The Louisiana Gulf Coast
Herpetological Society
The Louisiana Gulf Coast Herpetological Society is dedicated to the preservation of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates and to the conservation of their natural habitat, and to the promotion of their proper captive husbandry and propagation. The society emphasizes the education of its members and the public in all areas relevant to the appreciation of these unique animals.
Welcome to the new LGCHS website. We have moved our site to a new host because Kingsnake.com is no longer offering this service. Many thanks to Kingsnake for the support for so many years. It is my goal to upgrade the site both technically and to more accurately reflect the current status of LGCHS. The site will useful to all of us, especially in Louisiana, that have an interest in any aspect of herpetology. If you have comments or suggestions as to what should be included or how the site should grow please email webmaster@lgchs.org.
From Dr. Bob Thomas: Venomous Snakes of the Southeastern U.S.
If you would like to be added to the LGCHS email list email webmaster@lgchs.org.
Louisiana Action Alert - from USARK
Louisiana Senate Bill 357 seeks to ban constrictor and venomous snakes. The constrictor snakes listed below currently require a permit from LA Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (DW&F) once they reach 8' and can be kept by private keepers. This bill amends the current law and bans all species listed, regardless of size. The venomous species below would also be illegal to keep and permits would not be available to private keepers. Only certain institutions would be exempt (animal sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife research centers, scientific organizations, and medical research facilities as defined by the U.S. Animal Welfare Act). View the Action Alert with bill text at www.usark.org/campaign/2014-louisiana-senate-bill-357-action-alert. Additional legislator contact information is located at www.usark.org/2014-blog/2014-louisiana-senate-bill-357.
This is far overreaching, unconstitutional legislation that turns pet owners into criminals overnight. It would also lead to the immediate euthanization of all Burmese pythons, Southern African pythons, African Rock pythons and Yellow anacondas kept as pets as they are federally listed as injurious under the Lacey Act and cannot be legally transported out of state.
Banned Non-venomous snakes: Carpet and Diamond pythons, Boa constrictors (all subspecies), Reticulated python, Papuan python, Olive python, Scrub python, Amethystine python, Southern African python, African Rock python, Indian and Burmese pythons, and any species of Anaconda.
Banned Venomous snakes: Families Viperidae (Pitvipers and Vipers), Elapidae (Cobras and Mambas), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Atractaspididae (Mole Vipers), as well as the genera Dispholidus, Thelotornis, and Rhabdophis of the Family Colubridae.
The bill was introduced on 2/28/14 by Senator Chabert and assigned to the Senate Natural Resources Committee.