hwo to get liscence/permit for venomous in NJ?

i have heard of needing a permit in my state to own hots, whats the procedure to get that? id imagine taking of classes, but where do i sign up for it? how much does it cost? thanks

I would guess your local DNR would have all the information you would need.

DNR? whats that if i may ask, im a total newb to this, and still not sure if id want a hot but, perhaps if classes are involved or i start with something not too hot after i get a permit (if i do) id perhaps feel more comfortable

venomhiss said:

DNR? whats that if i may ask, im a total newb to this, and still not sure if id want a hot but, perhaps if classes are involved or i start with something not too hot after i get a permit (if i do) id perhaps feel more comfortable

Click to expand...

DNR = Department of Natural Resources

Try here :

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/

If you know nothing about keeping venomous reptiles, then perhaps you should be researching the topic thoroughly before jumping in and getting a permit. You need to apprentice for a number of years under an educated and responsible keeper.

"and still not sure if id want a hot but, perhaps if classes are involved or i start with something not too hot after i get a permit (if i do) id perhaps feel more comfortable"

you need to do quite a bit of research.

Mooing Tricycle said:

If you know nothing about keeping venomous reptiles, then perhaps you should be researching the topic thoroughly before jumping in and getting a permit. You need to apprentice for a number of years under an educated and responsible keeper.

"and still not sure if id want a hot but, perhaps if classes are involved or i start with something not too hot after i get a permit (if i do) id perhaps feel more comfortable"

you need to do quite a bit of research.

Click to expand...

If not Darwinism will prevail.

you know, i could take this all the wrong way and think you all have a chip on your shoulder towards me, but i know your just trying to prevent me from being another reason people try to outlaw ownership of such animals with a stupid manuver.

however, your telling me i need to do research, when im coming here to ask questions as ive tried to do research and have come up with nothing so i came here to ask. noticed how i asked if there were classes i could take? i didnt just ask how to get the permit and want a snake, i asked how to go about doing this if i decide i want too. i hear its not cheap and as youve all confirmed does require classes or appretince.

in this day and age of the goverment wanting to come and possibly tell me i cant keep my retics and burms, i wouldnt even joke about the prospect of me being a "darwinism award" winner. not that i take offense im just sayin, careful what you wish for

venomhiss said:

you know, i could take this all the wrong way and think you all have a chip on your shoulder towards me, but i know your just trying to prevent me from being another reason people try to outlaw ownership of such animals with a stupid manuver.

however, your telling me i need to do research, when im coming here to ask questions as ive tried to do research and have come up with nothing so i came here to ask. noticed how i asked if there were classes i could take? i didnt just ask how to get the permit and want a snake, i asked how to go about doing this if i decide i want too. i hear its not cheap and as youve all confirmed does require classes or appretince.

in this day and age of the goverment wanting to come and possibly tell me i cant keep my retics and burms, i wouldnt even joke about the prospect of me being a "darwinism award" winner. not that i take offense im just sayin, careful what you wish for

Click to expand...

It's not about wishing for anything, least of all someone getting hurt even if the person in question should be required by law to wear a helmet at all times or if he is just an overenthusiastic underachiever. Either way, in this day and age when said person cannot find simple information on the internet said person should not own venomous snakes, play with matches or (please for the rest of society) reproduce.

those responses seemed pretty harsh. ill tell ya, my first 3 snakes ever in my life were 3 17 foot or bigger retics, my next was a timber rattlesnake. all of them were going to be given up (or possibly just released knowing my old "friends"), so i offered to take them. it was the best experience i could have asked for. that was quite a long time ago. lookin back, it wasnt the smartest thing for a young kid to do, but i did it. i see absolutely nothing wrong with obtaining any snake that is legally able to be kept. however, i cant stress enough to do as much research as you can (its just like anything else, you can read about it until you are blue in the face, but experience is where you learn the best and quickest), and buy cbb babies from reputable breeders/people. whether its a hot or a large constrictor species, getting cbb babies will generally produce easier handling babies, generally disease free, and you get to grow with your snake as it does. learn the very subtle ways of them. just do your research as best you can, be prepared with whatever you decide, provide it with ideal and optimal housing and feeding conditions, and most of all, use your God given natural common sense.
good luck with whatever you decide to do or get

I have toyed with the idea myself of getting a copperhead. NY state laws prohibit them without a permit and a class by the DEC. I would say a great first step is to find out which snake you are interested in and observe it respectfully in the wild. I currently still do not own one because I am still doing observations myself. Never try to pick up any wild venomous snake just do some keen observations from a distance. Once you have made the decision to get one I would take the class then get the permit. From that point I would go to a local zoo or to a breeder and ask if you could shadow them for a while and take notes on how they handle them. Also take a look on youtube there are quite a few experienced people on there that show great vids on how to properly handle, milk, tube, etc a venomous snake. Then finally get the snake.


I only say do it all in that order because it will only take one mistake. check out some snake bite vids on youtube there are a lot of them. I would personally go for a less venomous snake like a pygmy rattler or a copperhead. If you are bitten by one of them then you run less of a risk of death. I would defiantly not start with a monocled cobra or black mamba or anything like that. Get to know the venomous snakes in your area before moving on to snakes from other regions.

I would also like to add the fact you are here asking questions and not just rushing out and getting the first venomous snake you see shows good responsibility on your part. There are people who don't even get the permit and pick them right out of the wild. Which you are clearly not doing.

The people who are stressing to be responsible have probably just seen so many people do this sort of stuff and just want you to take the best course of action. They simply don't want to so you or a snake get hurt from not being fully educated on the subject.

Good Luck and remember to ask questions.

I don't know the first thing about getting a venomous permit in NJ, or if there even is one.
As a quick aside - a "class" was mentioned as part of the NYS requirement...that is something of a problem, as, at least the last I knew, there was no class. They do want there to be one, but it has (had?) yet to be established who would teach that class, what would be required to be an instructor, or what would be taught (and by what methods). I doubt that any (NY) state office would support "hands on" training in the classes, simply due to liability; and "book learnin" is of limited value.

To the OP, the regulations and requirements vary from state to state....and local law can be more restrictive than state (local law cannot allow something prohibited by the state, but it can prohibit something allowed by the state) - in addition to learning about your state requirements, you would be well advised to find about about your local laws (county, town/city, village). You may find that you have to give proof of experience with either venomous in general, or with the species you are requesting. Since permits are often animal/species specific, you would have to know what you want before you you pursue a permit. There may well be language that states you agree to random inspections. You may also have to state WHY you want a venomous reptile - and, if a permit is required, "pet" may not be an acceptable response.
I have mixed feelings about some of the suggestions that have been made - I've worked with a wide variety of hots, and, with many species, it is easier to deal with something that has a little size to it (as opposed to a baby). Also, keeping "mildly venomous" or snakes that are slow to strike can easily foster complacency...I sometimes think it is better to have a hot that you know will hurt you, and tries to do so on a regular basis . Rather than make random suggestions, I will suggest that you decide where your interest lies & take it from there - just don't come up with black mamba, forest cobra, or king cobra right off the bat, lol.

Yeah in NY the only one I knew of that had a permit for venomous was for educational but I think you would have to absolutely prove something like that. I wasn't aware that ny hadn't established a class yet. Well kind of sucks for me. lol

And yes Harald is right never say you want it as a pet. Most states with laws requiring a permit will have strict laws in place for certain animals. I remember finding out most of this type of stuff when I wanted a wolf/dog hybrid and found out my state don't like that idea. So most conservation laws are put in place to strictly keep people from getting animals simply for novelty and is going to be waaaaaaay harder to even find someone who will even consider giving a permit.

DEC usually don't want to give anything to anyone. I couldn't even get a permit to release some snakes that were local that I took from someone else (no I personally would never take a snake from the wild) who had caught them and I wanted to put them back where they came from. So now I got a bunch of snakes that would be considered illegal for me to own(mainly garters) and they wouldn't even give me the permit so I didn't get in trouble for having them. Go figure. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

Not to take this too far off track, but NYS permits were not always a big hassle - I've had both Endangered Species and Venomous Reptile permits, and both departments used to be great to deal with. Its just since the latest dangerous animal legislation (2005?) that the process became essentially prohibitive.

Dang I missed the boat on that one lol. I was worried when that fella in Florida wanted to ban all python species, But I was greatly relieved when they amended it. I thought that something similar would happen.

Hopefully they do come up with some sort of class for this and that might make it easier to obtain a permit. But like you said it is a big liability issue. I could see it now someone getting bit in class

Instructor: well I guess Bob didn't know how to handle the thing. Oh well, lets see if Cindy can learn from Bob's mistake.

lol

yeah that would probably go over like a lead balloon lol.