FL Water managers want to ban python imports

Originally Posted by kmurphy

I think that banning the importation of an animal that is already so established in collections is going to be pretty tough to regulate. Actually I didn't know that they were still importing burms. Are they talking across State lines or from Asia?

Anyway, if all of sudden there is going to be a $100(or more) charge to keep your burm, or any other large reptile, then there is going to be a lot more animals released. It's like when the city decides to start charging to take your stove and refrigerator. They end up in trash piles on deadend roads.

The way I interpreted it, it was referring to imports from Asia, not interstate transport. The lact act being a federal thing, importation would refer to imports into the country as a whole. Imports on a state level would have to be a state level law.
This is just the way I am reading it.

I agree, if a permit system is implemented, there is the possibility of increased releases, but they're going to have to start somewhere regardless. This is not a problem that will be corrected over the short term. It's going to take several years for any action taken to have a noticable positive effect.

Originally Posted by Junkyard

Is this going to be a yearly permit and how many animals are covered under one piece of paper? I can see a $100 fee per household, but is there going to be a 10 count limit then a person needs to add another $100 or $500 for an unlimited number?

Any answer to this is just speculation at this point. It's all up to the lawmakers and nothing specific has been proposed as of yet.
I would assume any permitting system proposed would be modeled after the FL venomous permit already in place, since it appears to be working. As I understand it, once you complete the qualifications to receive a permit, it covers your collection without limitation to number.
Another factor the state will have to consider is the number of keepers of large contrictors in the state is far above the numb er of venomous keepers so the resulting revenue of a permit system will be significantly higher.
I think they already realize permits are a better approach than bans on keeping, since the latter will only serve to force keepers underground and not actually eliminate their being kept overall.

No matter what, some sort of legislation is going to happen in FL. That's inevitable. I would like to see a permit similar to the hot permit put in place along with a microchip requirement.
Florida's venomoous permit is pretty strict, as it should be, and I have always thought it was one of the best forms of controls so far implemented. I would like to see a similar requirement for X number of hours spent working with giant constrictors. In this case a clause in the language to require the time spent to be with specimens in excess of 12-15 feet or something. Time spent working with yearlings is irrelevant in the end.
I think a lot of people buy these snakes, even with the knowledge that they can exceed 15 feet, but they don't really appreciate what that means until theirs gets there. Then they realize that 15+ feet of snake is alot bigger in real life than they thought, and chores that are routine with smaller species like feeding and cleaning are entirely different with huge snakes.
I believe that after they spend a few hundred hours working with full grown burms, retics etc, a percentage of potential keepers would decide that smaller species are much better suited for their abilities.
I have always been of the position that like venomous, there is a fairly small percentage of keepers who are truly capable of properly keeping a 20 foot snake. Unfortunately the current production rate for the giants already far excceeds that percentage of capable keepers.