The difficulty in Carettochelys legality lies within the range countries, not international import/export regs such as CITES. Of the three range countries, only one permits reptile export - Indonesia. The country works off of a quota system each year. Individual species are permitted to leave in quoted numbers, and these numbers are met by liscensed exporters/dealers.

The problem is that Carettochelys has never been listed on the quota list. Thus, it has never left the country legally (for the U.S. pet trade). This is why any less-than-common, say, Australian lizard is better off having a paper trail once in the U.S. that proves it's of a legal captive-bred origin rather than an appeared-out-of-nowhere specimen. Provided the range country does not permit the given species' export, the U.S. bans its import and ownership (again, without a paper trail).

Interestingly, some species we know so well such as bearded dragons, aussie water dragons and some odatriad goannas have become so numerous in this country that they have "defeated" this federal policy through sheer pervasiveness (kind of like cd burning), since each should require a receipt of origin (tracing ultimate captive parentage stock back to zoo imports, etc.). It sounds crazy, but, it's true, thanks to the fine lines of beauracracy.

An important part to note - the vast majority of Carettochelys coming in are under four inches. We don't see most batagurids or pelomedusids that come into the U.S. in large numbers come in at less than four inches. Why? Those are legally bulk imported. When the animal in question, Carettochelys, comes in oftentimes marked as "tropical fish," you have to wonder. Turtles don't get to come in underneath four inches, in the U.S. The only way I can figure all of these guys eventually being considered legal in this country is if Indonesia eventually puts them onto the quota list. Then some come in legally, and everyone shouts that their animals are from those recent shipments. That's been done before. All the best.

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