Florida passes ban on giant boa/python/anaconda

[TTTT]

And yes, this means the state can pick and choose any reptile they deemed reptile of concern.

Any reptile?? So they could just say that a leopard gecko or a garter snake is a "reptile of concern" and ban it?

 

[rudukai13]

Yup.

 

[UnderOath13]

Absolutely disgusting...

 

[coura]

this one slipped under the radar, many people here thought that there was just one bill but they kept trying until all of the herpers thought they won already. There was no media hype about this one, they kept it quiet for this reason.

Isnt it kind of ilegal of some sorts to adopt a bill without public knowlege?

 

[davo]

That sucks... pretty big impact I'd imagine having burms and retics on there for keepers.

Another interesting study was conducted by prominent a Herpetologist and Professor at CU, Dr. David Chizar. In 1995 I listened to Dr. Chizar's presentation of this study, while attending the International Herpetological Symposium.

This study looked at the feasibility of re-introducing captive bred "head started" Aruba Island Rattlesnakes (C. unicolor) to their NATIVE habitat, within an area set aside as a wildlife reserve.

They ran into some interesting data.
Comparing the "head started" captive bred snakes with wild snakes they found that the "head started" snakes essentially had "imprinting" problems. They would not be suited to survive in wild. These "head started" snakes lacked the skills needed to survive in their natural environment.

Wild Caught snakes reacted correctly to stimuli:
They sought refuge of heavy piles of rock or similar shelter when faced with a potential predator. (Such as a human or a dog.)

"Head Started" snakes would often associate humans with food....as they were used to receiving feedings from humans.
Inside the cage they would often witness the “head-started” c.b. snakes rubbing their faces on the glass in anticipation of feeding when these snakes saw humans.....or even when they saw Dr.Chizar's dog!
(Chizar often had his dog in the lab during the evening feeding sessions....and the snakes would associate human or canine presence with the offering of food items.)

I have also witnessed this face-on-the-glass-rubbing in several species of snakes including Elapids, Pythons, Boas, several Colubrid species and also Crotalus species. We often refer to this activity as "begging".

Wild snakes were able to effectively track their prey items after the bite.
C.B. head-started snakes performed very poorly at this task. They often failed altogether.

Dr. Chizar did a tongue flicks per minute study while the snakes were tracking their prey items.
The wild caught snakes scored off the chart...and rarely if ever got off course while tracking.
The “head-started” snakes scored poorly with low tongue flicks per minute and often got off track....sometimes they were unable to complete the task.

Head-Started snakes have a greater chance of being introduced to (and infected with) fatal reptilian diseases, while in captivity. This further diminishes their chances of surviving in the wild after re-introduction. It also opens more possibilities of spreading diseases to the wild populations.

Does anyone have this study about the unicolor? I'd be interested in reading it.

 

[A. gigas]

That sucks.. I hate the way the media is portraying these snakes..

i second that

 

[A. gigas]

wow, this wont fix a damned thing. This is what poloticians do when they think that they are doing some good for the environment, they just pass pointless laws that will not do anything. No one is releasing any big snakes in the everglades anymore since they all need to be microchipped and permits are needed. the only thing that this does is kill a big economy...

i second that as well

 

[A. gigas]

"politics" describes the process well. "poli" in latin meaning "many", and "tics" meaning bloodsucking creatures.

 

[rudukai13]

Isnt it kind of ilegal of some sorts to adopt a bill without public knowlege?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No. In fact most of our political system has been designed to allow politicians to do whatever they want without the public knowing about it until afterwards. During the day, when the media is there to watch, the house and senate spend there time passing bills that name post offices after movie stars from the 50s and 60s. The real stuff happens between 2 and 4 in the morning, when nobody is there to report on it. Of course, a citizen could always find legislation posted online to read through hundreds if not thousands of pages of useless language that ultimately tells you nothing about the bill unless you have a law degree to be able to understand it. Assuming of course that you can actually find the bill after it's been hidden deep within the politician's website, or that they even bothered to post it there in the first place.

Cliffnotes: No, politicians pass legislation without public knowledge on a weekly if not daily basis.

 

[143629]

next should be asian arowanas!!!