Legal Issue.

I'm just curious.. I know there are laws about keep native state species, large snakes, and so on but do people always follow these rules? I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble or anything I'm just curious. All these laws they are passing with regards to keeping reptiles, but do they have any way of knowing if you are 'breaking the law'?

Every state has its own laws, and you need to know what is legal for your state. Chances are that if its in a pet shop, its legal, but check anyway.

I know in RI old world chameleons, reticulated pythons, box, wood and spotted turtles are illegal to keep....venomous can be kept with a permit I think (I used to know the only man in the state with a license to keep venomous, he had a thing for rattlers)..I don't remember what else.

We had to get a permit for VA to keep, breed and sell corns because they are native to our area. We also got a business license and a Federal ID number too for the business end of it. I was also told that I will need to get permits for each state I sell in at reptile shows when we get to that point.

:noevil:

I'm a natural born rule breaker.

Here in eastern Canada, its mostly about turtles province wide, but regions have their own rules (for example, in the Capital city you may not keep the 'big five' without special permits, and in parts of the city you cant keep them at all).
I'm SURE there are rules about the native snakes, but they're mostly garters and grass snakes, so many in the pet trade are safe.

misery said:

:noevil:

I'm a natural born rule breaker.

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Unfortunately, when you break the rules as a reptile keeper and get caught doing it, it reflects badly on the entire community and leads to more regulations and restrictions against us. I make every attempt to follow the law for this reason....

That being said... if it becomes a felony crime to transport a boa constrictor across state lines, Tara and I will both be felons come 2011 and our move to Virginia, because Carlos and Leonard are certainly not staying here... reasonable restrictions are one thing... but not grandfathering in the snakes we already have puts me in an unthinkable position. Leaving part of my "family" here is not an option.

Here in Cali there are no regulations for keeping non-venomous snakes or rear-fanged colubrids. There are no regulations for native California venomous snakes, but it is illegal to keep anything that is hot and not native to California.

It's not too bad. California recognizes taxonomical data only to the species, and they also recognize fairly outdated taxonomy. For example, Crotalus viridis viridis is a Prairie Rattler. It is not native to California. However, about 7 years ago, the Northern Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Great Basin rattlers were classified as a subspecies of Crotalus viridis. Since California recognizes old taxonomy, and only classifies to the species, Crotalus viridis is a non-native species that I am allowed to keep, at least until California recognizes current taxonomy.

It really pays to know your regulations and follow them. Getting caught with illegal animals is not only incredibly expensive, it is also terribly negative for the hobby as a whole. It's the few people within the herp community that DON'T follow regulations that make headlines and bad press for the rest of us.

No, people definitely do not always follow the rules. In my municipality, pythons and boas are not allowed. I don't know of any pythons, but I know there are many, many ball pythons. Tarantulas are also not allowed and there are many of them too. No doves allowed, several of them too, etc, etc, etc. I'm not even sure if all of them know that they're not allowed to have them, because I work at a pet store and usually ask what people are feeding when they ask for mice (live or frozen) and a lot of them tell me with no indication they know they aren't allowed.

In TN it's illegal to keep a turtle as a pet, but I know many people who have them. There aren't any banned snakes, permits are required for hots which I've heard are not terribly hard to obtain. It is illegal to capture any native species of any animal to keep as a pet and likewise it is illegal to release anything into the wild. Of course people still do. It's also illegal to kill snakes in TN but I know many who boast about it.

Sweetseraph said:

No, people definitely do not always follow the rules. In my municipality, pythons and boas are not allowed. I don't know of any pythons, but I know there are many, many ball pythons. Tarantulas are also not allowed and there are many of them too. No doves allowed, several of them too, etc, etc, etc. I'm not even sure if all of them know that they're not allowed to have them, because I work at a pet store and usually ask what people are feeding when they ask for mice (live or frozen) and a lot of them tell me with no indication they know they aren't allowed.

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We stock ferret food, and ferrets are illegal in CA. I stopped asking what people are feeding a long time ago. It's easier than trying to educate everyone and their brother on state regulations, as sad as that is. [sarcasm]You'd be surprised how many people get downright offended when you try to tell them their beloved pets are illegal...[/sarcasm]