moving to the UK from the US with our 3y/o Marginated Tortoise- help!

[scoutkegs]

Hi everyone, I have seen posts about this before but never find any clear answers.

We could use some advice! We're moving to the UK this spring from LA and we have a 3y/o Marginated Tortoise (Atty, he's the cutest). We have been reading about airlines not allowing exotic pets and the UK being strict on pets, etc. Has anyone relocated to the UK with their tortoises before that could lend us some advice? We are aware of the CITES requirements and website information etc, but getting him there seems to be our biggest hurdle. He's about 7inches so still pretty small, would love to bring him as a carry on but not sure if that's possible, hard to find info!

Any advice or recommendations would be amazing! Thank you in advance!

 

[AmandaF]

If you go on the gov.uk website it has advice for you. This is part of it:

Bringing animals into Great Britain​

When you bring animals into Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) for your personal use, for example because they’re your pet, it’s called a ‘personal import’. You may need to follow certain rules or get certificates.
The rules depend on what animal you’re bringing in and what country you’re bringing it from.
If the animal is a non-native species to Great Britain, you’ll have to follow certain rules, regardless of where it’s coming from. You should check the rules for bringing in a non-native species.
You can check if your animal is non-native on the GB non-native species secretariat website.

 

[scoutkegs]

If you go on the gov.uk website it has advice for you. This is part of it:

Bringing animals into Great Britain​

When you bring animals into Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) for your personal use, for example because they’re your pet, it’s called a ‘personal import’. You may need to follow certain rules or get certificates.
The rules depend on what animal you’re bringing in and what country you’re bringing it from.
If the animal is a non-native species to Great Britain, you’ll have to follow certain rules, regardless of where it’s coming from. You should check the rules for bringing in a non-native species.
You can check if your animal is non-native on the GB non-native species secretariat website.

Thank you! Yeah we've been here but keep going in circles, marginated tortoises are not on the list that the site provides so not sure where to go from there, since other sections mention reptiles are non-native. Thanks for the info!

 

[AmandaF]

If you go on the gov.uk website it has advice for you. This is part of it:

Bringing animals into Great Britain​

When you bring animals into Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) for your personal use, for example because they’re your pet, it’s called a ‘personal import’. You may need to follow certain rules or get certificates.
The rules depend on what animal you’re bringing in and what country you’re bringing it from.
If the animal is a non-native species to Great Britain, you’ll have to follow certain rules, regardless of where it’s coming from. You should check the rules for bringing in a non-native species.
You can check if your animal is non-native on the GB non-native species secretariat website.

I hope it helps.

amanda

Thank you! Yeah we've been here but keep going in circles, marginated tortoises are not on the list that the site provides so not sure where to go from there, since other sections mention reptiles are non-native. Thanks for the info!

your welcome, if you don’t get anywhere please let me know & I can always make some phone calls.
amanda

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone, I have seen posts about this before but never find any clear answers.

We could use some advice! We're moving to the UK this spring from LA and we have a 3y/o Marginated Tortoise (Atty, he's the cutest). We have been reading about airlines not allowing exotic pets and the UK being strict on pets, etc. Has anyone relocated to the UK with their tortoises before that could lend us some advice? We are aware of the CITES requirements and website information etc, but getting him there seems to be our biggest hurdle. He's about 7inches so still pretty small, would love to bring him as a carry on but not sure if that's possible, hard to find info!

Any advice or recommendations would be amazing! Thank you in advance!

Moving animals internationally is expensive, very difficult, and often not possible. You cannot bring it on the plane with you. Best to leave your tortoise here and get a new one there.

If you insist, call an animal broker. They have the contacts and the know how to get it done, if it can be done. I have used Pacific Pet Transport in the past for international travel with animals and they did a good job.

 

[pacific chelonians]

As far as my experience goes here is a conservative break Down on how much it will cost

Animal broker fee $500
Fish and game fees $100
Shipping 150-200$
Total 750-800

You may find cheaper options but most brokers charge a flat fee of 500 and shipping is not going to be cheap if you are moving to the uk you should have plenty of luck finding another one and with the money you save you could probably buy a t+ albino animal

 

[scoutkegs]

As far as my experience goes here is a conservative break Down on how much it will cost

Animal broker fee $500
Fish and game fees $100
Shipping 150-200$
Total 750-800

You may find cheaper options but most brokers charge a flat fee of 500 and shipping is not going to be cheap if you are moving to the uk you should have plenty of luck finding another one and with the money you save you could probably buy a t+ albino animal

Thank you for this information, super helpful! Do you have any animal brokers that you have used before that you could recommend? We wouldn't mind paying necessarily, we would love to keep him with us, he's like our child

 

[scoutkegs]

Moving animals internationally is expensive, very difficult, and often not possible. You cannot bring it on the plane with you. Best to leave your tortoise here and get a new one there.

If you insist, call an animal broker. They have the contacts and the know how to get it done, if it can be done. I have used Pacific Pet Transport in the past for international travel with animals and they did a good job.

Thank you! Curious what kind of pets you had transferred with that company? How much was it, if you recall?

 

[Tom]

Thank you! Curious what kind of pets you had transferred with that company? How much was it, if you recall?

The first time was baboons to Johannesburg South Africa. The second time was dogs to Cape Town South Africa. The third time was dogs to Morocco. There have been more times, but I can't remember them all...

No idea what it costs. I went for work, so the company I was working for paid for it all. We don't even try to do it ourselves. We hire people that know how to do it.

Again, I don't know if you will even be allowed to do it. So many difficult laws regarding exotic reptiles now. Laws on both ends, as well as the airline rules. I think you'll discover that the costs, legalities, and logistics will make it exceedingly difficult if not impossible. Have you considered the possibility of having your tortoise confiscated at some point on the journey by some bureaucrat that doesn't even know what's legal and what is not. A lot of this is a real gray area and it just depends on the person you end up dealing with. There is a lot of confusion with these people and these matters. Better to leave the tortoise here. I had to literally scream at the various U.S. government alphabet agencies to get my baboons released to me on our return trip from Africa. Each dipsh*t being the counter told me the other agency had to stamp my paperwork before they could stamp it and I literally drove from office to office all round the airport for 6 hours while my baboons cooked on the tarmac somewhere. CDC, USDA, FWS, etc... It was absurd and as amateur, corrupt and unprofessional as anything I have ever seen in a third world country. Upon arrival to the RSA the man behind the desk asked for the four items of paper work that we were told we would need. We presented the correct forms. He looked them over, stamped them, and sent us on our way in less than 5 minutes. Then my own government gave me the run around for 6 hours when we got home. I was livid. And they knew it.

 

[scoutkegs]

For anyone searching something similar just wanted to share an update. We were not able to bring him with us, our sister was able to watch him for us while we traveled. Scotland and the UK are very strict about having them!

We have, however flown with him domestically in the US a few times now with American Airlines and they have been great about it. We had to pay the usual pet fee, I take him in a little dog carrier, but that is usually a smooth process. If anyone has questions about UK or domestic US travel with a tortoise feel free to message me!

 

[Sarah2020]

All animals would need quarantine. You can search on line for animal broker and discuss options. The tortoise would ship separately to your flight and be in approx 6 month quarantine. I recommend what Tom advised, leave it in USA. UK has no native tortoise so you need good set up inc an indoor enclosure with sufficient space, heat and light and ideally an outside enc for the odd summer sunny days. You have to think of you leave the UK you may need to do the reverse.

Read outside EU and endangered species sections......

Bringing animals into Great Britain

What to do if you’re bringing animals into Great Britain: quarantine rules, documents you need, types of animal you can bring.

www.gov.uk

Plus we have lots of tortoise in the UK that needs adoption and a good home .

 

[myk]

Hi everyone, I have seen posts about this before but never find any clear answers.

We could use some advice! We're moving to the UK this spring from LA and we have a 3y/o Marginated Tortoise (Atty, he's the cutest). We have been reading about airlines not allowing exotic pets and the UK being strict on pets, etc. Has anyone relocated to the UK with their tortoises before that could lend us some advice? We are aware of the CITES requirements and website information etc, but getting him there seems to be our biggest hurdle. He's about 7inches so still pretty small, would love to bring him as a carry on but not sure if that's possible, hard to find info!

Any advice or recommendations would be amazing! Thank

Hi everyone, I have seen posts about this before but never find any clear answers.

We could use some advice! We're moving to the UK this spring from LA and we have a 3y/o Marginated Tortoise (Atty, he's the cutest). We have been reading about airlines not allowing exotic pets and the UK being strict on pets, etc. Has anyone relocated to the UK with their tortoises before that could lend us some advice? We are aware of the CITES requirements and website information etc, but getting him there seems to be our biggest hurdle. He's about 7inches so still pretty small, would love to bring him as a carry on but not sure if that's possible, hard to find info!

Any advice or recommendations would be amazing! Thank you in advance!

Here in Canada, you can not take tortises or turtles across the border,,very strict, unless you obtain a permit that's its your pet n not for trade,