I was researching NC laws for keeping/selling reptiles. I was talking to a person with state wildlife enforcement. She told me that it was illegal to keep eastern kingsnakes in NC, not because eastern kingsnakes are threatened but because they look similar to the outer banks kingsnakes and the outer banks KS is listed as a species of special concern.
I told her that I had a captive breed KS that I bought while I was living in another state. I told her it looks the same as an eastern KS, although when I bought her, she was labeled as an Arizona chain king. I believe she is a common Arizona KS. She told me that it was illegal to keep her.
My KS "Lucy" is kind of well known on this forum. I have been posting pics of her since I got her about 5 years ago. For those that don't know her, she spent her first 2 years in a petstore with people tapping on the glass, sticking their hands in her tank and poking her, etc, etc. When I first met her she hated all people. The people that worked in the petstore would not touch her because they were so afraid of her. Her first reaction to any person was to bite. She didn't just bite when you grabbed her, but she would come at you as soon as her cage was opened. For some reason she never tried to bite me, she would just follow my hand as I moved it along the tank. The petstore workers said she was just trying to lure me in a little closer so she could get her teeth in me. Every week I would go to this petstore to buy crickets. I soon came to look forward to playing with the "Mean" KS. One day the girl told me that I should buy her since she seemed to like me. They said that nobody would buy her because of how aggressive she was. They sold her to me at cost just to get rid of her. They refused to get her out of her cage and told me I had to do it.
Lucy was a handful for the first two years I had her. It took her that long to start trusting me. I am the only person that has even touched her since I bought her 5 years ago. She still has trust issues even with me, but I'm the only one that she will even let near her.
I asked the person from the state what I was suppose to do, I can't just release her. She told me my only real option was to give her to an organization that kept snakes for educational purposes. Lucy can't be around kids for obvious reasons. She's almost 6 ft long and will bite. I don't think she'll do well at all as a display snake because of her past.
She told me that I could apply for a permit to keep her but since I brought the snake into the state illegally, I would probably be denied. Also if I do apply and lose, they will take her. They have my name and phone number but don't know anything else about me. I can do nothing and hope they never catch me.
What should I do?
I told her that I had a captive breed KS that I bought while I was living in another state. I told her it looks the same as an eastern KS, although when I bought her, she was labeled as an Arizona chain king. I believe she is a common Arizona KS. She told me that it was illegal to keep her.
My KS "Lucy" is kind of well known on this forum. I have been posting pics of her since I got her about 5 years ago. For those that don't know her, she spent her first 2 years in a petstore with people tapping on the glass, sticking their hands in her tank and poking her, etc, etc. When I first met her she hated all people. The people that worked in the petstore would not touch her because they were so afraid of her. Her first reaction to any person was to bite. She didn't just bite when you grabbed her, but she would come at you as soon as her cage was opened. For some reason she never tried to bite me, she would just follow my hand as I moved it along the tank. The petstore workers said she was just trying to lure me in a little closer so she could get her teeth in me. Every week I would go to this petstore to buy crickets. I soon came to look forward to playing with the "Mean" KS. One day the girl told me that I should buy her since she seemed to like me. They said that nobody would buy her because of how aggressive she was. They sold her to me at cost just to get rid of her. They refused to get her out of her cage and told me I had to do it.
Lucy was a handful for the first two years I had her. It took her that long to start trusting me. I am the only person that has even touched her since I bought her 5 years ago. She still has trust issues even with me, but I'm the only one that she will even let near her.
I asked the person from the state what I was suppose to do, I can't just release her. She told me my only real option was to give her to an organization that kept snakes for educational purposes. Lucy can't be around kids for obvious reasons. She's almost 6 ft long and will bite. I don't think she'll do well at all as a display snake because of her past.
She told me that I could apply for a permit to keep her but since I brought the snake into the state illegally, I would probably be denied. Also if I do apply and lose, they will take her. They have my name and phone number but don't know anything else about me. I can do nothing and hope they never catch me.
What should I do?