Permits and Insurance?

Apparently this isn’t a common thing in my area, but my county requires a permit for owning an exotic animal. I’ve filled out pretty much everything from the application, but I can’t figure out the insurance part. It says that I need proof of insurance (up to $500,000). Where does one get exotic animal insurance? I’m assuming this is against Monty injuring someone. Willl it be part of my homeowners? Gah! Has anyone else had to deal with this?

(I saw that there’s medical insurance for animals, but I can’t figure out why they’d want me to have that.)

Xo' -

Who says your Ball Python is an exotic?

Do your local, county or state laws specify that Squamata Boidae or Pythonidae are exotic? If so, under what guidelines?

Our city law states that Squamata Boidae which also represents pythons as a sub-family, are considered exotic only for those species whose adult length has the potential to exceed eight feet in length. That pretty much excludes Balls, ehhh?

Not saying that your laws will read as ours but certainly worth a look. I would find it incredulous to require permit and liability for Balls.

I agree. This law may be intended for Lions,tigers, orangutans, chimpanzees and other animals that would have interaction with humans and have the power to easily harm people.

Snakes (even BP's) are considered exotics and potentially dangerous in some cities/towns/municipalities.

You can get a rider on your homeowners policy for the snake(s) but expect it to be VERY expensive.

I used to have a rider for my animals but the cost of that portion alone was almost $2K a year for a $1M rider so I ended up dropping it (they seem to automatically raise rates every 6 months even if never used).

Allstate is the only one I know of that offers it but you can call around and ask. Be careful though, some insurance companies will not touch you at all in the future because of this. Once you get it (even if you drop it later), if you change companies, the new company always seems to find out about it and jack up your basic rates.

Wow. That's bad news. I'm not positive about the law, but I did talk to animal control and they told me I needed a permit, so I'm pretty sure I do. Maybe I'll call them about the insurance though. The only other person I know with a BP actually lives over the river (next county) where they don't need a permit. Stupid small town.

They must have been mistaken. No way is a ball python an exotic animal that requires special insurance! In all the world, has there EVER been an instance where a Ball Python caused some kind of serious injury????

I don't think so.

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Originally Posted by mcavana

They must have been mistaken. No way is a ball python an exotic animal that requires special insurance! In all the world, has there EVER been an instance where a Ball Python caused some kind of serious injury????

I don't think so.

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There are a lot of places where anything other than a cat, dog, hamster or canary is considered an "exotic animal" requiring permits - I believe my county defines it as any animal who's natural habitat is other than a human domicile. It's just that a lot of people don't check their city, county and state ordinances to know that.


As for the insurance it would be standard pet insurance that would be issued via your homeowners or renters policy -- the same is usually suggested if you own a dog - for coverage in case it bites someone. The down side is that if you call up your insurance carrier and ask for insurance for your pet snake -- you could get someone with a snake phobia that will cancel your policy - so tread carefully. :rolleyes:

I believe I would bypass this part of the deal......

This is disturbing to me since I live in VA also. Do you mind sharing what county you are in that has these laws?

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Originally Posted by kc261

This is disturbing to me since I live in VA also. Do you mind sharing what county you are in that has these laws?

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It's a very small town on the east coast (near Williamsburg/Jamestown) if that's any help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xo'Phoeah

It's a very small town on the east coast (near Williamsburg/Jamestown) if that's any help.

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I know a lot of places require a permit (which very few people little people actually apply for). Jamie looked it up a few weeks ago and we're talking everything from snakes to hamsters. It's just a way for them to make money on the suckers that bother to fill out the paperwork. The insurance part is interesting but I can't see how they could force you to take out such an expensive policy on a docile animal. This isn't an exotic animal that can cause catastrophic damage or injury. There's got to be a misunderstanding.

Seeing as how they know I have the snake and it's part of the application, I don't know how I'd do anything else at this point. The pet store I bought the snake from sent my info to Animal Control, so ignoring it wasn't much of an option. Think they'd be ok with a partially-complete application?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xo'Phoeah

It's a very small town on the east coast (near Williamsburg/Jamestown) if that's any help.

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It helps because at least now I know it is not the same place where I am! :)

I think if I'd known the pet store was going to send my info to animal control I wouldn't have bought there. Just make your purchase somewhere else, like a neighboring county. Actually, buying from pet stores usually isn't best in the first place, but that is an entirely different topic.

If the pet store sold to you without letting you know the law and send your info off without letting you know they were going to do that, then I'd go right back to the pet store and complain.

I guess you could try to just be glad you live in a place that requires a permit rather than making them illegal entirely.

As far as sending in the application without filling in all the information, I doubt it would hurt to try, but I also doubt it will get you anywhere. Most likely they'll just get back to you and tell you it can't be approved until you provide the missing information.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc261

It helps because at least now I know it is not the same place where I am! :)

I think if I'd known the pet store was going to send my info to animal control I wouldn't have bought there. Just make your purchase somewhere else, like a neighboring county. Actually, buying from pet stores usually isn't best in the first place, but that is an entirely different topic.

If the pet store sold to you without letting you know the law and send your info off without letting you know they were going to do that, then I'd go right back to the pet store and complain.

I guess you could try to just be glad you live in a place that requires a permit rather than making them illegal entirely.

As far as sending in the application without filling in all the information, I doubt it would hurt to try, but I also doubt it will get you anywhere. Most likely they'll just get back to you and tell you it can't be approved until you provide the missing information.

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They told us. And as far as the petstore thing goes, I feel pretty confident about this one. They get snakes from a local breeder one or two at a time (all normals, so probably just the ones the breeder can't sell and doesn't want to keep). There are only 3 people that work there - the husband/wife owners and their one employee - and they really care about their animals.

They were also one of 3 options anywhere near us, the others being Petsmart and a really, really horrible pet shop full of sick animals where they had 3 different kinds of pythons in a wire cage full of anoles. So, I guess it's just bad luck. Either way, we really like him!

Maybe I'll call tomorrow and just let the guy know my problem. I've already gone past the 10 day time limit, so at least he'll know I'm still trying.

Again... this is a "problem" that shouldn't be a problem.
It's that simple


Thanks