Bryan Christy

Well, it may be goodbye big pythons and boa constrictors.  This morning a US Senate committee approved S373, a ban on the import and interstate trade of 9 “giant” constrictor snake spp.   Too bad the python industry could not control itself at some point over the past 30 years (I loved my boyhood Burmese python, Socrates).  Boa constrictors would be a real and unnecessary loss.  As for the truly giant pythons and anacondas, their sale and keeping should have been controlled by the industry years ago.  Common sense says that unlimited sales of 30 foot reticulated pythons was going to bite the entire trade one day.  Not only did some leading dealers sell as many retics and burms as they could, many knowingly imported their giant pythons from the world’s biggest international illegal wildlife traffickers (and still do).  (more…)

A group of prominent herpetologists has joined USARK in criticising the validity of a US government study on “giant” snakes (9 python species, anacondas and boa constrictors), and the threat the snakes pose to the U.S.  Here is the letter. 

The government study, done by USGS, is part of the Lacey Act process to determine whether a species is “injurious” as a preliminary step to regulating/banning/exterminating it.  The study comes on the heels of anti-python legislation currently under consideration in both the House and Senate (HR 2811/S.373). 

My 2 cents: Regardless of the “injuriousness” of giant snakes under the Lacey Act, trade and keeping of the (more…)

(Updated 7/31 below) The reptile keeping world is up in arms over a House Bill, HR 2811, which would ban all python imports.  According to PetHobbyist.com:  “Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida has authored a bill, HR 2811 , that would ban the “species genera Python” from being imported or sold across state lines. While in response to the recent Florida death of an infant by her parents’ Burmese python, the law is written such that it appears to also ban snakes such as the ball python — an animal usually included on zoo, herp society, and pet information resources as a good snake for first time pet owners.”

Ball pythons can make good pets and there are some great overseas breeding and ranching projects of chondro and other pythons, too.  Banning all pythons will no doubt increase black market trafficking of not only pythons but of other wildlife, too, and will put legitimate reptile breeders and dealers here and abroad out of business.  There are better legislative options than a blanket ban on all pythons to improve protection of the environment, the public, and the animals.

Unfortunately, some leaders in the reptile industry (e.g., USARK) are lobbying Congressman Meek and others to change the bill language to ban only imports of Burmese pythons.  This is a silly proposal which ignores (more…)