Aus natives and yanks

[Niall]

Cheers Ramsayi,

I should of added that in.
There has been a few cases 2 or 3 thats i know of,
I can say that Armadale Reptile Centre lost a number of carpet pythons when they had a out break of IBD in their collection.

 

[Ramsayi]

Cheers Ramsayi,

I should of added that in.
There has been a though cases 2 or 3 thats i know of,
I can say that Armadale Reptile Centre lost a number of carpet pythons when they had a out break of IBD in their collection.

Yeah check out a paper by Brian Bush "Inclusion Body Disease (IBD) in Pythons:
a Reminder of the Importance of Quarantine"

While these viruses may not be as common in WA it would be unwise to assume that they aren't there.I'm sure exotics have been and are being kept in WA just as they are in the eastern states so quarantine and good husbandry are just as important as they are here.

 

[Woma-obsessed]

I thought that many American see snakes as a fad and when they become too big, they are relased into the wild, totally disrupting the natural balance. Florida is completely flooded with ex pet pythons.

Heres the link to the article
Python Hunt: Snake Experts Begin Hunting Florida's Estimated 100,000 Pythons On The Loose | World News | Sky News

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[BARRAMUNDI]

I find it quite amusing that CALM allow importation of Elapids but not Pythons due to the potential spread of IBD from imported Pythons. However, Elapids can carry the disease aswell. So really they may aswell open importation up to pythons aswell.

There is also evidence to suggest Varanids and possibly other Lizards can carry OPMV and IBD.

 

[sheldoncy23]

i did a weeks work experience at armadale reptile centre and all the staff say they would love to import more but cant. they even had some exotics that were handed to them anonomously that were in top shape but had to be put down cuz of D.E.C of what ive heard they had a short-tail python, an albino burm and 2 terrapins killed.
have they ever thought of allowing the imports but introducing a compulsary quarintine time?
sorry but im just curious! lol

 

[zulu]

Hey,
Look, firstly just wondering why GTP's in Aus are on class two license, Ive heard there harder to keep (have more speific requirements). I just find it somewhat amusing that GTP's are more common in captivity in america.
From what i have read and seen etc, yanks have a weird way of keeping reptiles, basically what im trying to get at is why are there so many of our natives over there (having no regulation or licence to keep them) when they cant even keep them properly.
I thought exporting natives to america would of been illegal anyway. If it is legal there should be a condition of keeping aus natives that you have to have a license.
Sorry this subject just frustrates me, maybe i dont know enough on it, anyone shed some light or have an opinion.

Most pf the GTPs in the USA were imported from farmed and wild caught snakes originating from indonesian territorries originally
They are not a difficult species to keep,the captive requirements are known and straight forward,its the hard to keep attitude that is proliferated in literature that will keep them on class 2 in australia and that ensures theyll drop like stones in price. Species such as diamond pythons are a lesser known quantity for long term captive maintainance and they are on class 1 and been on that schedule from the start of licensing.

 

[Harmony67]

I thought that many American see snakes as a fad and when they become too big, they are relased into the wild, totally disrupting the natural balance. Florida is completely flooded with ex pet pythons.

Heres the link to the article
Python Hunt: Snake Experts Begin Hunting Florida's Estimated 100,000 Pythons On The Loose | World News | Sky News

Just my thoughts on the matter.

The US is media obsessed. Please do not take anything in print (or on the TV) as truth. We have celebrity zoo keepers (like Jack Hanna who is obviously a celebrity and not a knowledgeable animal expert) and expert animals keepers who are being paid large sums of money to tell everyone how dangerous our snake problem is. It is media hype and propaganda that is politically driven and we are having a fight to try to keep our pets.

1. Many of the "wild" reptiles in southern Florida are there due to hurricane activity damaging import businesses and pet shops as well as homes. A large number of reptiles come into this country through Miami.
2. There are pets released, but relatively few and some have been done deliberately to make more media hype. There are news articles on this as well and the people are supposedly being prosecuted when they are found out.
3. Ask some actual Florida residents how many non-native snakes they have seen loose. Many people will be honest and say they have never seen any snake in the wild, let alone a burm or boa or retic. (When I lived in Florida I saw one wild cornsnake, and that was slithering along the ground in a zoo.) My mom has seen plenty of alligators, anoles and geckoes, but never a snake and she has lived there for 16 years.
4. Most of the US ecology cannot support non-native snakes. We live in a cold, dry country with a huge number of colubrids. Most imported boas and pythons would die if they got loose. I have no snakes in my collection, other than the cornsnakes, that could survive if they got outside. It's below freezing and snowing here in Michigan, and is cold 7-8 months out of the year.
5. The HSUS is NOT a humane society. The Humane Society of the United States is a political organization and most of the monies donated to it go for political lobbying. If you read through the garbage they sling you can get to the truth. They do not support animals, but the ideals of people who are willing to pay for their political services. We are trying to get the government to do something about them because they advertise animal protection to get peoples money (and with a name like that it works) but less than 4% of their $220 million donated dollars (that was in ONE year) have gone to any shelters. They are declaring themselves a not for profit organization, but they make HUGE amounts of money and do not give charitably. They have also altered their mission so that it nearly mirrors Peta. Over here they are now going after large breed dogs, saying people shouldn't own them because they cause greenhouse gasses which are causing global warming. The HSUS is trying to destroy our animals, not save them.

I'll jump off my soapbox now. I just get frustrated that the media has such a far reach and so few people get real information.

***They have not released any information proving that the burmese python killed that child. The circumstances are very suspicious, and the parents have criminal records. One month after the poor little girl died the "step-father" was arrested on cocaine selling charges. The bites on the child are very unusual and the snake was actually less than 9 feet long and wouldn't have considered the child as prey.***

 

[Retic]

Thank you for the much needed injection of facts to this thread.

 

[wokka]

Here in WA,
The whole keeping Reptiles as pets is new, it only became legal to keep them in 2003.

The reason why we cannot import pythons from other states in AUS or from around the world is because D.E.C have put a ban on importing pythons into WA as we have not had cases of IBD or OPMV here in this state.

OPMV and IBD are 2 diseases that kill pythons and would be devastating to get it introduced into the wild, you mainly hear about these cases in collections in the East and the US.
Both diseases could and have wiped out whole collections.

We can only Import Lizards and Elapids from the East that are on our Keeping List.

I notice that the chances of finding something increase with the time spent looking. With the relative infantcy of the WA captive hobby I suggest that the testing for IBD and OPMV would be only 1000s, or perhaps even only 100s. By comparison testing in the US would number 100,000s, due to the larger size of the hobby. To say IBD and OPMV dosn't exist in WA based on a relatuve few tests, may not hold true for the future.
The other requirement apart from looking is an accurate test which I understand Australia does not have.Even in the eastern states where " signs consistent with various dieases, including OPMV" have been shown it does not prove the existance of that disease.
Once my 12 year old son fell out of his tree house and broke his leg. It was a nasty looking injury with the broken bone piercing the skin, and my son sat there trying to pull what he thought was a broken stick out of his leg. Even though this broken leg WAS caused by falling from a tree it does not necessarilly follow that all patients broken legs have necessarily fallen out of a tree. Likewise pathological signs consistent with various diseases may be caused by other diseases, which at this time may not even be known.