Sadly, this is happening more and more across the US. The states that are unregulated will soon be regulated in one way or another. What I suggest to do is to adopt Florida and Louisiana's regulations when it comes to venomous reptiles and "dangerous" wildlife and get a permit system in place. The API and HSUS have spread their baseless and overzealous agenda across the country. Kentucky and New York fell to them recently after they introduced legislation regarding "dangerous wildlife" and it got put into effect. They have tried with North and South Carolina, but have failed, largely due to the efforts of some SHHS members who have actively fought this garbage they try to spew. Unfortunately, there will always be a person who keeps snakes illegally, a dealer who will sell to anyone, and a novice who goes out and gets a cobra as his first hot that has no business even owning a corn snake, let alone a cobra. There are some ways to combat this issue. If you plan on keeping exotic venomous snakes, either stock or have access to proper antivenom. It is really not that hard to obtain yourself. You just need to fill out some FDA applications and get your physician to sign off on the permit application in regards to acquiring antivenom and put some time and effort into it. I personally know two private keepers who stock their own antivenom. That is one of the major issues with keeping exotic venomous, and quite a few people just choice to ignore it. I once knew a keeper who kept some Gaboons, Rhinos, and Neotropical Crotalus spp., and this person did not even know which types of antivenoms to use in the event of a bite, let alone, have a snakebite protocol in place!! Just a few years ago, the venomous community was a rather small, tight knit community of keepers who were very low key. It has now become more mainstream with the amount of people that are getting into it these days. We all as keepers need to uphold the highest possible level of integrity, responsibility, and professionalism, which is also, something that is also sorely lacking these days. If there anyway I can help, please do not hesitate to contact me.
