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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nA new statewide law takes effect Thursday prohibiting the sale and purchase of 16 nonnative reptiles in Florida, including green iguanas and tegus, a type of lizard from Central and South America that can grow as large as a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But parents need not worry. There won’t be armed wildlife officers invading your home to confiscate your child’s pet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residents who own green iguanas and tegus, however, will have to register them, obtain a permit and have their pet reptiles\u2019 microchipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make it easier for Florida residents to comply with the new invasive species law, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Service is hosting a series of Tag Your Reptile Day<\/a> events in May and June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new state rules are designed to protect Florida from 16 species of high-risk, nonnative reptiles, which are all too often released into the wild when irresponsible pet owners get tired of them or the creatures escape their cages and wander away from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of Thursday, pet owners have 90 days (by July 28) to obtain permits, update indoor cages and have the animals tagged. Pet owners have 180 days (by Oct. 26) to improve outdoor cage enclosures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, pet shops and live animal dealers will be prohibited from selling nonnative species in Florida after July 28, except green iguanas or tegus, which will require a limited-exception commercial use permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means Floridians will no longer be able to buy or sell these reptiles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To encourage green iguana and tegu owners to comply with the new rules, the FWC will offer free permits and Passive Integrated Transponder tags (microchips).<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Just as with cats and dogs, microchipping your green iguana or tegu is one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep them safe while also protecting Florida’s native wildlife,” said Kristen Sommers, leader of the FWC’s Wildlife Impacts Management Section. “We are holding Tag Your Reptile Days throughout the state to help pet owners offset costs for microchipping.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n To date, the FWC has scheduled the following events, all taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:<\/p>\n\n\n\n May 22 at Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park<\/a>, 1010 Miracle Strip Parkway SE, Fort Walton Beach<\/p>\n\n\n\n June 5 at Brevard Zoo<\/a>, 8225 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne<\/p>\n\n\n\n June 12 at University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine<\/a>, 015 SW 16th Ave., Gainesville<\/p>\n\n\n\n June 19 at ZooTampa at Lowry Park<\/a>, 1101 W. Sligh Ave., Tampa<\/p>\n\n\n\n June 26 at South Florida Science Center and Aquarium<\/a>, 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach<\/p>\n\n\n\n More details including additional events will be added to the FWC website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For detailed information on how these new rules will impact pet owners, commercial sellers, exhibitors, trappers and other groups, or to learn more about upcoming Tag Your Reptile Day events, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Iggy the green iguana maybe your child’s beloved pet. However, as of Thursday, he’s also illegal. A new statewide law takes effect Thursday prohibiting the sale and purchase of 16… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":48527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[231],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Pet owners can keep their green iguanas and tegus must they must be registered and tagged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n