Seeking state information on tortoise-keeping... Where are tortoises not allowed to be kept as pets?

[destortoise]

Basically, I have tried to find a place that can tell me these things but... there are a lot of states. I want to find the laws for Washington, Oregon, California and Virginia. Does anyone know where I can find them?

 

[Moozillion]

Every state is different and it CAN be hard to find.
I first looked at our state's website for Wildlife and Fisheries, but what I found there was so complicated that it was no help. I phoned the local extension agent for Wildlife and Fisheries in our county, but couldn't get ahold of anyone who knew. But then I called the extension agent for Wildlife and Fisheries for the next county over, and he was a great help: a real gold mine of information! He has a PhD in one of the biological fields as well, which I thought was cool.
So my suggestion, if you're in the US, is to call your local state Wildlife and Fisheries (or the equivalent-) agent for your county. If they can't help, just keep trying the extension agents for other counties.
I hope this helps.

 

[Yvonne G]

The different state regulations usually only refer to animal that are native to that state. You can pretty much find all the info you need by doing a Google search. Something like, "California regulation on keeping tortoises". But if one of the above-mentioned states doesn't have any native tortoises, you probably will come up empty. I just did a search for Washington. Since there are no native tortoises in Washington, this was all I could find:

http://www.burkemuseum.org/herpetology/reptiles

Now, if your question really is, "Can I keep any kind of tortoise in CA, WA, etc?" Then you would get a totally different response to your query.

 

[deadheadvet]

Kingsnake.com has a good section with links to the different regulations for each state.