Moving from Canada to US with a tortoise - Need help with Permit?

[Souptugo]

Hello all. My wife and I are moving to Minnesota from Canada July 1st next year. We will be there for 1 year.

We currently have a 2.5 year old Hermann's tortoise and he will be moving along with us.

Does anyone have experience with bringing a tortoise from Canada into the US? What permits are necessary? Could someone please show me where to go and apply for such a permit? or where to start looking for such information? It's not so clear what I need to do.

Thank you so much.

James

 

[MPRC]

Hello all. My wife and I are moving to Minnesota from Canada July 1st next year. We will be there for 1 year.

We currently have a 2.5 year old Hermann's tortoise and he will be moving along with us.

Does anyone have experience with bringing a tortoise from Canada into the US? What permits are necessary? Could someone please show me where to go and apply for such a permit? or where to start looking for such information? It's not so clear what I need to do.

Thank you so much.

James

Hi James. I think your first resource should be consulting a reptile vet either in the US or Canada to ask them if they know the import procedures. Some countries and some animals require an exam and health certificate, some require quarantine, etc. For a reptile there may be no regulations OR there may be a whole pile of them. I have no idea.

 

[Souptugo]

Hi James. I think your first resource should be consulting a reptile vet either in the US or Canada to ask them if they know the import procedures. Some countries and some animals require an exam and health certificate, some require quarantine, etc. For a reptile there may be no regulations OR there may be a whole pile of them. I have no idea.

Thanks! I will contact my vet here and have him checked out anyways. I will also call a vet in Minnesota for some leads.

 

[enchilada]

or you just drive from canada to US with it.
its a herman . 1. its not native to north america 2. its not on IUCN red list
so no one cares. unless you want whole lot bureaucratic troubles from both US and canada customs

 

[Yvonne G]

You've got it turned around. It's Canada that requires paperwork. The U.S. doesn't care about non-native species. After your year is up, though, you may have trouble bringing the tortoise back with you into Canada.

 

[MPRC]

After your year is up, though, you may have trouble bringing the tortoise back with you into Canada.

I wonder if establishing that your tortoise was born/raised in Canada with a vet visit may help with that return trip. I'm not certain, just guessing if you have vet records to prove his 'citizenship' it may be smoother.