If you own a Burmese or Indian rock python, you have 12 months to register your pet with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Last week, the agency’s board voted to restrict future ownership of those snakes, as well as Argentine black and white tegus, Nile monitor lizards, African helmeted turtles and Chinese softshell turtles.
“Burmese pythons have absolutely devastated the Everglades, and all the literature points to two potential sources: the conscious release of pets that became too much for their owners and the accidental or unforeseen release via breeding facility damage,” Mike Worley of the Georgia Wildlife Federation said at a Richmond Hill meeting to discuss the rule change, according to GPB. “Voracious tegu lizards are already established in South Georgia, where they’re likely feeding on eggs of our ground nesting birds our native reptiles and virtually anything else that is small enough for them to eat. The risks these invasives entail is simply too high to allow.”
A Georgia Wildlife presentation also points out that Burmese pythons carry a parasite that is dangerous to snakes native to our state.
Tegu lizards, which are already regulated in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama, are spreading in Toombs and Tattnall counties, according to the agency. The omnivores eat the eggs of tortoises and birds that nest on the ground.
If you own one of these animals, you can sell, transfer and transport within 12 months of the rule going into effect — as long as it is tagged and registered with the state DNR Law Enforcement Division before the end of that 12-month period. Once the rule goes into effect, however, importing or breeding them will no longer be allowed.
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