Those of you that know me personally know I keep reptiles, always have and always will. Well over the years there have been several attempts to legislate, or even out right ban certain species in the reptile industry. Something of which I’m not totally against. I think certain species should require a license, for which you have to take a test to get, just like a drivers license. Well now they are once again calling to ban all import and export of reptiles, and possibly even ban the sale of reptiles that “aren’t on the list”. Bill HR 669 (Download full PDF) is up for a Congressional Hearing happening on April 23, 2009 .
I could go on all day why this is ridiculous, but I won’t. My main concern is the fact that this economy is dropping like the drunk chick at a party and the government is blindly trying to ban and stop a 3 BILLION dollar a year + industry. That number may be hard to believe if your not into reptiles, but there are thousands of people and families across this nation whose sole income depends on the sale of reptiles, and millions who keep them. They too will join the millions of jobless people on the unemployment list if HR 669 passes. Also, how much will it cost the federal and state governments to enforce this bill? There goes more money we don’t have…
My anger with HR 669 stems from the fact that it’s all based on media hype, and flat out lies. This all started when they realized that Burmese Pythons where living and sustaining wild populations in the Florida Everglades (which I’m not arguing, it is true). Now I realize for the uneducated “the only good snake is a dead snake” type of person this seems scary as hell since a Burmese Python can hit 20 foot long. But there are some things to consider when thinking about this.
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More people a year are killed by dogs alone than by all pet reptiles AND wild reptiles COMBINED! Horses kill more people a year than all of these animals combined X 14!!!!!! Read these stats!
Hell, more people a year are killed by Wired home appliances. Should we be worried about them banning toasters next? One could argue that they are invading the wild, I see them discarded all the time in land fills and even out in random creeks when me and my friend Drew are herping.
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Only in captivity, where they are “power fed”, will a Burmese Python reach 20′. In the wild life is a struggle, food is hard to come by. And don’t believe the media hype about “they have no natural enemies in the everglades”. Only a complete tool would believe that and say that. Crocs will eat them, birds will eat young ones, coyotes, wolves, raccoons, skunks, turtles will all eat any size snake they can take down and eat. They most certainly DO have enemies stopping their growth. It is not “uninhibited” as Fox (Faux) News has said several times.
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They absolutely cannot travel across the entire southern US as this map that is aired all over news channels suggest. Florida, and parts of California are the Only states that Burmese Pythons, Reticulated Pythons, Anacondas, etc… can survive in, PERIOD. During summer months, yes they could handle the temps and humidity in Texas and farther east, but come winter, they are dead! No question about it, an exotic snake from the jungle cannot handle 30 degree weather, or even 40 for that matter.
There is no chance they could handle the desert either. Any owner that has ever kept their snake too dry and seen the devastating effects of a Respiratory Infection caused by lack of humidity in the air can attest to this. These snakes nasal passages dry out quickly, and will cause an infection, and will kill them. They wouldn’t last a month in the desert, which also gets too cold for them at night. These snakes do like it hot, but they like it WET even more. Thats why I spend 15-30 minutes a day misting my snakes with a spray bottle.
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Snakes are not migratory by nature. They find a spot and they stick with it. These snakes are not trying to get to California, and the assumption that they are is asinine at best! The only reason your hearing so much about it on the news is because fear sales, fear keeps you watching, and they know most of you are afraid of snakes.
I saw one woman on Fox News that said “they have been known to eat full grown deer”. This would be laughable to most reptile experts if it wasn’t such a serious risk with people actually believing this load of crap. She’s most likely referring to the famous picture of a Rock Python (Cousin of the Burmese Python) eating a small impala. A 20-40 pound impala could be ate by a large python, yes, and the snake wouldn’t need to eat again for months. But thats a small deer, she was obviously trying to pass the impression that they could take down a full size deer in the US, which is CRAP! I dare her right here to show one shred of proof that any Python has ever ate a full size US species of deer. They not only couldn’t kill it, but theres no way they could swallow it!
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Reptiles have been apart of our culture and daily lives since the dawn of America. In the 1800’s you could go see Pythons in the Circus. They have always been here. Why gripe now? There are also wild populations of Green Iguanas in Florida, and even some Nile Monitors, but only the snakes are mentioned because you can’t use the title “Man Eating Lizards” on the news, because it’s unbelievable.
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One of the reasons for the ban (HR 669) is that “all reptiles carry salmonella”. Well first this isn’t true, some do, some don’t. Second, bacon carries salmonella, a grapefruit could potentially carry salmonella, so whats their point? It’s called “WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOUR DONE TOUCHING IT!!!!!!!!”. Bam, problem solved.
So seriously, whats the secrete agenda here? An uneducated tattoo artist can debunk all of this crap at 9 in the morning before my coffee, but yet Congress is working to ban them based on lies and pure media driven hysteria. HR 669 is purely a waste of time, and another step to socialism in America. Now they can tell us what pets we can have?
And I think whats bugging me the most is with the current state of the nation, why in the world are they worried about reptiles right now? Seriously! Fix the credit issues, fix the bank, fix peoples pocket books….oh no, not them, they are too preoccupied with a highly exaggerated snake problem that shouldn’t require an act of congress to handle!
How much money a year will Petco and Petsmart lose without the sale of reptiles and reptile supplies? Thats just two companies, and truthfully, screw them anyways, it’s the mom and pop pet stores I worry about. The family that does nothing but breed reptiles to pay the bills. Those are the people I worry about. I know these people, I’ve met them, they are my friends, and damn it, I even depend on their income to an extent, because I build some of their websites!
This problem is ridiculous at best. It is not the issue they are making it out to be. The only real problem is morons that want to “look cool” by having a huge python but fail to do any home work on them to assure them a good healthy home. They require certain temperatures and humidity levels. They need certain cage requirements met, it varies per species. They do not love you, and never will, they are not capable of this emotion as they don’t even love their young. The reptile hobby is closer related to Botany, not keeping a dog or cat.
So instead of blindly banning these amazing creatures, which millions upon millions of Americans love and keep, and even depend on for their income, let’s educate! I have no problem with the each state deciding if it’s a problem for them and setting up legislature for certain species that would require a permit to keep them. But this is not a federal issue, period! Alaska does not need the same laws on snakes as Florida, neither does New York, etc… Banning them is not the answer! It will only create a black market.
The entire idea of having a list of accepted animals, which is what HR 669 is proposing, that can be edited at anytime scares me as well. Just to pass it they will list the large snakes, but then over time will continue to ban the rest of them. The problem here is the reptile industry doesn’t have powerful lobbyist. And the industries that do are afraid of reptiles.
This is a fine example of the problem in this country, mass media driven hysteria with no facts, reasoning, or logic behind laws banning misunderstood things, and politicians that are too worried about being reelected to make logical decisions (No congressman wants to be the guy that voted to not ban “man eating snakes”). If you like reptiles, than write, email, or call your local Congressman and tell them to worry about the real problems, not reptiles, tell them no on HR 669.
All of these pictures are animals I either owned or once owned. The terrarium is one of many I have built, I no longer have that exact setup though. The last photo is Ashlan and I with Fluffy, the worlds largest captive snake at 24 foot and 310 pounds, who is obviously dog tame.
If you want to help do something about this than visit this page for more information. PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council). Writing or calling works better than email or fax.
Got super lucky this week and traded my 3 Western Diamondback Rattlers for a Temple (Waglers) Viper, Tropidolaemus wagleri! I’ve wanted one of these for years and I’m so incredibly stoked I have one. It’s a neonate at the moment, which is good because I get to watch it grow and go through it’s color phases. It is venomous of course but not lethal to humans. It’s an arboreal tree viper so it just hangs out on small branches all day and waits for me to water him since they don’t like drinking from water bowls. I use a squirt bottle to deliver the water right to his mouth. I’ll try and get a video of that soon. It’s pretty amazing. Also an extremely docile species, fun to work with. Though I still use hooks. I don’t freehand venomous snakes. (The pictures suck because it’s from my cell phone).
I also added a Broadbanded Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus) to my collection this week as well. He’s a sub-adult male. Pretty fun to watch, but I’m more into tree vipers really. Thanks again Donovan for hooking me up with this one. Next I’m after Eyelash Vipers (Bothriechis schlegelii) and Hairy Bush Vipers (Atheris hispida) haha…I said hairy bush…
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