Posted: 06/30/2010
Florida is cracking down on the sale of Burmese pythons. The so-called 'reptile bill' (SB 318) disallows importing, selling, or swapping the giant snakes and seven other constrictor species as personal pets.
It’s an effort to reduce the number of former pet pythons now slithering across South Florida.
Scott Hardin is Florida’s Exotic Species Coordinator. He said "Burmese pythons are reproducing over a great deal of the Everglades. They have the potential to move farther north in Florida," and put other imperiled species at a greater risk.
Private owners can keep their snakes and dealers can sell them only to out-of-state buyers under the law.
Hardin says the state will organize an amnesty program for anyone who wants to get rid of their pet pythons.
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