Is it illegal to have a gopher tortoise as a pet

The first thing I have to tell you is that the gopher tortoise is a protected species and it is illegal to harm kill harass feed or disrupt its behavior in any way. What do tortoises do when picked up.

This includes moving the tortoise to the other side of your fence.

Is it illegal to have a gopher tortoise as a pet. Keeping gopher tortoise as pets is illegal unless you have a permit. There are many tortoises that have been confiscated in other states or have been taken in after being injured and repaired and are being held by animal rehabilitation facilities around the state. The gopher tortoise Gopherus polyphemus is hereby declared to be threatened and shall be afforded the protective provisions specified in this paragraph.

No person shall take attempt to take pursue hunt harass capture possess sell or transport any gopher tortoise or parts thereof or their eggs or molest damage or destroy gopher tortoise burrows except as authorized by. It is only unethical to have a tortoise as a pet if. You dont do your research into the species of tortoise you are getting before you buy one - buying such a long-lived animal on impulse because a little hand-sized trundler is so cute is a t.

Permits Required to Keep a Tortoise as a Pet There are two possible permits that will be required to legally keep a tortoise in the UK. Which license you require depends on the length of the tortoises plastron which is the flat underbelly of a tortoise shell. The protected Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus exists on this site.

Photography and Video imaging have been used to Document this Protected Species. It is a Violation of Florida Statute 3720725 to intentionally take harass wound or kill any species designated as endangered threatened or of special concern. Any person who violates this provision with regard to an endangered.

Tortoise cant be a pet as it would never behave like a normal domestic pet. I might be wrong but we want from our dog or cat pets their love and we want this to be expressed in a way that we can understand. The dog jumping happily towards us when we are back home or the cat purring with pleasure when we caress him.

Rasoa and her relatives however are unable to show such sign of. Yes just like everyone else said it is illegal to keep a gopher without a permit in any state i believe because they are federally protected. I have a gopher tortoise permit for only one year to foster him while his eye infections were bad but the IDNR will make me give him back to my job come June 2013.

Flipper is the only tortoise I have ever had I have 2 box turtles and let me tell. I have a tortoise and he is the easiest pet I e ever had to take care of. Although i agree with some of the statements the biggest thing is just to study and learn if you know what your doing they are easy to take care of.

My Russian tortoise is kept in an terrarium and let out once a week for exercise. It is perfectly ok to keep a tortoise in a tank or terrarium if it is an adequate size. You do not have to have an enclosure outside to have a healthy tortoise.

Due to this we will only list one kind of large tortoisethe sulcata. The only other species of large tortoise that is legal to have as a pet is the aldabras but they are exceptionally hard to find and even harder to care for. Not to mention the aldabras tortoise can live for well over 200 years.

There just isnt enough information out there on how to properly keep such a huge tortoise. Gopher tortoises have been kept as pets preventing them from reproducing in their local populations. Captured gopher tortoises can be raced in tortoise races.

This practice was banned in Florida in 1989. It is illegal to own one as a pet and to touch feed pick up or otherwise harass a wild gopher tortoise. What do tortoises do when picked up.

They void as a defense mechanism. Emptying entire bladder contents. What does this mean for the tortoise.

It can become dangerous for the tortoise especially if it does not replenish its system very soon after. What is the exception. Adult gopher tortoises have few predators because of their protective shell.

However tortoises are sometimes collected for food although this practice is now illegal. Young tortoises have a wide range of predators such as snakes and foxes and burrowing helps them to avoid many of these threats. The first thing I have to tell you is that the gopher tortoise is a protected species and it is illegal to harm kill harass feed or disrupt its behavior in any way.

This includes moving the tortoise to the other side of your fence. Besides gopher tortoises are land turtles and the lake is definitely not suitable habitat for it. Also I would not be concerned that the tortoise would hurt your puppy.

Tortoises dont even have. While you may think owning a parrot or a tortoise is harmless keeping them as pets is not just unethical but illegal and can land you in jail. On the contrary it is legal to have turtle in India which is not native to India means Indian species.

As such red-earned slider or Singapore turtle are legal. Besides that it is illegal to feed gopher tortoises. I have attached a chapter from a workbook written by a friend of mine that talks about things you can do to make an area more tortoise friendly.

It is copyrighted material so use it for your own education only please. One of the things in there is a list of plants that tortoises eat that you can plant in your yard. Yes that I do know.

It is illegal to mess with them. Im wondering now if it isnt an armadillo. The only thing is that I have seen a gopher tortoise in my yard before and never armadillos.

The hole is fairly new though. Apart from the burrows gopher tortoises are generally harmless for humans. This means they pose no threat to you your family or your pets.

This means that the more you can learn about the gopher tortoise the more you can prepare if one or more should arrive on your property. Facts About Gopher Tortoises. If you have a gopher tortoise on your property keep pets or children away from its burrow.

Since gopher tortoises are a threatened species both the tortoises and their burrows are protected under state law and must be left alone. You can help by adding tortoise-friendly plants that it can eat. Report sightings of dead gopher tortoises on FWCs Gopher Tortoise Sightings Application and provide information on cause of mortality if known.

Please report mortalities suspected to be caused by illegal activities to FWCs Wildlife Alert hotline at 888 404-3922.