Quote Originally Posted by Arsinoe View Post
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.
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.