright ban.

And I totaly agree with Woohoo, you have to partner with an experienced keeper and prove for a number of years you can keep raptors before legally keeping your own.
I see no reason why the same shouldn't be for venomous snakes.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

Although there are some irresponsible keepers that have released their giant pythons into the wild, I believe most of the pythons came from facilities that were damaged in the hurricanes. I do think that people who buy giant pythons in areas where they can inhabit should be required to register and chip them. If they did release their snake into the wild, they would be held responsible if the snake was found.

IMO, only licensed people should be able to own venomous snakes. They should have to take a safety class to become licensed. It would also be helpful if on organization had people to inspect their snake room to make sure that they were keeping their hots in proper enclosures.

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I am pretty sure you need to chip the larger species in florida anyway, if I remember correctly.

I think a strict state regulation on the bigger tropical snakes in Florida would be wise, but not a country wide BAN. Bans have never solved the problems they were seeking to solve.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I am pretty sure you need to chip the larger species in florida anyway, if I remember correctly.

I think a strict state regulation on the bigger tropical snakes in Florida would be wise, but not a country wide BAN. Bans have never solved the problems they were seeking to solve.

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You're right, Florida already has that in place. I also agree that it should be a state issue. It is ridiculous to ban snakes in Ohio because they can live in the Everglades.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

You're right, Florida already has that in place. I also agree that it should be a state issue. It is ridiculous to ban snakes in Ohio because they can live in the Everglades.

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THIS times 1000x

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Wh00h0069 again."

...another one of my pet peeves: venomous snakes are poisonous....geeze – I don’t want to debate this…;)

Ok, that's off my chest...now on to the topic: I think people are far more dangerous than any snake or animal slithering around Florida. Mother Nature can easily put an end to the issues in Florida with a really gripping cold snap. It would be unfortunate too because I believe these large animals are beautiful, and should be left to flourish as long as they don’t pose a real threat to humans.

I realize there a plenty of instances where they do cause harm, but in the grand scheme of things, more people are killed by bullets that boas in my opinion...I don't really like people that much in this case :rolleyes:

I don't believe in banning.

If someone wants to own one of the biggies (EX: BURM, RETIC, GREEN ANACONDAS) make people take a test in order to get a permit. How much do they REALLY know about snake care, behavior, husbandry, proper enclosures...
and not a multiple choice test, LOL, make it hard. Write out all the answers.

All this to get a permit. Just like in school you need certain community service hours in order to graduate, make FIRST TIME OWNERS volunteer at a local Zoo or reptile exhibit and set a number of "volunteer hours" required in order to give them a the knowledge and experience required to handle something that big.

i guess something like this would help the herp community by eliminating stupid owners. Think about it, if some imbecil decided to get a big snake cause "it's cool", they'd be put off by the amount of work one has to do in order to be able to get it. and hey, if they are able to do all the work, then chances are after they're done with all the "learning" they might actually make good keepers. it's sort of a trial of fire kind of thing...

but hey, it's just an idea.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

I saw on Animal Planet a show talking about how Florida is over run with Pythons and Boas now. Do you think that sales of potentially dangerous snakes,such as the breed that do get huge and the poisonous ones be restricted? Or possibly register the owners?

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Poisonous snakes are limited to a small species of garter snake that have poison glands on the back of their neck. Do you mean venomous?
Venomous snakes are huge and separate issue and not the problem here, they are not invading everglades as far as I know, and there are already species down there that are venomous anyway.

They are much smaller numbers of the animals there than they expected. Also, the only boa that in my opinion would live happily in the everglades is the anaconda. Most other species of boas would not like such a wet climate, so until they start coming out with LOTS of them, I don't believe their crap.

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I find that so many people can't even handle a kitty cat and these same people want to buy something that will turn into something that can eat you. Florida wouldn't have this problem if people weren't dumping these guys when they got unmanageable and they bred in the perfect environment for them. I don't think it's fair that they now have to handle the problem by killing them, rather than dealing with how the problem started.

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It's ironic that you say this because feral cats have a HUGE impact around the country and the world even on many species of animals and are a much worse invasive species than snakes are.
Most of the animals there were not from irresponsible owners dumping animals, that is rumor. Most of them are from escaped facilities during hurricanes. If you base all of your information from animal planet, chances are you will be wrong about this issue.
Also, there are very few cases of snakes actually EATING people. There are less than 20 cases over the past 30 years of constrictors killing anyone, but not eating them. That's funny because dogs kill people once a week on average in the U.S.

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I think if I was a breeder of reptiles, any kind, I would require that the potential owner either exhibit some sort of knowledge on their care or actually put them through a class before I would sell them anything.....But then I would probably not be selling much of anything either.

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Most breeders do this already. Not the class, but if they think their buyer is irresponsible, then they don't sell to them, and they still do fine in sales.


Also, this is just my opinion, but constrictors are generally not dangerous, no matter how big they are. It is the owner or the handler that does something wrong to MAKE them dangerous. Not having another person in the room while giving a large animal injections is just an example. Not watching them properly around children or keeping their cages improperly locked, the list is endless. We don't smell good, we don't taste good. Most animals would rather not eat us, because of our diet mostly.
It's sad, but if you get bitten by a snake, it's usually your fault unless it's one of those spitfires and the same goes for getting killed by one. Treating these animals with respect and following main guidelines like having another person for every 7ft of snake is responsible ownership.

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you must spread some reputation around before giving it to blackcrystal22 again.

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:)

A certification would be okay so long as it was free easy and fair to get. But even thats overboard I think.

A banning is right out.

What does one consider dangerous?

My truck is far more dangerous than any pet snake. They cause exponentially more death and damage to people, animals and the enviroment than all tropical snakes combined but yet one is under scrutiny and the other is not.

Makes you think, what constitutes dangerous? it certainly isnt the facts and figures.

The OP must be in favor of banning all dogs over toy size. Dogs kill more people in the US EVERY YEAR than constrictor snakes have over the past two decades. Feral dogs have attacked more people in the last year than feral constrictor snakes have EVER. There's never ever been a case yet in the US of a person being killed by a feral constrictor snake.

So.. exactly how dangerous are these snakes? Please, enlighten us all.

Another good point to make is the mexican boa constrictors.. There is a healthy population of native boas in mexico. If all these snakes could just migrate north like the false reports say they can then why are there no boas in california or new mexico or any of the other south western states?

All of us here have been actively fighting these bans for a long time now. We have organizations on our side fighting for our rights as pet owners and reptile keepers/breeders. Some members here have uncovered, through their own investigations and interviews, alot of twisted and politically motivated actions. There has been a huge lack of actual studies. Flat out lies and a refusal to accept or even read the studies that have been done by experienced herpers through the years.

You came to a reptile forum to ask if we think our pets should be banned?

Most of the members here do own more than just BPs. Wether its colubrids or boas or burmese. Most of the members here that only have BPs have put forth just as much of a fight as those who do own the big snakes. We all understand that we need to step up and take action no matter what type of animal it is.

We have spent and rasied thousands apon thousands of dollars in the last year to ENSURE that these animals are not banned. Most of us agree on more strict regulations to weed out the irresponsible owners but no one here will say they should be banned.

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

You're right, Florida already has that in place. I also agree that it should be a state issue. It is ridiculous to ban snakes in Ohio because they can live in the Everglades.

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I am going to reiterate this statement because people constantly seem to fail to realize...

FLORIDA ALREADY HAS A PERMITTING SYSTEM FOR LARGE CONSTRICTORS IN PLACE!

To obtain said permit, one must fill out a two page questionnaire about the natural history of the listed animals (retics, condas, burms, indians, afrocks, scrubs, or Nile monitors) they plan to keep, and pay a $100 fee per year on top of the $50 annual license fee to exhibit Class III reptiles (basically all other reptiles except most crocidilians). The permit requires individuals to keep an inventory of each of their "Reptiles of Concern," and they must be microchipped after a certain size (I believe it's 4" in diameter, but don't quote me). Additionally, the room that all of these animals are kept in or each individual cage must be kept locked. The RoC permit holder also is subject to unannounced inspections by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. There are a few other provisions required, such as keeping a detailed emergency/evacuation plan on hand, but the point that I am getting at is that there is already a completely sufficient licensing system in the only state that has a feral Burmese python population.

In addition to that, scientists and some RoC permit holders were allowed last year to go on python hunts in the Everglades, which was quite promising for the start of a control effort if they were to expand to on that. The state, however, has now foolishly made it open hunting season on Burmese pythons (likely due to the media's role in blowing this situation completely out of proportion thanks to the spread of misinformation by a few self-serving politicians and government scientists), and I expect all of the species of snakes endemic to the Everglades to suffer because of this.

Ban the dangerous ones than who decides the dangeroug ones. they try the same things with gun bans that would only end in everything being banned. One ban starts the crack that breaks the dam than everything is gone.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I am pretty sure you need to chip the larger species in florida anyway, if I remember correctly.

I think a strict state regulation on the bigger tropical snakes in Florida would be wise, but not a country wide BAN. Bans have never solved the problems they were seeking to solve.

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I think one of the greatest examples of a ban failing is Prohibition during the 1920s in the United States, and I think some parts of Europe.

I don't find it unreasonable to require a chip placed in animals in my, or anyone else's, care. Both of my cats are chipped, and I'm planning on getting my ball python chipped.

I also don't think it's asking too much for people to be required to have a permit/license in order to own a snake that can get to over 9 feet long. In addition to this permit/license, I don't find it unreasonable to require a, for lack of a better term, snake safety course. ESPECIALLY for the hot ones.

I'm all about letting people have the pets they want, as long as they can properly care for them, house them, and make sure that they and every other person is kept safe (well, as safe as possible while keeping potentially dangerous pets).

I think we should ban PETA permanantly.....and as for HSUS lets ban them from spending all of the money ppl send them for cats and dogs on lobbying and outright lies. :salute::salute:


There are quite a few other things I think we should ban but this is NOT in the quarrantine room...lol

I don't think we should ban PETA. I think it may have been a good organization that has just gone too far. Good intentions, taken to the extreme.

I don't agree with the ban on any animal. If someone can financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally care for the animal, I don't see a problem with them having one as long as they go through the correct channels like getting a permit, having their facility inspected (in the case of big cats and such), and get the animal from a reputable breeder.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

First mistake there you did was Watch and listen to Animal Planet. About 99.99% they say is garbage the .01% is they get their name right.

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You mean like when they assumed that a giant python they found in the first Key of Key West...Just over the bridge...They said something to the effect it crawled all that way from South Florida to there.....I personally don't think any snake would survive a crawl that far on a busy highway. I'm sure it was a dump and run situation.

I think if anything should be banned it should be stupid owners who buy things for the novelty of it or for macho crap.

I don't like this micro chipping stuff. It's known, particularly in cats, to cause sarcomas. I wonder if it would do the same this a snake?

Maybe you tatoo a number on their belly? Or would it just shed off eventually.

Sorry for the mistake of poisonous and venomous.:oops:

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

You mean like when they assumed that a giant python they found in the first Key of Key West...Just over the bridge...They said something to the effect it crawled all that way from South Florida to there.....I personally don't think any snake would survive a crawl that far on a busy highway. I'm sure it was a dump and run situation.

I think if anything should be banned it should be stupid owners who buy things for the novelty of it or for macho crap.

I don't like this micro chipping stuff. It's known, particularly in cats, to cause sarcomas. I wonder if it would do the same this a snake?

Maybe you tatoo a number on their belly? Or would it just shed off eventually.

Sorry for the mistake of poisonous and venomous.:oops:

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I have not heard of microchipping causing any problems with reptiles.

It is a shame that you can't ban stupidity :/

I have 2 out of 4 of my cats chipped. I would chip all my reptiles if I could afford to do so.

Pretty much the only way to permanently ID a snake is microchipping.

Everyone is quite correct in that Florida we have a permitting system. It's a very good system. The main problem I see is that you get the microchip at 4 inch in girth, so if a owner gets a baby burmese for example.. it's too small the get microchipped.. so later on.. what makes them get that microchip put in?

People continually forget.. giant pythons were not all taken down to the Everglades and released by bad owners. When you can't get a owner to take the snake down to the humane society.. why does ANYONE believe they would drive all the way down to the southern tip of Florida to release it?

So since the feral population is supposed to have been caused by breeding/holding facilities being destroyed by hurricanes.. how exactly does a permitting system for responsible reptile owners help the Everglades?

Still waiting for the explantion of how the snakes being owned as pets are dangerous too.

The main question in my mind is who decides what is dangerous? I have a pair of adult albino Burmese pythons. They're proven breeders though I haven't bred them in a number of years. They're not particularly large, but they are a fairly average size and I watch what they eat quite closely to ensure that they're not overweight. (I'd guess that most of the burms I see in peoples collections are obese) And quite frankly, I'd much rather be bitten by one of them then by my neighbors black lab. Sure, it would hurt but it likely wouldn't cause as much damage or require as many stitches.

Yes, in certain circumstances my snakes could be considered dangerous. Heck a bucket of water could be considered dangerous under certain circumstances. This is where education comes in, knowing the proper way to handle and work with the animal goes a LONG way towards mitigating any possible danger. Following just a few rules of safe handling will drop the danger to very nearly zero.

Don't waste your time listening to a bunch of truth twisting politicians or special interest groups who are either badly misinformed or outright lying due to the millions, if not billions of $pecial intere$t$ at $take.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

You mean like when they assumed that a giant python they found in the first Key of Key West...Just over the bridge...They said something to the effect it crawled all that way from South Florida to there.....I personally don't think any snake would survive a crawl that far on a busy highway. I'm sure it was a dump and run situation.

I think if anything should be banned it should be stupid owners who buy things for the novelty of it or for macho crap.

I don't like this micro chipping stuff. It's known, particularly in cats, to cause sarcomas. I wonder if it would do the same this a snake?

Maybe you tatoo a number on their belly? Or would it just shed off eventually.

Sorry for the mistake of poisonous and venomous.:oops:

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As far as I know the microchipping sarcomas are extremely rare cases.

And there haven't been any on record with reptiles, probably because not nearly as many have been chipped, but still.

Large pythons especially are quite large and lazy. They don't like to move too much if they don't have to. So the idea of them slithering that far is ridiculous.