Hamsters are illegal in Australia. Why?

[elephantnose3334]

TIL that hamsters are illegal in Australia, including WA. You're not allowed to keep them as pets. Why? Obviously the federal government thought that hamsters are serious pests and it must not be taken lightly. People wanted hamsters as an easy pet to keep, but our government won't allow us to do so.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Usually when an animal isn't allowed in a certain area, it is because they have the potential to escape and cause environmental havoc. Hamsters are fine here because they would never survive the winters in the wild. I could see the potential for them becoming a serious pest in a place like Australia.

 

[Ichthys]

They probably don’t want to repeat the mistake they made with rabbits?

 

[GaryE]

Parakeets are illegal in many places, as if they escaped, or if some fool thought they were cute but boring and released them when they were finished keeping them, they could wreck the place. In the North here, we have tons of feral dogs dumped by people working on projects. Channa snakeheads are illegal here, and we have trouble with invasive fishes.
The answer for hamsters in Australia? Human stupidity and irresponsibility.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Parakeets are illegal in many places, as if they escaped, or if some fool thought they were cute but boring and released them when they were finished keeping them, they could wreck the place.

Are you referring to budgerigars or normal parakeets?

 

[GaryE]

All the family. Fruit eaters kept as pets.

 

[elephantnose3334]

All the family. Fruit eaters kept as pets.

Okay. The fruit-eaters. I get that. Are budgies legal around the world?

 

[Essjay]

Budgies are legal in the UK. As a child we had budgies as pets.

Closer to fish keeping, the EU banned all species of apple snail about 10 years ago after one species was found in a river in Spain. After the UK left the EU we can now keep them again as they won't survive a winter in a river here.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Budgies are legal in the UK. As a child we had budgies as pets.

Closer to fish keeping, the EU banned all species of apple snail about 10 years ago after one species was found in a river in Spain. After the UK left the EU we can now keep them again as they won't survive a winter in a river here.

Are there other countries that make budgies legal to keep (other than Australia and UK)?

 

[Ichthys]

Apple snails are legal again? I didn’t know.

Off topic a bit, but when I lived in Australia as a child my dad worked way out in the outback miles from anywhere. One day a blue budgie (domestic strain) befriended him. Escaped or released? We never found out. He brought it home and it loved him for the rest of its life. It’s favourite thing was to crawl up inside his jumper and come out at the neck… then repeat…

 

[Essjay]

Apple snails are legal again? I didn’t know.

Yes, the law was repealed a year or two ago.

Apple snails can return to GB aquariums after restriction lifts - OATA - The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association

Apple snails can again be imported and sold in England, Scotland and Wales (but not Northern Ireland) after the genus Pomacea was removed from the list of quarantined pests in legislation passed in January. Apple snails have been prevented from sale in the UK since the EU stopped their movement...

ornamentalfish.org

 

[GaryE]

I think the budgie ban is in fruit growing regions of the western US. I grew up with budgies here, but the winter would kill them if they were released. Hamsters are legal too, as they can only survive inside houses for half the year.

Bans depend on local circumstances, local ecologies , etc. What's dangerous to Queensland may be harmless in Nunavut and native to Syria.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I never heard that about parakeets, but it makes sense. Around here it's zebra mussels everybody is worried about. When you bring a boat across state lines, it has to be inspected before it's legal to put it on Wyoming waters. So far they've only been found in one place in the state.

 

[gwand]

In Maryland the most threatening invasive species is snake fish. They are proliferating like mad in the Chesapeake bay and tributaries.

 

[anewbie]

Bleh; just keep a gerbil; they are better than hamsters and only bite 1/2 as often oh wait aren't gerbil also banned in the land of the opals ? How about kangaroo and they be kept as pets? They can also teach you how to box! And when you get a black eye you can just blame the kangaroo ! Double bonus.

Anyway what is ?more? annoying is keeping track of all the plants different states ban; what happened to the days when i could send aquatic plants to a friend and not worry about breaking the law.