Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
If the reason for burmese pythons to be banned was "they are an invasive species" then explain why lionfish aren't banned? Or cats? Pigs? Because the money behind those are larger than the AR can target right now. Burmese are NOT invasive to any place other than South Florida. So what was that reason for banned import and transport across state lines again? Please... tell me all about how Florida doesn't have laws about burmese, retics and anacondas on the books. Since it's a FLORIDA only problem. I may not be a big headed scientist like ya'll are.. but I know all about this, I live here and I've been involved with all this garbage since before Florida even passed the regulations that required you to get a permit to own the giants, much less banned them, much less the national ban work.

If you don't think that Congress will easily pass the ban to include "all pythons" after HSUS starts saying "Well, ball pythons are still pythons, just like the ones in the Everglades..." you're ignorant of how they work. All it takes is the facts that people who USED to own/breed/sell burmese are now turning to the non-banned smaller species and you'll see the USFW add them in. Geckos will probably get another 5-10 years maybe. All "exotics" are on the chopping blocks. They'll get them eventually. Burmese owners thought "They'll never pass it...." too.
You're right, it's only Florida's problem--as far as the invasive species aspect is concerned. The "injurious" label is an issue everywhere. It wasn't only an invasive species issue... it was a multifactorial situation that resulted in the species selected for the list.

You seriously think little geckos have 5 years left to be legal? That is a GROSS overestimation of the issue at hand. Before you start discussing how ignorant people may be of the situation at hand, I would do a bit more research and skim the actual bills passed to get a better idea of the reasoning behind the bans.

Using your own evidence as a counterargument--- if Florida began requiring permits for ownership of the animals at hand, why don't they require permits for red eyed tree frogs or rosy boas? Because they're not dangerous to humans. It has nothing to do with their exotic label. IMHO