Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a really dumb story so I won't make it long. I love turtles and have always had them. I have a few 3 toed box turtles, 1 ornate box turtle, a False Map turtle, and what I just recently found out 2 Texas Tortoises. I have had most of these turtles for almost 20 years. I believed what I now know are Texas Tortoises, were don't laugh, but Blandings Turtles. That's what my Grandpa called them when he gave them to me. I live in Chicago, and have kept them outside during the summer and hybernate them in the winter. Every spring thru summer, for the past 3 years the female lays eggs, and every spring something eats the eggs. I never really cared because I figured I have enough turtles, and baby land turtles are very difficult to care for, I found this out when my 3 toed's were babies. Now that I know what this specie really is, what should I do? Are they really endangered, or just protected? I have read about them now on the internet and there isn't much info, and when I see their photo's I know that they aren't blandings. That's what makes me feel so stupid. Blandings turtles look completely different. Even if I hatch the eggs when she lays them, is there any thing I could do with the offspring? I am very confused about this entire situation.

Texas tortoises are protected by state law in Texas but I don't believe the law applies to you.
Are you sure you have a male ?
The eggs are ***probably*** infertile without a male there.

I personally would incubate them.
Good luck!

I always found "land turtles" easier to care for than aquatics myself! Once you know the proper care they are easy! And no more tank water changes!

Texas Tortoises (gopherus berlandieri) are not really abundant so treasure them.

Here's a clear pic of one of them. Is this what you have?

Paul

That is exactly what I have. I definitely have a male and female. I see them do their thing. The male has an indentation in the center of the bottom of his shell.

Here is the Kicker, I will be moving to Dallas at the end of August, now what?

Contact the TX Dept. of Natural Resources, Fish & Game, DEP, or whatever their state's wildlife protective department is called right away. Tell them you have had a legal pair of Texas Tortoises for 20 years and will be moving there in August. Ask them what you need to do to bring them with you.

In GA where I now live, keeping herps native to GA is forbidden unless you want to get a permit which requires you to have your facility open to the public so many hours a week. I opted not to do that, and got rid of my gorgeous collection of Corn Snakes before I moved here. Looking back now, there is no way anyone ever checks on this stuff here, and I could have brought them with no problems.

Just see what is told to you by the state of TX and then make your decision. By all means, though, don't take them to TX and release them to the wild!!! There is a great chance of introducing diseases (such as Mycoplasma) to the wild population that way, which is what happened to the Desert Tortoises in CA, AZ, NV, and UT. It was a tough way to learn a lesson, but it is well known now, so any ones which have been captives are not allowed into contact with the wild ones.

I do strongly recommend contacting TX while you are still living in IL rather than waiting until you move there and finding out you did something wrong. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is a legal tenet which is strictly upheld when it comes to enforcing wildlife regulations. I know this both from personal experience and that of friends.

Good luck, and I would be interested to hear what the state of TX does say about this situation.

>>I do strongly recommend contacting TX while you are still living in IL rather than waiting until you move there and finding out you did something wrong. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is a legal tenet which is strictly upheld when it comes to enforcing wildlife regulations. I know this both from personal experience and that of friends.
>>
>> Good luck, and I would be interested to hear what the state of TX does say about this situation.

Oh yes I agree do contact them now because...
I want to tell you what's happening in the state of TX right now.
Tx Parks & Wildlife is the agency that you need to contact, right now at this moment they are taking comments from the public on the topic of stopping commercial collection of all turtle species.
When it comes to a TX gopher tortoise however you DO need a permit to keep one, that is the law right now. At the moment the permits are pretty easy to obtain.. but with this possible commercial collection ban thing happening things could change.

According to their website they plan to vote on this ban May 24th 2007, so if I were you I would contact them right now & get any needed paper work started now, just in case they do vote to institute this ban.

If they do ban the collection.. no telling in what ways things will change with pet keeping. They are talking about limiting legal pet keeping of native species to only 6 animals total. I know soooo many people who have 15-30-50 box turtles so I don't know what it's going to mean to them if this ban happens. I have only 6 myself at the moment so I'll be squeaking by.
Since you've had these tortoises all these years & are in IL I would guess that you probably are going to be able to get the needed permits without problems. I hope so.
Please let us know what happens & good luck!
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PHRatz

Thank you for the friendly advice. I will call Texas DNR, or whatever its called tomorrow and let them know I am moving to the state with my tortoises. I would never let them go, and the truth is, if I can't have them, I might change my mind and find another job. These guys are so cool and so active, I couldn't imagine life without them anymore.

After I call I will let you guys know what happened.

Shlep