USA bans import of 4 exotic snake species

[Galaxy]

I have to agree that banning isn't quite gonna solve the problem. I wound up with an exotic cat by accident. See, I lived (at the time) near the boarder of two states. One, exotic cats are illegal. The other, completely legal. I was in the legal zone.

One day I slammed my brakes b/c I saw something scurry in a very industrial area in front of my car. Thinking I hit it, I pulled over. I found a 3 week old kitten with ginormous eyes!!! and...a box... nearby.... Edit: I didn't hit her! YAY!

I took her to the vet who bugged out and told me what it was after doing some testing. Yep. Leopard. >.> Asian Leopard.

Believe me, sometimes it takes ALLLLLLLL the patience I have not to turn her into gloves >:O *shakes fist* Exotic ownership is TOUGH! But, then she'll do something utterly hysterical and all thoughts of "omg the pain and puffing from that playful swat which in reality caused surgeon quality incisions... BECOME GLOVES" exits my mind.

Lucky for me, she seriously bonded to my Dad. My bunny is safely in my care and the kitty (now 9 years old!) snuggles the daylights out of my very retired Dad. No worries, bun-bun and leopard don't visit each other. >.> But she does jump on my shoulders every time I visit which is totally cute!

But, as you can see, someone knew what she was and dumped her upstate. I would hate to see this happen more often than not since I imagine such a happy story doesn't happen often for the beautiful exotics.

On a side note: My vet did offer contacting a refuge that would accept her if I didn't want to try the challenge of raising her since it's a serious commitment due to their 20 year lifespan in the wild. That was cool of the vet and a MUCH BETTER solution than dumping. But, I'm not sure if exotic owners think of that when desperate for whatever reason.

[Wain]

I'm glad to see this kind of consideration. Australia has for many decades been very tough on what can be imported because we know and accept that some species can be a far greater risk to the environment than others. I'm sure Cow has had a similar experience in NZ (sorry about the possums!). If, as Zed says, there are a lot of other invasive species that are still allowed to be imported and kept as pets, hopefully the legislation will be expanded.

It's always horrible when someone loses a job, but I don't believe that someone's livelihood should *ever* take precedence over environmental or ethical considerations. I know it's common (though less so in Australia) to hold commerce sacred. But I also believe in these situations that the nation or state (which benefits from the changes) should compensate and help retrain those fewer who are going to be affected and take responsibility for making it easy for people to hand over excess animals.

[cowmuflage]

Haha yeah possums XD We here are proberly more strict than Australia. Can't even have a dead snake let alone a live one!

[Wain]

Haha yeah possums XD We here are proberly more strict than Australia. Can't even have a dead snake let alone a live one!

That's because you have no snakes at all (apart from the ones in government ) Hiking in NZ is a funny feeling to me. I habitually scan the grass ahead of me for snakes and it feels weird not to have to.

[Galaxy]

Does NZ have spiders? If you lack spiders and snakes, I am moving there!

[cowmuflage]

Does NZ have spiders? If you lack spiders and snakes, I am moving there!

We do have spiders but most are tiny and are not a danger to people. The biggest I think we have are Avondale spider and they are Aussies we do get White-tailed spider too again Aussies! Those are the biggest I can think off and they are not huge I think (I've never seen a big one)

The one that is a danger tho is the Katipo it's a native and a relative of the redback spider and the Black widow and are a danger tho bites are very rare as the spiders are very very endangered so don't worry about them!

So yeah I guess if your scared of big ones it's a good place to vist!

Haha yeah possums XD We here are proberly more strict than Australia. Can't even have a dead snake let alone a live one!

That's because you have no snakes at all (apart from the ones in government ) Hiking in NZ is a funny feeling to me. I habitually scan the grass ahead of me for snakes and it feels weird not to have to.

Yeah I guess it would be! I'd be scared silly hiking in the outback XD

[Galaxy]

all spiders invoke terror.... no earthly idea how I run around with Gold (Kirix) without crying like I did the first time I did Anub......................

But, it IS nice none of them are harmful up there *ponders*

[cowmuflage]

If I remmber right White tails eat other spiders so they can be good at keeping spider pops down if ya don't like em.

[Wain]

Does NZ have spiders? If you lack spiders and snakes, I am moving there!

We do have spiders but most are tiny and are not a danger to people. The biggest I think we have are Avondale spider and they are Aussies we do get White-tailed spider too again Aussies! Those are the biggest I can think off and they are not huge I think (I've never seen a big one)

I just realized that what you call an Avondale Spider is our common Huntsman spider And yes, they grow big and look creepy, but they're harmless. Well, they would bite if you grabbed them (plus they have spiny abdomen hairs) but they're non-venomous and they are territorial so they keep other spiders away. They come inside in summer, presumably trying to escape the heat. I used to just let them go about their business, but after twice waking up to the feeling of a big spider crawling across my face in my sleep (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh) I generally put them outside now.

[Talaridan]

Wain, you only further my belief that Australia is full of terrible creepy things, all of which plot my doom.