Kiss your hobby goodbye!!!! USFW Proposed ban!!!!

[spiritwather]

Ok let me make my feelings on this very clear so that everyone understands the situation in africa where specifically ball pythons come from.

They are being killed by the thousand every day for skin trade, hunted and taken from their habitats and are starting a down ward spiral to being extinct in the wild.

I love my ball python to death, but i made sure that i was buying one that was captive bred. there are hundreds of thousands of people with ball pythons in the world, they dont need to be taken from the wild anymore. I agree banning all forms of the trade is not the right solution, I think they should move from banning trading, to banning trading between countries. not between states in america. just stop the wild caught pet trade, there are more than enough to go around from breeders. but there aren't all that many left in the wild.

It really bugs me when people decide the only solution to any problem is to get rid of the whole activity completely. there are many ways to stop will animals from dying or being taken from their environment.

I know thats not all this is about, i.e all the animals that end up being let loose and that excape, I think instead of banning people from buying pythons, especially large ones, is to just correctly educate buyers, or impose a licence with a written test on how to care for large animals, kind of like a learners licence for snakes.

either way, I don't live in the states. but i believe that trying to prevent people from a hobby they enjoy is wrong on many levels. all I can say is good luck to you.

[Lowen]

This does not look hopeful, really.
On the bright side, we can still keep the snakes we have, right? They won't take our snakes away, will they?

I know many people whose pitbulls were ripped out of their childrens' arms and euthanized for "safety" and all that really accomplished was to scar families forever. They had to watch ol' Spotty waddle away with his tail wagging knowing that he would never come back.. Because some government person says he's dangerous.

I have never been bitten by a snake, and that says alot because I used to crawl around in the ditches and catch them when I was tiny. Now, I could understand if they had some sort of size limitation, but this is just stupid.

I will agree that anacondas and retics can be dangerous when they become big enough to swallow someone, but if you're crazy enough to own one, chances are you're willing to take the risk, and you know what you're doing, you know?

Also, I bet that NOT ONE of the people supporting this ban have ever had a pet snake. They've probably never even held one. That says alot in itself.

[Holbeird]

Ok let me make my feelings on this very clear so that everyone understands the situation in africa where specifically ball pythons come from.

They are being killed by the thousand every day for skin trade, hunted and taken from their habitats and are starting a down ward spiral to being extinct in the wild.

I love my ball python to death, but i made sure that i was buying one that was captive bred. there are hundreds of thousands of people with ball pythons in the world, they dont need to be taken from the wild anymore. I agree banning all forms of the trade is not the right solution, I think they should move from banning trading, to banning trading between countries. not between states in America. just stop the wild caught pet trade, there are more than enough to go around from breeders. but there aren't all that many left in the wild.

It really bugs me when people decide the only solution to any problem is to get rid of the whole activity completely. there are many ways to stop will animals from dying or being taken from their environment.

I know that's not all this is about, i.e all the animals that end up being let loose and that escape, I think instead of banning people from buying pythons, especially large ones, is to just correctly educate buyers, or impose a licence with a written test on how to care for large animals, kind of like a learners licence for snakes.

either way, I don't live in the states. but i believe that trying to prevent people from a hobby they enjoy is wrong on many levels. all I can say is good luck to you.

Although I think something needs to be done to ensure the wild bp population is protected, I am not for the complete stopping of trade or importation for the simple fact that that is how we get new morphs. Something interesting comes in from Africa, you breed to prove out the genetics. I do think they should limit the number of snakes imported so it's more "cream of the crop" that comes in and then pet stores will have to go to the breeders for their snakes instead of just buying them from some random person who imports.

Either way, imo this is a prime example of the federal government sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong. These bans should be by county, hell even state before federal. The fact is most snakes aren't going to live much further north then mid to upper Florida, not through the winter anyway. So let the counties or states these reptiles affect deal with it and the federal government can go do something more useful, like say fix the issues in Iraq, do something about the fact that some peoples gas per month is more than their car payment, or reform the prison system so we're not letting rapist and pedophiles walk the streets because our prisons are filled with people who have non-violent drug offenses.

Sorry /rant off.

[Lowen]

Although I think something needs to be done to ensure the wild bp population is protected, I am not for the complete stopping of trade or importation for the simple fact that that is how we get new morphs. Something interesting comes in from Africa, you breed to prove out the genetics. I do think they should limit the number of snakes imported so it's more "cream of the crop" that comes in and then pet stores will have to go to the breeders for their snakes instead of just buying them from some random person who imports.

Either way, imo this is a prime example of the federal government sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong. These bans should be by county, hell even state before federal. The fact is most snakes aren't going to live much further north then mid to upper Florida, not through the winter anyway. So let the counties or states these reptiles affect deal with it and the federal government can go do something more useful, like say fix the issues in Iraq, do something about the fact that some peoples gas per month is more than their car payment, or reform the prison system so we're not letting rapist and pedophiles walk the streets because our prisons are filled with people who have non-violent drug offenses.

Sorry /rant off.

I am now proclaiming you the smartest person I've ever met through a screen!

[snakemastercanada]

Same thing happening up here in BC. Canada . WE are now facing a total ban on all exotics not just reptiles .

[FIEND_FO_LYFE]

this sucks.
but... even if the law did go into effect...

they couldnt just make everyone... give up there snakes...
i mean... what would they do? kill hundreds of thousands of snakes...?

[crsaz]

they couldnt just make everyone... Give up there snakes...
i mean... What would they do? Kill hundreds of thousands of snakes...?

YES.... if we let them have it their way. I heard thats what they did in australia(forced euthanasia) and they put up reward posters for turning in anyone still keeping exotic speices. Im not sure how much of this is true but it's what I heard

[BMorrison]

Is there actually any update on this shennanigans or is it pretty much done with?

They've been trying stuff like this forever and this was all the rage for a hot minute but I haven't heard anything on it in a good 2 months now. Anything new at all?

[froglily]

This is not a law, or even a regulation yet. As the result of a petition from the South Florida Water Management District requesting that Burmese pythons be added to the list of "injurious wildlife" listed in a federal regulation, the Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services was seeking public comments on whether they should add any or all constrictor snakes to that list. http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/E8-1770.html

This request came about because of concerns that Burmese pythons are naturalizing in the Florida Everglades and could cause a big shift in the ecosystem, which is not an unreasonable concern, right?

Listing an animal in the reg. would then allow the Sec. of the Interior to prohibit importation and interstate transportation of these species.

The agency accepted comments til April 30, 2008. They were primarily looking for biological and economic data. Public comments are available for review online at http://www.regulations.gov (search for python, find a comment on Doc. No. FWS-R9-FHC-2008-0015, and click on the link to that document). There are 62 pages of links, so there was a lot of commentary.

Now that public commentary is closed, the department will study the issue further before possibly proposing adding any animals to the list. If they do propose that, there will be another public comment period before anything is enacted. I can't believe that they would absolutely shut down any trade in constrictors, but then again, the US government has surprised me before....

[jessie_k_pythons]

Here is what I have to say on this. Not to be an a** or anything but I read everything that had to do with this "ban" and like Froglily, I see that it is not a ban but more of a request for info. The night I found out about this, I had just bought a very nice Nerd Lemon Pastel I almost asked for my money back before I read everything on ban. Frankly, I'm going to act as if everything is normal and go on with my plans for breeding until I know for a fact that this ban is going into effect. If it happens, they will have to take my snakes from my cold dead fingers. I worked to hard to get a female well over breeding weight and a nice pastel. If I have to, I will never move out of state just to keep them.

As for invasives, here in AZ I only see a few snakes becoming a real problem. (if that) I know that some cave boas feed strictly on bats and here in AZ we have 1 or more bats that are endangered. I don’t know of any one that has this kind of boa but that could be a problem. Sand boas could be a problem due to them competing with the rubber boas and Rosies, along with our native boas, the worm snakes and ground snakes we have here in the US could loose access to food from the sand boas. (This will all be over a long period of time mind you but will still be a problem.)

I don’t know much about boas and other pythons but I don’t see Ball Pythons being a real problem besides getting rid of an ever growing problem with rodents. But that is just my opinion.

That is just my please feel free to pick it apart and correct me if I have made any mistakes.