but how r some exotics like corn snakes gonna damage our environment? i mean they r just another reptile like a woma python or a roughie.
No, actually, they are not. They are completely different to a woma or a rough scaled python. Totally different.
Womas and rough scaled pythons are boids. Pythons (boids) are well represented in Australia. They tend to move more slowly, tend to produce fewer offspring and tend to have a longer maturation period between hatching and reaching size of reproductive capacity - usually around 2 years as a minimum.
Corn snakes are colubrids. Colubrids are poorly represented in Australia, and I am led to believe there is a reason for that. They tend to have a faster metabolism, tend to produce larger numbers of offspring, and generally have a shorter maturation period - in some cases corn snakes can begin breeding at nine months of age if they are of appropriate size.
Both these groups are pretty good climbers (with exception to womas/aspidites, as they tend to be boreal in nature). Corn snakes are very good climbers, and can easily scale a tree for prey items. As can most boids.
Exotics can damage the environment in a number of ways - one of the main ones is competition with local species which can in extreme cases drive the local species to extinction. They also predate directly on local species, and can also wipe them out in a similar fashion, and they can carry pathogens that are not endemic to Australia and therefore our local species have no immunity to them, which could also wipe out a local species as well. That's three big reasons to be concerned about.
They certainly can cause damage. I'd say the corn snake, of all snakes, would be one snake that you really wouldn't want to bring into Australia - they breed in large numbers, will adapt to most environments in Australia, and cause the aforementioned problems of competition, predation, and perhaps even spread non-endemic diseases. No, corn snakes do not pose ANY threat to human safety, they are in fact what I consider the safest of all snakes to handle as they very rarely if ever bite and they are generally extremely placid, often to the point of boring - but that says nothing about the threat they pose to the environment which I would say is pretty serious.
And I also agree with the bureaucrat comment. It's only due to the fact that reptiles aren't the most favourable of creatures in some peoples eyes that they don't give this any thought...
And because they're predisposed to dislike, they don't waste their time with it. Which really limits the hobby in all areas.
Only when it comes to native species, which has been the subject of much pain and suffering when it comes to keepers in the past. When we're talking about exotics, it's a different ball game.
In a word, with natives, yes I'd agree.
With exotics, no, generally I wouldn't agree with that sentiment.
I think we need to breed more natives, especially more of the smaller and more easily manageable species (ie, womas, rough scaled pythons, etc) and teach people about what we have here...I think you'll find most people would be happy with keeping natives anyway.
) exotic reptiles to the mix, do you think they'll compete with our native species for food and shelter as their numbers increase? Of course they will - our small lizards and frogs will be the first to suffer as the hatchlings grow, and that leaves less food for our native species, which will eventually disappear.
