I feel deep sympathy for the pet owners who take proper care of their pets, enclosing them in safe, escape-proof pens and terrariums, keeping them for life - or surrendering them to a capable rescue if they can't keep them. Some pet owners have large reptiles because they're allergic to cats and dogs... tegus are a viable alternative pet for them. Some have a deep and abiding love for a particular species. Many have sunk a great deal of money into their hobby of reptile keeping, and actively try to help others to do it right. These people are being unfairly punished.
I feel a burning irritation towards those "bad apples" whose irresponsible reptile keeping has led to tegus, pythons, iguanas, and more becoming established invasive species in Florida. Whether the release into the wild came because of an act of God (Hurricane Andrew resulted in the destruction of a breeding facility and subsequent escape of python breeding stock into the nearby wetlands) or because of the countless idiots who buy a foot-long hatchling, thinking it would make a cute pet, and then set it loose when it's too big to keep feeding, Florida an epicenter of invasive species. And because of these flawed human creatures, the ban has come down on all reptile keepers.
However, I also feel a distinct sense of annoyance towards the reptile owners who are flooding social media with indignation and blindered tunnel vision rantings... "They can pry my tegu out of my cold, dead hands!" "If they can ban these reptiles in Florida, they can ban all reptiles anywhere!" "Look out - your pet reptile will be next!" "This will just mean everyone will be buying from unregulated, illegal breeders!" "Why don't they ban cats? Cats are more destructive than invasive reptiles." Um, no. Sorry. NOT HELPING, PEOPLE! Some of these knee-jerk reactions may have a grain of truth in them, but they don't do anything for the cause of keeping pet reptiles. Such arguments entirely ignore the very real danger invasives pose to the environment. What's more, they paint all of us in the reptile hobby as whining, entitled children who think it's their right to own whatever species they want, wherever they want. That sort of attitude, that sort of thinking, isn't going to do a whit of good when it comes to preventing the wholesale (wholeSCALE?) banning of reptiles in other places.
The fact of the matter is that if reptile owners... or the owners of any exotic, potentially invasive species... want to prevent future bans, they need to band together and take steps that might be troublesome to some, downright disasterous to others.
1) We need to push for permits and licensing of potentially invasive exotics BEFORE the government decides to ban them. This includes licensing or other forms of registration, and mandatory escape-proof housing. This will be a hassle to responsible pet owners, yes. But it will also show the world that owners of exotic pets don't want the natural world ruined just because they like to keep certain species as pets.
2) We need to make it harder for the average owner to own potentially invasive species. One of the problems with species becoming invasive is the careless, clueless, irresponsible owners who let their pets loose intentionally when they can't care for them any longer or by accident, keeping their pets in habitats that are not escape-proof. In fragile ecological environments, invasive species are like a loaded gun. You can't just wander down to your local WalMart and pick up a semiautomatic rifle. Why should any idiot with a credit card be able to buy an anaconda at a reptile expo? This means limiting the species that can be purchased in "big box" pet stores or specialty reptile stores, yes... possibly even stopping the sales of reptiles in those places entirely.
3) We need to be active in our local politics. The needs of a reptile keeper in South Florida are markedly different than the needs of a reptile keeper in South Bend, Indiana... and we need to work to be sure that blanket legislation doesn't apply to all geographic areas. After all, there's little chance of invasive reptiles getting a toehold in a state where brutal winters keep even native species from thriving. On the other hand, in a tropical or semi-tropical state, stricter regulations may, in fact, be warranted.
I don't either suggest or suggest against joining political organizations like USARK - on the one hand, I feel USARK is a good, solid, reputable organization that could do a considerable amount of good for the reptile cause. On the other, they support across-the-board private ownership, sales, and trade of venomous species and the species most likely to pose a problem to the environment, should they be loosed intentionally or accidentally, which I think is a bad idea. I'm a reptile fan, but I don't think that just because someone likes reptiles that they should be allowed to own any reptile they choose.
I do wonder, though, what the future of the reptile hobby will look like. Reptile enthusiasts are not like other pet owners... many are "collectors" rather than traditional "pet owners" for one, and collectors who house dozens of reptiles, breeding and trading them, tend to view their animals very differently than someone who has just one beloved reptile as a personal pet. I wonder how much of the hobby is driven by these collectors, rather than pet owners... and what that will mean, someday.
A quick Google search pulled up half a dozen green anacondas, generally considered the world's heaviest snakes, for sale on the popular Morph Market website. Anyone with $2000 or so to spare can buy one and have it shipped to their doorstep - and some, like the male advertised as "NOT a pet - for breeding only" - are definitely marketed to collectors rather than pet owners. Should there be blanket legislation to stop this? I don't think so. But should just anyone be able to buy a snake that can weigh several hundred pounds and needs to eat whole piglets? I don't think so, either.
It's a puzzling situation, and I don't think I'm ever going to be able to side with one faction or the other, wholeheartedly.