# Permit?



## Mojo's Mom (May 31, 2012)

I was curious why the  sign was gray and there was never a new post on it since I joined. And even though I recently joined, there have been tons of new posts and threads. I researched a little and found out that the ones this forum focuses on require a permit.

Is that why there haven't been any new threads or posts? How hard would it be to get a tort like this and a permit? 

Just curious, I probably won't get one.


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## Tom (May 31, 2012)

Not sure what you mean.

What sign is gray?
What do we focus on that requires a permit?


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## Mojo's Mom (May 31, 2012)

Tom said:


> Not sure what you mean.
> 
> What sign is gray?
> What do we focus on that requires a permit?



Sorry if I wasn't clear. But you know the columns for the the forums? Like : Forum, Threads, Posts, Last Post. You know, where you can select which one to look at, and that leads to a list of threads. Like with the Speciecs Specific, there is a forum for redfoot and yellowfoots. Click on it and it takes you to the forum for those species. There is a column that has a "" sign, right before "forum". Scroll down to the bottom and when the  is gray that means that there have been no new posts. A sign like that is before the North American Species (gopherus). I looked at the "Last Post" column and the same one by the same person was there, day in, day out. So I looked at the threads and most were old or they were locked. I reasearched the Gopher Tortoise, the Texas Tortoise, and the Desert Tortoise,(the ones it focuses on) because in some of the old posts it said that they required a permit to keep, because they were endangered or something (like the Galapogos) and required a permit. I was wondering if this was the cause of the  sign being gray, that not that many people had them. Also I was wondering what one would have to do to get this permit. I wouldn't want to get one (yet ) , just curious about the process. 

Sorry if I just rambled and wasted some of your time. 

Here is a simpler way to see what I mean: 

Go to the "Forums" at the top of the screen.
Look at the "Site Announcements" forum. There is a "" symbol before it says "Site Announcements"
Scroll down to the very bottom. There are three little "" signs, one green, one gray, and one gray with a little red X, those mean "This Thread Contains New Posts", "This Thread Does Not Contain Any New Posts" and "This Thread Is Locked. 
Usually there is a gray one before the the thread "North American Tortoises". 
The Last Post was always the same when I logged in. 
See? 
Look at the first three-four pages of the North American Tortoises forum. 
Most are old and the rest are locked. 

I did some research and it said Desert Tortoises and Gopher Tortoises are endangered, and I couldn't find anything on Texas Tortoises, it requires a permit to keep them from what I looked at. 

So again read my questions. Make sense?

(Sorry I put so much stuff on here this time, but I wanted to make sure everybody got it)

Thanks. Tell me if it doesn't make sense still.


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## Tom (May 31, 2012)

Okay. Now I get it. 

The entire genus of Gopherus is made up of four species. One of the four is only in Mexico and the other three are the ones you found, and they are all "native" species to the US. Every state has different laws, but in some cases, if you live in the state that they are native to, you can get s simple permit to keep one. Here in CA it is really easy to get the permits. To my knowledge, there is no way for a normal person to get a permit to keep an out of state Gopherus sp. For example, here in CA I could get permitted for several CA desert tortoises, but I could not get a permit or permission to have a FL gopher tortoise here.


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## wellington (May 31, 2012)

Also, My understanding of those kinds of tortoises, is that they can not be sold/bought. Only adopted and only within their own native state, not across state lines. In fact I don't think you are even legally able to take them across state lines. This is what i got from some post i have read, I might be wrong, see what others say.


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## dmmj (May 31, 2012)

They can't be bought or sold, can't be transported across state lines. CA requires a permit but it is free and is basically only to keep tabs on how many there are in captivity. Remember you don't own the tortoise, you are only long term borrowing it from the state.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2012)

dmmj said:


> They can't be bought or sold, can't be transported across state lines. CA requires a permit but it is free and is basically only to keep tabs on how many there are in captivity. Remember you don't own the tortoise, you are only long term borrowing it from the state.




Yep. Your borrowing it. The lacey act does not allow that native animal to cross the state line it resides in without very special permission. Sorry but the gopherus species here in the U.S would not be allowed in kansas under those permits. 

You CAN apply for endangered species 3-200-37 and possess the Bolsen species of gopherus. The one from Mexico. But here's the catch it has to be captive bred and proven that it is captive bred, only in the united states. Mexico will approve CITES exportation of the Bolsen. So it's very very very hard to attain legally. But can be done.


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## Mojo's Mom (May 31, 2012)

Thank you everybody. Now everything make a lot more SENSE! I was so confused. No everything that I've read and everything that I've found on here doesn't make my head hurt. 

Too bad I couldn't get one here. I thought it would be neat later down the road... oh well, I might look into that whole thing tortadise talked about. 

Thanks again everybody. I guess I got a little too curious  , but that's how you learn things.


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