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Speak Out: Permitting System

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spookydog on 2007-08-20
tennessee laws are screwed up!!!! i have been trying to see if i can have a pittily false water cobra. iv talked to t.w.r.a and one officer sayes you can, another officer says you cant. and no one yet can give me a list of snakes that are illegal in tennessee. does this mean that they make up laws as they feel? why can i go to the local rodeo and get on a 1500lb bull thats trying to kill me but i cant have a copper.SOMEONE HAS TO STOP THIS MADNESS!!!!!

pw on 2006-01-31
i think that as long as you have a permit that any body should be allowed to keep hots as a few fellow hot keepers in this poll have said i agree that the state and or city/county should come and inspect and make a decision on how safe and sanitary the eclosure/s and surrounding enviroment is in that peticular house hold. many people have lost their driving privleges, temporarly or indefinitly and are still allowed to obtian a vehicle with license,insurance& regerstation;and for what reason,(who knows,that is not for me to decide on). but on the other hand the fear factor of neihboring residence should not contest as to whether or not you or anybody should keep what they have an intrest in. nobody goes and inspects an individuals home before they obtian a cat or dog no matter the size,but if that animal were to escape the place of residence and harm someone that animal and situation is evaluated for various reasons and possibilities as to what went wrong and who is responsible for that altercation and upon that decision the involved animal is or is not humanly euthanized and a fine may be in toll for the owner in which before or after the oner is allowed to purchase or obtain another cat or dog with due warning of the situation to happen again and the same rules should apply for keepers of hot herps. there may be alot of people who are frightend by reptiles and snakes in general seem to be on the top of the list, but how come people who are afraid of k-9s are thought to be outlandish; and are told by the dozens of owners that their dog is the most gentlist or wouldnt hurt a fly,is a big baby,ect. but at the same time i am not trying to discondone the ownership of dogs or the like or the love and trust that some owners are somtimes to eager to show, but to stress that most of us hot keepers also make the same or similar attemps to ensure the safty of our reptiles,us and others, and if i have to prove my devotion to my hobby to certian enforcers i am more than willing to.

IntroHerper09 on 2006-01-19
I think that states should consider the number of people in the state, if not put it in the individual counties' hands. For example, where I live, it is fairly rural, with some dense areas. Here, I believe keeping a cobra or mamba wouldn't deeply effect the neighborhood, were it to escape. In NYC, however, a mamba loose in Brooklyn could be a far larger problem until it was caught or killed.

I think that the requirements for a permit should look at the area surrounding where you'll keep it, as well as the availability of antivenom for that species, should you or your neighbors need it. The national permitting idea would be nice, but the problem is having someone who lives in one area of the state or even one area of the country writing laws to apply to hundreds of different climes and species in places they may never have been. Ultimately, only someone who knows the area knows whether a hot herp would be an acceptible risk or not.

Scott7590 on 2005-12-07

One of the problems with the permit system is the unknown "qualifications" of the people who determine what qualifies a hot collector to obtain a permit.

We have a permit system in Florida. Among other things, the permit application requires you to demonstrate that you have 1,000 hours of experience dealing with hots. You also have to identify what species you want to keep. But when I first got my permit, I did not have to show that I had experience with the species I wanted to keep. What if someone has had 1,000 hours of experience with copperheads but to keep black mambas? That’s apples and oranges.

When I last renewed my permit, I listed Bitis and Crotalus as the species (genera) I wanted to keep. I’ll bet no one who saw my application knew what I was referring to.

Our best bet may be to lay low at the local level and fight our battles at the state level. A well-written letter to a far-off state legislator is likely to be more effective than a verbal presentation to a group of hysterical neighbors at a town hall meeting.

dhviper on 2005-12-01
I have searched over and over on the laws on keeping venomous reptiles in ohio and can not find any definate answers. Is there a law/ordinace requiring a permit to keep venomous snakes? Im interested in POSSIBLELY getting a venomous snake and want to take all necessary steps to posses one legally. Thanks.

xvenomx on 2005-11-11
I thought this was america? Land of the free ?! I live in arizona where any idiot can carry a gun, and I can own a mojave rattlesnake but not a copperhead, go figure?

Haz on 2005-10-20
In Ca. if it isn't indiginous you can't have it. But there is a way to get around it and that's if you you are a licenced quarantine station or associated with a research facility. Of which I am lucky enough to be of both. But permit collecting is a great idea. It would allow us the one love that we are gravitated to as well as regulate the new herpers (hot and not) as to the in's and outs of the snake wrangling.

jjordan on 2005-09-02
snake1... if it is native maybe you can get away with it, if its not endangered in your state... I live in Ohio and I can keep hots... but not those from Ohio that are endangered... check in to the P.I.T. tagging. In Ohio I can keep a number of snakes that are native ( including the northern copper head )JUST REMEMBER it may look like a laid back snake but...the rule of any pet is that if it has a mouth it can bite! and a cottonmouth is a hot. which means it will f**k u up... thanx jerry

snake1 on 2005-07-02
i recently caught a cottonmouth in my fish dressing house and have kept it in an aquarium. i understand it is illegal to keep native species that are venomous in tennessee. can anyone tell me what the fine if any will be if i am caught with the snake

snakesallover on 2005-03-08
There is no reason for there not to be a national permiting system. In michigan there are no laws aon keeping venomous snake, only if they are endangered of course. "If" a person wants to keep a venomous reptile they should be allowed to so you buy a permit and make sure there is help close by incase of a envenomation.

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