Quote Originally Posted by Greg'sGarters View Post
You need a permit for a Rat Snake but if you happen to have a weird desire for a pet Ostrich, you don't need a permit for those. It actually says that you don't need a permit for an Ostrich!!!
Why would you need a permit for an Ostrich? Unlike the rat snake, they are not native wildlife. And the permit you speak of is strictly for research and education purposes. Basically, you're not going to get one unless you're a university, zoo, etc.

SF garters are on the Federal endangered species list. The only ones allowed to keep them, or even touch them in the wild, are zoos. The snakes in the hobby are all decended from a very few that were shipped overseas legally before the law went into effect. They can have them legally. Not so in the U.S.

There are quite a few private farms around here that keep ostriches and ostrich-like birds. I also see local ads selling eggs, feathers, meat, etc. It's basically no different than keeping chickens as far as the law is concerned.