Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The Ohio Department of Agriculture requires a veternarian health certificate and a permit number prior to any reptile, amphibian, fish, bird or mammal entering the State. Insects (crickets and mealwoorns) tarantulas, scorpions , ect. are exempt. The price for each animal examined is ten to thirty five dollars each. Vendors from Ohio entering other states would be required to obtain health certificates and permit numbers to bring their amimals back into Ohio. If someone from Ohio buys an animal out of state they would be required to have a health certificate and permit number to bring their animal into OHIO. Can you imagine a vet checking a box of guppies. Good Luck.

Does this apply to pet stores as well?

And also. How does one go about checking the animals BEFORE entering the state. do they need to visit an out of state vet, get the credentials, then bring them in, or is there a grace period once there in the state to have them checked.

In other words. If Pacific Saltwater fish were to be shipped to a pet store, would somebody in California be required to check the shipment prior to it being relayed to Ohio? this would cause LOTS of problems.........

What about animals passing through Ohio.....Say I ordered something and for some reason it needed to stop in Cincinatti or Cleveland and I had to pick it up there (very remote chance, but) Would I need to have it vet checked for a 2-3 hour stay?

Thanks
Todd Evans

This law has been in effect for 20 years according to the Department of Agriculture. If I order something from say..Florida and there are no native reptiles in the box then all they need is for their vet. to stop by inspect the shipments and sign ONE paper for the whole order......example he comes in glances at the reptiles say they all appear healthy and writes it off.. then the person shipping the snakes calls a number from the Dept. of Agriculture and gives them the number from the vet paper and they get a confirmation number back and that goes on the bill of laden. Not tooo Bad. It starts to get worse with native reptiles

Steve

An out of state vet approved to fill out health certificates would be required to inspect the animals. (Not all licensed vets are approved) I contacted fifteen vets in Pennsylvania and they charge between $10 to $35.00 per animal. They list the animal, its weight, and physical discription. Each health certificate is
is an additional $12.50, but up to twelve animals can be listed on one. My certificate Allowed me to attend the NOAH Show and will allow me to attend the Columbus Show since they are to be held within the thirty day time period. If I were to re-enter Ohio after the thirty days, I would be required to have the animals re-examined, new health certificates, and new permit numbers to enter. Ohio venders leaving Ohio, would be required to have an out of state vet check their animals, health certificates, and contacting the Ohio Dept of Agriculture before returning. Purchases made out of state would require the same.

Wouldn't the knowledge of this and the recent attention it's received tend to make the Columbus and NOAH shows less attractive to vendors? Would vendors just passign through to Indiana have to go through this as well, I'd imagine so? Likewise, I'd assume that PA shows would have less Ohio and Indiana vendors sign up.

so basically, if you have an average of 50 animals that you take to ohio shows to sell, and used the vet that charges $10 each, you're paying $562.50 to attend the show? $10 for each animal ($500) plus 5 certificates (1 with only 2 animals on it $62.50)

Man, seems like a little more than a waste if you don't end up selling anything. Not to mention, since Columbus is monthly, if there's 30 or more days in between, then you're paying $6750 per year just to get them certified.......

On Mail order, would the seller have to get it certified first? So your basically stuck with whatever their local vet would charge added to the cost of the animal? not to mention the "records" that would need to acompany it.

Are they also basically saying, with the records part, that a wild collected animal is not allowed in Ohio? Even if you've ordered from an importer like Glades, and they provided documentation of when the animal entered the county etc. would those be sufficient records? Would you need proof of where it was collected, etc. And do non-domestic (US) animals apply?

Likewise, what would be the policy for feeders.....say a resident from Ohio came to the Pittsburgh show to get a dozen feeder anoles. Would they need to be vet checked prior to entering, or could the vet just right off that they are for feeder purposes? Besides that, how do you go about weighing an Anole?

Too many questions.....this law stinks.......

Thanks
Todd Evans

The only thing I needed a health certificate for was when I wholesale ordered Sulcatta tortoises. For some reason sulcattas and leopard tortoises need health certificates to ship outside of Florida. I imagine vendors are going to start bypassing shows requiring certificates in favor of close shows that don't. I can't imagine paying $10-$30 to have a house gecko examined. This would drive reptile prices up and make it hard to compete with pet stores.

Interstate sales of sulcata , Leo Torts and bells hingeback requier a health inspection by an approved vet no matter what state they come from or go to . This is a federal law . it still has to do with fear of the tick which carries heart water desease .

Kevin
NAROA

Whats up ? can you give me a buzz ? Got a few questions for ya and could use some advice on a few things . my e-mail has changed . I will update my profile as soon as I am done here .

Kevin
NAROA

Thia is all news to me and I am in Ohio . I have had shipments of dart frogs and lizards come to me from other states and nobody has ever said anything . I rather think this may be one of these laws nobody wants to bother with unless it is something major . I can say I would have heard the complaints from pet shops if it was being enforced .

Kevin
NAROA

Which is exactly why this law is so threatening. I can't imagine getting a law like this passed now (well, I can but it would certainly cause an uproar, or at least an upwhimper) Since it is already in the books however, they can now say that they will start enforcing it. I don't know the law but I don't think you can use "well they did it before and nobody said anything" a defense. The law was probably passed years ago when the most exotic thing people kept were hamsters, and it really wasn't deemed neccesary to enforce it. Now that problems have popped up, they have the old law to fall back on if they want to crack down.

Steve Schindler