Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I am new to Tortoise ownership, well It has been 10 yrs since I owned any until now. I was told by my brother that I may not be able to take my tortoises when I move out of state. Can someone shed some light on all this. I have Eastern Box turtles, Red footed Tortoises and Sulcatas right now But plan to get some Leopards and maybe a few other species. I am in VA. He said that Sulcatas must have documentation of where they came from and a Health cert( I got one from a Pet shop) and wasn't given anything but a reciept and my Eastern Boxes are native to where I live now so I am confused. Lastly do I need a license to sell them if I end up with young? I mean a license thru somewhere other than a local business license. Thanks so much!

This is easy. You need a vet certificate saying that your sulcata and leopard tortoises are tick free before they cross state lines (this regulation also applies to Bell's hingeback tortoises). Simply get a vet to look over the tortoises and write up a letter saying they are free of ticks. My vet uses one of the government forms for shipping animals - he records the individual animal, species, weight, and writes "tick free" on the form. You can fit up to 10 animals (I think - it's been awhile) on one form. The certificate is good for 30 days, so just make sure you get it within 30 days of moving out-of-state.

I doubt anyone would know if you didn't get a certificate, but that is the current USDA regulation (and likely the only USDA regulation on reptiles).

Katrina

Thanks Katrina for your response. Now one last question regarding any tortoise or turtle from a Petshop. Do you need to prove any are CB. I assume the petstores do not want to give up their source so then what? And if I wanted to breed these types does the USDA or anyone else get involved? Thanks again for your help in this matter.

When it comes to those three torts in the US, there's nothing but CB and LTC now, because importation is illegal for the same reason that you need a health certificate for interstate transport - the risk of tick-borne diseases from African stock. So, the USDA is concerned only with the interstate movement, nothing else.

Now, when we're talking about native turtles in a given state (most states don't give a rat's ass about non-native reptiles), things get hairy. As far as I know, VA doesn't give breeding permits for native turtles, so there's no way to prove that, say, a yellowbellied slider was WC in VA or CB unless you had proof of purchase or proof it came from out-of-state.

Best to check on regulations for the state to which you might move. In MD, you're only allowed one wild-caught eastern box turtle, and you have to have proof that any other eastern boxies weren't taken from the wild in MD (or before the regs went into affect 11 years ago) if you have them. NY doesn't allow the possession of any North American box turtles without a permit.

Katrina