Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all

I may be moving to georgia in about 18 months from the UK for professional reasons. I'd really like to take both my hognoses with me. Would I need a licence or to comply with any other requirements?

Cheers
Chaddee

Besides the regulations involved with shipping and importing wildlife, you need to establish if it is even legal to keep your Hognoses in Georgia. This part is simple. If you are keeping Westerns, than no problem. If they are Easterns or Southerns then you have a problem.

Sorry to hear you are going to Georgia. Their laws reguarding what can and not be kept are a bit strange. But it is a beautiful state in many places, though the Atlanta area has been trashed by massive developement.

Frank
-----
"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Frank,

Thank you for your respons.
Yes, both my babies are Western Hognoses, so they should be ok?
Where would I find out more information? I hate to be a bother, but I don't know where to start with this, and I do want to take them with me.

Thanks!

Cheers
Chadde

Chadde,
Basically you have two problems to deal with. The first is importing a live animal into the US. You need to go to the US Fish & Wildlife Service web page (http://www.le.fws.gov/Info_Importers_Exporters.htm), which has links to instructions and forms you will need to fill out to bring the animals into the country. When the critters arrive in the US, they will need to be inspected at the first port of entry into the US (generally where you clear Customs, but not if the animals are shipped). From UK this will probably be:
Atlanta (http://southeast.fws.gov/law/PORT/atlantaport.htm)
New York (http://northeast.fws.gov/ny/vsle.htm)
or Miami (http://southeast.fws.gov/law/PORT/miamiport.htm).
Once you know where and when you will be arriving, call a head to the local F&WS office and make an appointment with an Inspector, or if you can’t reach them call the APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) office and they can help you. APHIS also has info on the importation of animals to various states (see http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/sregs/). If you don’t make an appointment, you could miss connecting flights, and leave at least a couple of hours to clear customs…you’re going to need it!
If you don’t want to hassle with all of this, hire a shipping broker in the UK that handles animals. They will take care of the paperwork, transport and inspections for you through their contacts here in the US. This is not cheep though, but a whole lot easer than trying to do it yourself!!!
However, you biggest problem is Georgia! There is an old joke told by Floridians (particularly folks from Univ. of Florida) about the St. Johns River in Florida, which is one of only a few rivers in all of North America that actually flows north, “Why does the St. John’s River flow north? Cause Georgia SUCKS!” Although it might flow north because it is just trying to get the Okefenokee, which is a herpers paradise!
In any case, the wildlife laws in Georgia are restrictive. You cannot possess native reptiles with a few exceptions, but since your critters are Western Hognose Snakes they are considered exotic, and you can possess exotic reptiles in Georgia. Except… permits are required to possess any non-native species of venomous reptile INCLUDING REAR-FANGED COLUBRIDS. Now, the definition of a “venomous rear-fanged colubrid” is somewhat subjective, and I honestly don’t know where Georgia places hognose snakes in the continuum between garter snakes and boomslangs, and I don’t know of a legal boundary either, so your just going to have to ask the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division (http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaynavigation.asp?TopCategory=5).
Good Luck!
Big Brother

Big Brother

That is exactly what I needed to know, now I can get started and contact the relevant folk....

Off topic, maybe, and call me green...what is the problem with Georgia? No need to answer if you don't want...

Cheers
Chaddee

Two answers to the your question about the problem with Georgia.
First, the joke comes from the football rivalry between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Being a good herper, I support the Gators.
Second, most herpers don’t care for the herp laws in Georgia.
The third reason is a matter of individual taste, so we’ll leave it at that
Big Brother

Big Brother is a lot more generous than I am about Georgia. Having lived in both states, Florida is so much more enlightened about most of their reptile laws and policies.

The only herp society I ran into in Georgia was back in the eighties. If you are a reptile keeper the feeling is kind of like being in Naziland. It extends beyond reptiles. The laws there are biased in favor of the property owner over the renter, Business over the individual.

For example;I had my car stolen because the night before it had got a flat tire and I did not change it imediatly (it being winter and snowing). My landlord had the car towed to a company where it was sold before I could determine where it went. The police said my landlord was within her rights to do that and I was never compensated.

The only saving graces were...some of the nicest people I have ever met and some of the most beautiful(what's left of it)forests I have seen anywhere.

Frank
-----
"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."