the authorities were looking for an opportunity. I was
told that if I kept my head down, and didn’t ruffle any
feathers, I would get my licence back in 12 months.
I shut down my reptile room and put sheets over all the
cages. Sure enough, I got my licence back within a year,
but my three Oenpellie Pythons and maybe six Womas,
together with some Black-headed Pythons and carpet
pythons, were all gone for good.
1.
iH: When did you first start to acquire a collection of
reptiles?
PK: When I got to Upper Barron. I bred Womas, which
was a world first, an amazing experience. I also bred
Oenpellie Pythons for the first time in captivity. Then I
lost my licence for a minor indiscretion and all my
animals were confiscated. I was also fined $800. I think
2.
After that I concentrated on breeding Womas, amongst
other things. I had a close relationship with John Weigel,
and this resulted in me getting a pair of Rough-scaled
Pythons; he wanted a few Jungle Pythons in exchange. I
can still remember the excitement of picking out that
pair. I got Perenties from John too, on what was
supposed to be a breeding arrangement, and also bred
Mertens’ Water Monitors and produced the world’s first
triplet Lace Monitors from one egg. Those three identical
females are still breeding every year.
‘I can’t explain it, but the
captive-bred Jungle
Pythons were BETTER
THAN ANYTHING IN
THE WILD .’