# Juvenile keelback



## Chills (Apr 16, 2021)

*Hi folks, found this beautiful baby keelback in a mates house last week. Was flighty when I had it but calmed down and chilled out when my daughter held it. 
Does anyone keep keelbacks as pets? This was quite a docile little fella with beautiful markings. I've never heard of anyone keeping them as pets though, never seen a breeder selling them.


*


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## Sdaji (Apr 16, 2021)

They're not common pets, but some people keep and breed them. I kept them years ago. They were extremely popular when I eventually sold them.

I recently saw some bright yellow ones, and full black ones. I've seen hundreds in a wide range of colours, very cool snakes, though not the easiest to keep, hence their rarity.

Not that I care or want to get preachy, but technically it's illegal to handle wild snakes without reason, and people have been prosecuted for doing so after posting pictures of it online (even if ironically, no one has ever and probably no one ever will be fined for killing snakes, even when the person knew the snake posed no danger). If you post a picture of yourself picking one up off the road because you didn't want to run it over you'll surely be fine, but handing it to your daughter to play with for fun and openly stating that's what you were doing, hey, might be best to keep those pictures and stories to your friends. Again, not being preachy and I personally don't really care.


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## kankryb (Apr 17, 2021)

Aussie law is stupid, people can kill reptiles no problem but take pics is a crime?


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## Pythonguy1 (Apr 17, 2021)

Sdaji said:


> They're not common pets, but some people keep and breed them. I kept them years ago. They were extremely popular when I eventually sold them.
> 
> I recently saw some bright yellow ones, and full black ones. I've seen hundreds in a wide range of colours, very cool snakes, though not the easiest to keep, hence their rarity.
> 
> Not that I care or want to get preachy, but technically it's illegal to handle wild snakes without reason, and people have been prosecuted for doing so after posting pictures of it online (even if ironically, no one has ever and probably no one ever will be fined for killing snakes, even when the person knew the snake posed no danger). If you post a picture of yourself picking one up off the road because you didn't want to run it over you'll surely be fine, but handing it to your daughter to play with for fun and openly stating that's what you were doing, hey, might be best to keep those pictures and stories to your friends. Again, not being preachy and I personally don't really care.


Do you need some kind of licence to handle them in the wild? (cause I do it a lot!)
This guy doesn't seem to care... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHWU4AT0Gpyxloc_owUAEg/videos


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## Licespray (Apr 17, 2021)

Pythonguy1 said:


> Do you need some kind of licence to handle them in the wild? (cause I do it a lot!)
> This guy doesn't seem to care... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHWU4AT0Gpyxloc_owUAEg/videos



Youtubers don’t give a crap for the law or ethics as long as they get their views. That’s why I like the guy who uploads his herp videos on this site - he doesn’t try and grab or harass anything.


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## Sdaji (Apr 18, 2021)

kankryb said:


> Aussie law is stupid, people can kill reptiles no problem but take pics is a crime?


It's not *quite* as insane as it seems, but it's pretty crazy.
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Pythonguy1 said:


> Do you need some kind of licence to handle them in the wild? (cause I do it a lot!)
> This guy doesn't seem to care... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHWU4AT0Gpyxloc_owUAEg/videos


Yes, strictly speaking you need permits to photograph a wild reptile (and yes, people have been fined for it). Generally speaking they won't bother you for taking pictures if you're not making money from it and you haven't bothered them, but if someone complains or they have some sort of problem with you, they can use it to fine you in lieu of whatever would make more sense. If you have a reasonable reason (such as 'it was blocking the road I needed to drive on') you'll almost certainly never have an issue. They'd be about the only rare cases where I'd publicly post a picture of myself touching a wild reptile.

There's not really anything wrong with gently showing a snake to your daughter, but some people do some stupid and irresponsible things with wild reptiles, and these laws were probably designed to prevent that sort of thing.
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Oh, and I'm guessing that's one of Ricky's videos? It's a little surprising he hasn't been given a warning yet. He may have friends in the right places or something, or they might come hassle him sometime soon. I'm not sure if anyone has contacted the state departments about his videos, but if any sook bag does kick up a fuss he'd probably have to stop and get a small slap on the wrist.


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## Pythonguy1 (Apr 18, 2021)

Sdaji said:


> It's not *quite* as insane as it seems, but it's pretty crazy.
> Post automatically merged: Today at 1:00 AM
> Yes, strictly speaking you need permits to photograph a wild reptile (and yes, people have been fined for it). Generally speaking they won't bother you for taking pictures if you're not making money from it and you haven't bothered them, but if someone complains or they have some sort of problem with you, they can use it to fine you in lieu of whatever would make more sense. If you have a reasonable reason (such as 'it was blocking the road I needed to drive on') you'll almost certainly never have an issue. They'd be about the only rare cases where I'd publicly post a picture of myself touching a wild reptile.
> 
> ...


Do you know what kind of permit it is that you need? Cause I ain't gonna stop taking photo's of wild reptiles.
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Licespray said:


> Youtubers don’t give a crap for the law or ethics as long as they get their views. That’s why I like the guy who uploads his herp videos on this site - he doesn’t try and grab or harass anything.


I don't mind Ricky cause he's educational and has been doing what he loves even before he became a Youtuber.


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