BAD news Georgia... :( ASF's BANNED

[cassandra]

Thanks Todd, for presenting that in a very nice manner. I checked into the license, but can't see paying the fee for the one animal on the list I would keep. I'll just move to rats.

Yipes...$236? Sounds steep to me.

[Colin Vestrand]

i gotta say, even though this has no consequence to me at all, thanks todd for coming on here and posting about the ban. it shows that you are a stand up guy with a real passion for your line of work...

[Todd Nims]

Thanks Todd, for presenting that in a very nice manner. I checked into the license, but can't see paying the fee for the one animal on the list I would keep. I'll just move to rats.

As far as reptiles goes, the license would apply to dealers and exhibitors of venomous non-native (to Georgia) reptiles and crocodillians. Those critters would be prohibited as pets in Georgia. Other reptiles including large boids are not prohibited as pets in Georgia.

As far as rodents, the law lists all species as prohibited as pets except for guinea pigs, gerbils (although the law states Genus Gerbillus not Meriones...), hamsters (Genus Mesocricetus only though, but I know I've seen Phodopus in Georgia since at least the mid 90's), Mus musculus, Rattus rattus, and Rattus norvegicus. The law also states "or any other normally domesticated species", but if you look at the definition of wild animal in 27-1-2 it clarifies that as a normally domesticated in Georgia specifically. Domestic species is also fairly specifically defined in 27-1-2.

But, the wild animal license is good for lots of things. The $236 fee may seem steep for some operations but for others it is considered a drop in the bucket. It is a single yearly fee for the license and the license is good for as many wild animals as the operation is qualified to handle. I know of one business that has well over a 1000 animals, including zebras, tigers, hyenas, and aoudads.

[grammie]

sorry, it's late and I'm tired. and right now, I'm not a happy camper. Are you going to be there tomorrow? I'd love to talk a minute to find out just what I can do and can't do. without having to google and think.

[Todd Nims]

sorry, it's late and I'm tired. and right now, I'm not a happy camper. Are you going to be there tomorrow? I'd love to talk a minute to find out just what I can do and can't do. without having to google and think.

Yeah, but don't tell anyone!

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Hi all,

I thought I would post something to clear up any confusion.

ASF rats were not banned recently. The law that prohibited these and other exotic rodents from being held in Georgia without a license went into effect sometime in the early 1980's.

We have not just decided to 'crack down' on these rats either. Simply, I was not aware that they were being sold in Georgia. I was planning to go to Repticon this weekend and did a web search to find the hours. That web search also picked up Mr. Cavanaugh's posting on another forum. That posting stated he was bringing these rats up to Repticon from Florida. Rather than see Mr. Cavanaugh be embarrassed or waste his time bringing live animals to Georgia that he could not sell, I thought it the gentlemanly thing to do to give him a heads up before he got here.

He then asked me to speak with Mr. Cardell. After speaking with Mr. Cardell by phone I thought there might be more people in Georgia with these rats so I did another web search and found two other individuals. I called one and had a pleasant conversation and emailed the other (based on his responses here I think the conversation would not have been pleasant).

My intent was not to make some knee-jerk decision. My intent was to let an out of state dealer know that it would not be lawful for him to bring a prohibited animal to a show in Georgia that would have DNR law enforcement in attendance.

The law governing these animals is the Wild Animals Law, Title 27, Chapter 5 of the Official Code of Georgia. The legislature states in 27-5-1 why they thought this law important.



There is a wild animal license available to Georgia residents that allows them to possess these rats lawfully in Georgia. This license permits the out-of-state sale of live rats. For more information please see our webpage:

Permits and other services

If you have any questions please feel free to call or email.

Todd N. Nims
Wildlife Biologist - Special Permit Unit
Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
2065 US Hwy 278 SE
Social Circle, GA 30025
(770) 761-3044
(706) 557-3060 (fax)
todd.nims@dnr.state.ga.us

As I told you at the show THANK YOU for the heads up!!!! It definately would have been a nightmare to show up with 300 live rats that I couldn't sell. Thankfully because of your help I was able to change gears, put down a bunch and freeze... That resulted in a good show from selling them frozen.

Thank you!


Mike

[BallMorphs1206]

this is soo stupid . corn snakes are illegal as pets and to sell in georgia . i went to a reptile store and a cop walked in and looked straight at an albino cornsnake and didnt say or do anything about it !!!!!!! so i dont get why it should be any different with ASF's

[AkHerps]

Colored mice and rats are illegal here...

[Oxylepy]

Most of these laws have some reason behind them.

Look if you dont like them get in contact with your fish/wildlife bureau and talk to them about it, find out what each individual thing is banned. Then ask them what they think about it, aside from enforcing it as law, and ask them if they think it could be fought. Then gather people together to see if you can get enough signatures, then speak (in fact pester) your local government until they actually listen to you. Get the hardcore supporters to all send in letters. Then sit back and see if anything gets done. Work with your f/w bureau, make friends with them, see if you can work to get change initiated for the things that are banned for silly reasons (eating opossums for example).

Ungh, didnt realize there were 6 pages... dont know if my own statement even makes sense now. Time to read through the whole thread.

[rabernet]

this is soo stupid . corn snakes are illegal as pets and to sell in georgia . i went to a reptile store and a cop walked in and looked straight at an albino cornsnake and didnt say or do anything about it !!!!!!! so i dont get why it should be any different with ASF's

Do you think that police know EVERY single law on the books, especially when it comes to different species of snakes? It's Fish and Wildlife, that if they saw that snake would have put the brakes on it being for sale with a quickness.