VERO BEACH, FL -- Vero Beach Animal Control Officer Bruce Dangerfield has seen his share of snakes. He wasn't too surprised when he got a call about this 17-foot long monster serpent.
"Right here in this sub-tropical climate, they do really well. There's all kinds of things for them to eat…they can survive really well, there's a lot of them around," Dangerfield said.
He says most of the large snakes he comes across are not native to the area. They're pets someone released into the environment. He thinks it's dangerous to have large snakes roaming our neighborhoods.
"Until one of these snakes gets somebody's little poodle on John's Island or some little two-year-old in a sandbox, nothing's going to be done about it. It's not if it happens, it's when it happens. It's going to happen," he warned.
Most pet stores advise their clients how big some species of reptiles can get. Kim Lafferty owns Paws 'N' Claws Pet Store.
"I don't believe they're a good pet. When they get bigger, some of these snakes can get 22 feet...there's no commercial habitat, which means you have to build one," she said.
Lafferty admits reptile owners, after just a few years, often end up with reptiles simply too big.
She says you can't sell them without a license, and most zoos, animal shelters and pet shops don't want them.
"You're very limited in what you can do, and most people will release them into the wild."
A new law set to go into effect in January will require some exotic species of reptiles and other animals to be registered and even have microchip implants so they can be tracked back to their owners if released.
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