Georgia state law issues

Ok. I am only 15 years old, but i still need help. When i first got interested in snakes i wanted a corn snake. I went to buy one and to my dissapointment they were 1 of the many many illegal non-venomous native species of snakes in Ga. Well what i would like to do with the help of some others is get this law changed. I do not know exactly how to do that, but if someone does i would be glad to help with it. People please reply to this email these laws need to be changed! There is no reason we should be denied access to having corns, eastern kings, eastern hognoses or any other native specie of non-venomous snake. Anyone with ideas or someone looking to help change the laws email me or reply to this post.

I suggest joining a local herp society, and then getting a letter wriitng campaign going.

One thing about your belief that:

There is no reason we should be denied access to having corns, eastern kings, eastern hognoses or any other native specie of non-venomous snake.

I am an avid herp keeper, collector and breeder on a hobbyist level, yet I firmly believe there are nonvenomous herps that should not be kept. For example the Box Turle in New York State has had its populatins decimated by over collecting and by habitat destruction. Now it is illegal to lkeep them as they have been afforded game animal status with no open season and a possession limit of zero. It is a sad fact, but a fact nonetheless that many species are endangered or threatened. This is often the reason that states create laws as the one with which you are concerned.

Best regards,
Glenn B

Originally posted by ZX11


Rather than a petition, I would like to do a "bill draft' and find a lobbyist to get it to the house floor, then pushed through to the senate. I am unaware of any lobbyists for the hobby, but, we can always start our own lobbyist group. This would take the effort of everyone in the hobby, non Ga residents included.

Anyone interested??????
Michael Parkinson

Yes I am. I'm in Fayetteville (just south af Atlanta. Let me know what I can do to help.

I was wanting to get a red albino corn snake than heard that it is illegal to own them in georgia. Now i have searched around and i have gotten mixed responses on this subect. Everywhere online says you can not have them in any shape of form. Now I just talked to a snake breeder in Brunswick(granted she does not breed corns) who said the classic nature corn is illegal as a pet. But say a red albino,candy cane, or snow (to name a few) corn snakes were no illegal because they are not naturally found in the wild. So now i am totally confused. Can someone anyone in georgia shed some light on this for me. This would be my first snake and from research I feel this would be the perfect beginner snake for me. Plus Ijust feel in love with the red albinos and candy canes. can someone please please help. thanks.

they're illegal. I've seen posts where Rich Z. (Serpenco, from FL) has questioned if it's illegal for him to even drive through GA w/ the corns on the way to shows...

We are Georgia natives as well and yes corns are illegal.. (no matter which type of morph they are). Any animal indigenous to the state of Georgia is illegal to maintain in captivity (except venomous snakes, thats a different issue all together!!)
As much as corns are bred in captivity I think it is ridiculous and I dont know many people who would purchase them wild caught at this point anyway when there are perfectly healthy CB corns. Georgia's laws are ridiculous.
Christian Wright and Shannon Richards

Hopefully the laws in Georgia will change for the better soon so we can keep and breed native non venomous snakes. I have some paper work from when the dnr last met to review the current laws if anyone is interested.

The laws won't change until we get it together, and change them!
T.

If anyone is interested in helping getting messed up laws here in Georgia changed please contact me. It won't be easy but if the herpers in Georgia get together then it could be done.

john campbell

First off, I think the video is a great idea.

However, since you admit you have an agenda, it would be incorrect to call it a "documentary".