Australia has enough venomous snakes for the rest of the world, yet there is a thriving illegal black market of smuggled reptiles including deadly puff adders and spitting cobras.
While these species present serious danger to their owners, new research shows there's a genuine risk escapees could form permanent colonies in Australia's arid conditions.
The University of Adelaide research analysed records of seized 'alien reptiles' and then looked at each species' ability to survive in Australia.
Of seized foreign reptiles in Victoria between 1999-2012, 35 percent were venomous snakes while 17 percent were capable of forming a permanent colony in Australia.
The black-trade animals most able to form a permanent habitat in Australia were deadly puff adders, yellow anacondas, snapping turtles and burmese pythons.
Invasion Ecology Group PhD candidate Pablo Garcia-Diaz told The Huffington Post Australia these snakes were part of the international illegal wildlife trade.
"You might hear news about the importation of rhino horn and elephant, these alien reptile species are part of the same wildlife trade," Garcia-Diaz said.
"They are mostly smuggled in, through airplanes, passengers and boats. "
In Australia, illegally-imported snakes have been uncovered during raids on bikie clubhouses, within people's luggage at airports and recently, within a man's backpack on public transport.
As for the desire to keep a deadly animal in your home?
"I don't know why people want to bring in a venomous animal when there are so many in our own backyard in Australia," he said.
"I think people want to own an animal that is unusual and exotic."
Project leader Associate Professor Phill Cassey said authorities needed more information about the black market trade to stamp out activity before a species was released and caused an ecological problem.
"Illegal wildlife trade is a major threat to biodiversity worldwide," Cassey said.
"In the regions where the animals are being taken from, unsustainable harvesting levels are driving population declines. And in the regions where they are being introduced, the illegal trade represents a likely source of new alien species to disrupt the local ecosystems and, in the case of venomous snakes, pose a potential threat to humans."
Snakes seized in Australia
Madagascar ground boa
Puff adder
Gaboon viper
African brown snake
Saharan horned viper
Trinket snake
Emerald tree boa
South American rattlesnake
Russell's viper
Rainbow boa
Yellow anaconda
Gray-banded kingsnake
Eastern kingsnake
Rosy boa
Sonoran coral snake
Monocle cobra
Indochinese spitting cobra
Western rat snake
Pacific gopher snake
Common garter snake
Lataste's viper