Question on "Exhibiting" reptiles.

[HoodieBeast]

So I had an interesting question today, person requesting I "loan" my reptile to them for a day so they can do a reptile display at a school. They have all the documentation they need. But can someone on a keepers license even legally lend a reptile?

 

[Varanoidea]

No, as far as I'm aware. What sort of 'documentation' do they claim to have?

 

[HoodieBeast]

I alerted them to the fact that they need an exhibitors license, thats all I know.
They claimed the school sorted out the license and documentation for them.
And after I refused my Skink for use they said they had other people to ask, whom I assume are friends also with Keepers licenses. It just screams dodgy to me and I don't want anything bad to become of some kid or reptile.

 

[Varanoidea]

I would be steering clear and not putting your reptiles at risk.

 

[HoodieBeast]

Sound and simple advice!
Thanks for the quick response too!

 

[bigguy]

Who ever told you that is full of it. No school can sort out a license. It must be obtained from Primary Industries, and then you have to apply for each reptile you wish to exhibit and it MUST be owned by the exhibitor and kept under very strict conditions. The exhibitor must also advice Primary Industries of EVERY job they are going to and when the animals concerned will be away from the exhibitors premises. Reptiles CAN NOT be legally borrowed from a private collection.

 

[HoodieBeast]

As I suspected. What can I do then, obviously I never intended to give them my Blue tongue to begin with. But Is this something that should be dealt with or just let whatever happens to them happen?
I feel like they shouldn't have their reptiles at all, previous times I've seen them post stuff and such I feel like they'll only continue to do stuff like this.
Oh boy such a mess.

 

[andynic07]

Not sure of the laws in NSW but I would assume they would be similar to Queensland laws and in Queensland you require a demonstrators license to show your reptiles in public but I assume that you can show your reptiles under someone else's demonstrator license because that is what happens at both of the reptile shows we have in Queensland. A demonstrators license is not an easy thing to acquire and I doubt that the school could organise one, possibly what the person has told you is referring to the paperwork on behalf of Education Queensland which would be additional to the required demonstrators permit. I would suggest that you ask your friend to see the demonstrators license as that is a requirement and then they may realise they do not have the required "paperwork".

 

[HoodieBeast]

I'd guess they're pretty similar, I've been trying to read up but my dodgy internet makes it hard to load all the pages.
I sent one last message but I suspect they'll ignore it.

 

[Ramsayi]

or just let whatever happens to them happen?

This^^

Why would you feel the need to take it upon yourself to police the licensing requirements of others? Just make sure your own stuff is in order and get on with life.

 

[andynic07]

This^^

Why would you feel the need to take it upon yourself to police the licensing requirements of others? Just make sure your own stuff is in order and get on with life.

I was just thinking that if it was a friend unsuspectingly breaking the rules it would be nice to bring it to their attention so they can avoid trouble. I know doing nothing is the easy and less stressful option but I would tell a friend but mind my own business if they decided to do it anyway.

 

[Ramsayi]

On post 3 she wrote that she already told her friend that they needed an exhibitors license.There is nothing else to do.

 

[andynic07]

On post 3 she wrote that she already told her friend that they needed an exhibitors license.There is nothing else to do.

I took from that post that the person thought they had the correct permit and gave the person the benefit of the doubt that they may have been confused. I am not saying you are wrong just that there may be a misunderstanding.

 

[HoodieBeast]

Fair enough just knowing their partner caught, froze and beheaded a baby red belly for fun and that she wears her python as a prop to parties makes me wish she wasn't responsible for the poor thing.

I use friend very loosely.
And since she went out of her way to publicly request I loan my pet for kids to poke at I want to make it very clear to her that she is doing something very stupid. Obviously I can only tell her the facts so it's ok I'm not going to call the cops on her, I'm just going to blab her ear off.

- - - Updated - - -

I was just thinking that if it was a friend unsuspectingly breaking the rules it would be nice to bring it to their attention so they can avoid trouble. I know doing nothing is the easy and less stressful option but I would tell a friend but mind my own business if they decided to do it anyway.

Thank you, regardless of my relation with the person seems the good thing to do is let them know rather than ignore them especially if they personally asked me. I understand the whole let it be notion but not when it's aimed at me!

 

[andynic07]

Yes we can tell you the rules and offer opinions but we are just getting a snap shot of the situation and you would best know what is going on. The person sounds a bit like a bully to me.

 

[HoodieBeast]

Thats what I posted for, perhaps I posted a bit more than needed.
Either way I told all I can and they've decided to ignore me.

 

[PimmsPythons]

In Qld you can publicly display 2 ways,either a" demonstrators permit" or as an "Authorised Display"which just involves a phone call to parks and wildlife,you tell them what you wish to do,they will send you a cover note telling you the rules you must go buy, if they approve it. i don't know if it is the same in NSW.
cheers
simon

 

[Gruni]

I have taken my snake up for show and tell at my kids primary school a few times. The blanket 'No' is not actually true. I rang NPW and they said all I had to do was send them a letter outlining the activity and explaining what it was for. They will send you a reply that gives you a one off permission for the event.

It comes down to the difference that you are not making money from the showing and for example I made it clear that the children would not be handling the snake but rather just looking. The school may have already gotten permission to do the exhibit but you will still need to ask permission for your snake to be included.

The line they gave me when I asked was that they like to have records of stuff like this so that they can argue the case when some politician tries to tighten up the rules. NPW more or less encourage education of kids about reptiles so they are quite happy for you to do it if you use common sense. Having said that, if your snake is a RBB or Tiger etc even if it is kept in glass case I doubt you would get the go ahead but pythons will be fine.

 

[bigguy]

Taking a few of your harmless reptiles to your kids classroom for show and tell is one thing, but when a parent then goes to every classroom in the school it is no longer show and tell. It is exhibiting and NPWS have no say over exhibiting whatsoever in NSW. It falls totally under the control of Primary Industries. Also, what parent will have $20,000,000 public liability cover in case of an accident. One exhibitor had his python bite a child at a pre school several years ago and was sued for a massive amount by the parents of the child. Luckily he was insurred. Accidents can always happen.

 

[Gruni]

That's all fair enough bigguy, all I was getting at is that when I first wanted to do what I did members here told me I couldn't because of this that and the other clause in my license, because it was important to me I contacted NPW and asked them directly and got a definitive answer and I'm glad I did. Also depending on how the school has organised things and assuming they have been in touch with NPW, then the public liability no longer falls back on the owner of the snake. Because I organised things the way I did and went through the principal of the school etc it came under the school's excursion policy and the department's insurance.

As an aside to all of this, I would be curious how the kid got bitten in the first place? As a means of rsik management I don't allow the kids to handle my snake and I don't let them close enough to the business end to get tagged.

I am not an expert in these matters by a long shot but at the end of the day I encourage people to confirm what they have been told on a forum by contacting the relevent authority, often times there are 'loop holes' for want of a better word that may apply to the individual case at hand.