Reptile & Amphibian Forums

given the fda's rules allowing sale of turtles less than 4 inches for bona fide scientific, educational, or exhibitional purposes only, is it risky to sell small turtles? there are many posts on kingsnake for the sale of small turtles, but are these vendors in jeopardy?

secondly: where do i go to find more info on this topic?

thanks,
randy

Good luch getting a strate answer. Also what is the story on selling Fl.Box turtles on the net.Its against fl. law but I see them for $150 for hatchlings from other States. I live here and cant sell or have more than two. This is going to cause out of staters to come to Fl.and take home boxies and pay for their Florida vacation. It would be easy for FWCC to set them up! And they might let their Pythons go while down here. LOL Vic

I can answer the question on Fl box, anyway. That is a state law, so as long as out-of-state breeders don't sell to florida residents, they are in the clear. However, if they DO sell and ship into florida, they are in bigger trouble than just violating FL law-that becomes a federal matter-Lacey Act!
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

thanks for the answer, however, i'm still unclear as to the plausibility of me selling small turtles.

thanks for the answer, however, i'm still unclear as to the plausibility of me selling small turtles, legally.

Last year they were selling baby turtles outside the Hilton at Dayton Beach for "pets". Didn't see them this year. Of course, I casually mentioned it to Fish and Wildlife officers at the show...lol

Jaykis, when they make selling baby snakes illegel will you report yourself?

I'm not sure I understand what your're saying. The people selling the turtles that year were not part of the convention. They were selling them on a little wheeled cart and had no idea what kind of turtles they were selling, and they were next to the Starbucks shop.

They were selling them illegally. Was that ok to do?

Are you a hobbyist or a business?

Are you selling for BONA FIDE educational, scientific, or exhibitional purposes or selling pets?

If you're a business basically selling pets, you run the risk of getting busted. It's probably a small risk, but it's there. And the fines can be up to $1000 and/or a year in jail. Not likely to happen, but those are the potenials.

Here's an article that points out some of the recent busts - yes, the source is one we don't like, but the information on the busts is factual.

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_news/selling_small_turtles_is_no.html

Here's also an FDA memo on the subject:

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm073858.htm

In 2004, stores in Myrtle Beach were busted for selling hatchling sliders.

I think it might also depend what you're selling and where you're selling it. A pissed off soccer mom who gets home from vacation and finds out how big a baby slider will get might be more inclined to call the FDA than, say, a hobbyist knowing exactly what they want and they want a hatchling spotted turtle that they've spent the last two weeks researching. Selling anything under 4" is a risky business in MD, for example. States or counties with 4" regs on the books are more likely to enfource than those that don't have local/regional laws on the subject.

Katrina

I'm not quite sure what runswithturtles was trying to say. Their statement was illogical. If it was illegal to sell baby snakes, I wouldn't report myself because I wouldn't be selling them.