When I use to own tortoises I attended the Reptile show here in San Diego. It is amazing to see what is for sale at those shows. I liked my tortoises, didn't mind seeing the snakes at the show (I've never owned a snake and never particularly wanted to), but the variety of insects for sale gave me the willies.

California has serious restrictions on owning venomous snakes but constricting snakes can be purchased almost anywhere. We have had several instances in San Diego that have made the news where animal control was called in to catch a large constrictor that got loose.

Reptile dealing can be a shady business, not all reptile dealers but a few, have been know to sell illegal venomous snakes via the internet and will ship them virtually anywhere. A few years back a black market snake dealer in San Diego was caught with over 28 species of illegal venomous snakes. IIRC he had several species of Cobra, a Gaboon Viper, and assorted other nasties.

JHAP
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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."
...Hedley Lamarr (that's Hedley not Hedy)