Once the government here doesnt have their minds full with Covid, I’m hoping to get the no venomous of any kind bylaw removed so I can hopefully get my dream FWC, inverts and poison dart frogs down the line.
As for my stance I think full hot stuff should be allowed but kinda regulated so that possession is restricted to those experienced enough and whom have a proper respect/knowledge for such critters. I think stuff should be classed based on how dangerous they can be with the higher levels requiring some sort of simple licensing. I also think if theres a way to test somebody to see if they are allergic ahead of time without risking their health/safety it should be part of the requirements and that it should be rechecked periodically in case an allergy does develop to something.
Knowledge and safety is key.
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Thank you everyone for all of the responses, I never thought I’d get this many. I think that a permit should be necessary and it should not be given for a few months to hopefully remove impulse decisions.
@ascended I agree, a person should do their research but there is no way to see that someone does. It’s better to make people take a quick training course. The people who prepared and are responsible will pass and get a license. The people who didn’t may or may not pass but if they do they are more prepared then they were before.
@beast-blade-wolf_987 Good luck getting that changed, hopefully you can get some of your dream animals. However you don’t need to wait on the dart frogs because they aren’t poisonous in captivity and if the laws state venomous then they’re (in the wild) poisonous, big difference. The only problem with allergy testing is that it shouldn’t necessarily limit what animals someone should be able to get. If I really want a rhino viper but I’m allergic. I don’t think that means that I shouldn’t be able to get them, then I’m likely to buy one illegally without a permit. However knowing if I’m allergic or not would be helpful to know how much safety I need to proceed with.
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Unfortunately poisonous is also forbidden and even though the frogs for example aren’t toxic in captivity my jurstiction as far as I know still has them blocked. They don’t seem to care how mild a venom or poison something has or if it even has it in captivity, they will forbid it nonetheless…unless I can figure out how to petition them to change things around here. I didn’t even know it was a thing until I was gonna get a T and I was told to look at the forbidden list. It read something like “No venomous or poisonous animals”.
And about the allergy test thing, I think if one is allergic they should still be allowed to get the creature in question provided they agree to take every precautionary measure they can and that they explicitly understand that they have the critter at their own risk. If something goes south it’s on them. I think there should also be an age requirement on certain levels of venomous/poisonous creature ie. Full hots that could possibly kill be restricted to adults only. Warms meh maybe 13 or 15+ depending on the creature.
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With parent agreement. A lot of it has to do with maturity, if someone just wants to get one so they can tell everyone they have a dangerous one and they want to hold it then it’s not a good idea. I would think stricter licensing and parent signature.
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Being from Texas. The official “Don’t tell me how to love my life!” State, in case you didn’t know, it’s a tough one for me… as much as I don’t want to agree. When I go to a herp show and I see a young kid impulse buying a Speckled Rattler for his first snake it makes me worry. Not just for the kid but for the animal probably more so. An animal that people are scared of is bound to be neglected and that doesn’t seem fair to the animal
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In theory, permitting and licensure make sense - but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
So you want to keep hots, legally? Take a class, costs you $100 and takes up a day of your time. The folks who hold the class are also paying the state to be certified to hold the classes in the first place. You finish your class and now you are able to apply to get your permit - probably costs another $100 (to the state this time.) If you even get it, you’ll have to renew it every few years in order to maintain the privilege. The kinds of people who would go through this process are likely the exact same people who are keeping hots well in the first place. The people we all worry about won’t bother. When those people end up on the news the push for even more regulation will occur.The only people who suffer will be the people who weren’t a problem in the first place.
Believe me, I don’t think everyone should be keeping hots - but the state is inefficient in all things so I don’t have much faith in it improving anything it touches. Permits for hots become permits for big snakes, become permits for all snakes, become permits for all reptiles. The slope is far more slippery for things that are not specifically mentioned in the constitution.
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I like that, it’s really similar to a ham radio license, there’s 3 levels, you have a test that you take. There’s 3 tests, each one is more difficult and allows you to do different things with it. There’s optional courses but for hots they could be required. With hots there could also be restrictions with each level. For example you have to be 13 to get the first license. The licence would allow you to buy very mildly venomous hots, maybe a little more venomous than non-medically significant (eg hognose) but still very low-risk snakes (Asian vine snakes). This licence would also be very cheap (~$25-50). The second license you would have to be 16 to get and it has a required course and costs a bit more (~$100) you need some experience with previous venomous snakes and it would allow you to get some possibly medically significant snakes (Copperhead). The third licence you would have to be 18 to get and it would be expensive (~$500). It would allow you to get any snake you wanted and it would require quite a bit of experience with previous hots. What are your thoughts on this kind of licencing?
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I think licensing and permits are largely ineffective. Good in theory, but don’t change anything in practice because the folks who put in the effort are the ones doing the right thing in the first place.
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Def of course my mistake but I meant to imply that lol.
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I think the truly dangerous herps maybe a permit system . Just to limit impulse buying for inexperienced or new hobbyist’s.
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