Lawmakers push to stop pet owners from dumping reptiles

TALLAHASSEE — Pythons and lizards and anacondas, oh my! That’s the message Florida wildlife officials and a pair of state lawmakers sent Thursday as they gathered to launch legislation to put tighter regulations on bone-crushing reptiles they say are slithering their way across South Florida.

Two Treasure Coast lawmakers are sponsoring measures to stop pet owners from dumping giant snakes, lizards and other dangerous non-venomous reptiles into the Everglades and surrounding areas. The displaced predators are competing for food with native species.

If approved, the measure would require registration and a $100 fee from owners of large non-venomous reptiles to help fund education efforts and amnesty programs. The bill would add Burmese, African rock, reticulated and amethystine pythons and monitor lizards to the list of reptiles requiring registration. Officials estimate as many as 5,000 Floridians would be required to permit their pets.

“Many people are purchasing these (animals) and then finding out when they are no longer two or three feet long but are now 10 or 12 or 15 feet long (that they can’t keep them),” said House sponsor Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach.

State law already regulates the possession of venomous reptiles. Poppell’s measure would expand the scope. If approved by lawmakers, the state Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would draw up rules by September.

Despite a few sensational snake stories, state wildlife officials say the public does not appreciate the scale of the problem, which is getting worse in remote regions throughout the Everglades and Southwest Florida.

Last year, game officers found 71 adult constrictors in the Everglades, which they say represents a tiny percentage of the well-camouflaged critters living in the region.

Most of the animals are purchased as babies and released when they reach mammoth proportions.

“We have a great climate here, we’re surrounded by water and have many ports,” said Marianne Gengenbach, representing The Nature Conservancy. “As such we are uniquely vulnerable here in Florida to evasive species and their ability to not only survive but thrive in this state but wreak havoc.”

The reptilian round-up is part of a larger initiative to revamp state laws regulating all kinds of big and often dangerous animals that are kept as pets.

Last updated in 1994, laws regulating the possession of lions and tigers and bears will be re-written in the next few years to better protect the general public and the animals themselves.