Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone know the NC laws on Turtles ?

In addition to not being legal to keep spotteds or other species of special concern, NC just passed (senate bill 825)making it a
misdemeanor to have more than a total of FOUR turtles belonging to the families Emydidae (box, painteds, woods, sliders, maps, db
terrapins, and many more) and Trionychidae (softshells). You can call the wildlife commission at(919)661-4872 to get a copy of the bill or to see if they will let your turtles be grandfathered in. Good luck! Let this be a wake up call to people in other states- let your politicans hear from you or your reptiles WILL be next.

I live in NC and this Bill was just big time front page news
and I'm glad they passed it. People were coming here and raiding
our ponds and lakes taking thousands and thousands of turtles
for the Asian (and US) food markets because they were already
prohibited by laws passed in other states from continuing to
do so. Luckily legislature acted quickly on this before our
ponds/lakes were depleated even more, which doesn't take a
few trappers long to do. Unfortunantly snapping turtles didn't
make the list for protection and this bill is not designed
to put a cramp on pet owners, nor will any gov. agents be busting
down your door to take your sliders. There's a new turtle
farm in the next county that's trying to re-establish some of
the native species, since we know how slowly they mature and
how many of the youngsters fall prey to other animals before
they do.

Fine for these trappers is up to $200 per animal they have and
I hope any illegally trapping ones will get busted big time and
made a clear example of what will happen if you take our NC
turtles!

By the way, I'm in the Sea Turtle Protection Society on Oak Island,
and I checked on 2 loggerhead nests Monday, right on the beach which
is quite populated in the summer, they are marked off and have
signs warning people that it is a felony to bother these babies.
They are so precious and it galls me that when they swim into the
water soon, they'll probably get caught in foreign seas and eaten
before they have a chance to come back home and lay eggs of their
own in 10 years.

So every law restricting things isn't designed to hurt pet
owners, and I'm glad this one got passed as quickly as it did
with as many other things as legislators have to worry about.

Very well said, and I agree.

I'd like to clarify a point that was made by Woodie. This law was meant for trappers, not the average pet owner. We can own as many as we'd like in NC as long as we didn't take them from the wild, and as long as they are not protected or endangered.
And as stern as the law sounds, they can still take a certain number DAILY...the bill just puts a limit on how many can be taken daily. It's really repulsive that these people came from other states and took almost 27,000 of our native turtles in one year.

Quoted from the wildlife commission website:

The new law does not provide extra protection for snapping turtles.
The turtle protection law prohibits “commercial taking”—trapping, possession, transport, purchase or sale—of more than four individuals from the following species:

Eastern painted turtle
spotted turtle
bog turtle
Eastern box turtle
diamondback terrapin
yellowbelly slider
redbelly turtle
Florida cooter
Eastern river cooter
Eastern chicken turtle
Eastern spiny softshell turtle (including subspecies Gulf Coast spiny softshell)
Violation of the law constitutes a Class 3 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $200.

I agree very much so that this is a needed law .. but for those who adopt turtles ... ( i adopted/was given my Eastern Boxie by a boy in the neighborhood that was feeding it hotwings and bannanas and dropping her off tables because she enjoyed back flips .. * grones* ) .. but before even thinking of adopting or anything else i wanted to check the laws

i still would love to breed captive kept Boxies and find a way to take them back to the wild so they can have the best oppertunity for survival

Maybe Finally when Laws get so strict .. they will start farming turtles .. i think that they should start putting laws together for that now .. so that that doesnt turn into a total fiasko !!

but i also think some consesions .. or tax breaks .. something like they do farmers for keeping a certain percentage of their lands plain could be put forth for turtle farmers as long as they keep their noses clean .. but first time they screw up make them pay dearly !!!

thats why they are taking turtles from the wild its so costly to get turtles to survive to grow bigger in big set ups

generally it's the "under 4 inch" rule pretty much.
Here's a pic of my tortoise, he's a tad over 4 inches
being that he's about 45 pounds and 20 inches right now.
Let me know if you have any trouble getting the turtles
you want, there's a pet shop in town that if it's legal
he'll get it for you no problem, he's been in business
so long he knows everybody. BTW the doors shut on the
shed only because it keeps raining a bit and stopping
and I'm running errands. Usually he can go in either
the door or the "window".

So as long as the turtles are larger then 4 inches they can sell them ? * puts my head in my hands * im so confused!

Yes, unless of course you're needing one for scientific research
or some other endeavor, then you can get a smaller one.
Nobody bothers to check on what you do with them, so you could
get a small one if you found a pet shop that carried them.
I'm glad your new box turtle found you, poor thing!

Yep, Me to She's a cutie !! ... we also have a half dollar size hatchling RES which the girls got at Myrtle Beach, SC .. when its buddy passed on .. in a matter of less then a week after we got it from a Respiratoy Infection .. but the one remaining is a vital little thing

im not even in the market right now for another .. not till i get an out side enclosure up and out fitted nicely with plants and everything ..

and even then i think i would rather adopt then buy .. there is a nice lady near me that would love to let her male come to visit so the two of them can have some .. UHm fun .. but that will not be till next year .. i want to make sure shes nice and settled

* whispers* but secretly i cant wait to see baby boxies upclose and personal .. * giggles*

Myrtle Beach is about 40 miles from Oak Island, NC. We used
to go down there a lot, but now we just stay here unless we want
to get Powerball tickets. I hate those Wings/Eagles shops
they sell tons of little turtles and spiders people put in
their SUV (usually with Ohio plates on them) and continue
shopping. You know they mostly don't make it a week, if
they even make it home. Truely a dime a dozen.
Are you guys in the Carolina's or just visitors?

We live in North Carolina .. but my Fiances mother has a condo in Mertyle beach .. and the girls went down for a visit ..

we had one of the turtles dies after it came back at exactly a week .. and the other is still healthy and kicking .. the one that passed on was much smaller and more tired acting .. i never knew turtles could be so feisty!! ..