1:7 group of Ornate Box turtles in the Houston area

I have a small group of Ornate Box turtles I need to move pretty soon, one male and seven females. I would of already sold them but I was waiting for them to come out of hibernation. They woke up a few weeks ago, 5 of them are active and eating great and 3 of them are still pretty sluggish, half asleep and havn't eaten much. I don't have room for them anymore and I need to move them pretty quickly so if anyones interested just make me an offer. I accept paypal, cash, etc and I can either ship them overnight or meet you somewhere if your local. Email me at [email protected]

If these are a native subspecies of Texas, you DO realize it is illegal for a person to possess more than 6 (unless officially grandfathered in)...and you can NOT legally sell these no matter what! They are "black listed" since 1Sept07.
KJ

Alright, first off learn the law before you post in my thread, it is illegal to have more than 6 Ornates per person living in your household, in other words, if you have 2 people living in your household than it is perfectly legal for you to have up to 12, etc, etc. Secondly, I have a non-game permit and it was registered before the law changed last year so I am grandfathered into the new laws and it is perfectly legal for me to sell the turtles I already had. If your still confused than this might help you out:

http://www.gctts.org/node/330

LOL...FIRST> I said "A person." Each person can possess six. You are correct there. You just didn't read my post correctly or assumed I didn't know the English language very well

SECOND> The law only gave you a limited time to dispose of black listed stock for sale prior to 1Sept07 before that loophole was closed. Once it was closed, there seems to be no "grandfather loophole" for SELLING - just owning more than 6 if properly registered first. You must register them before the closing date - NOT just HAVE them to grandfather their possession. I am pretty sure that date to dispose of surplus stock VIA SALE has passed. I am NOT positive, though, so I just emailed and/or called the correct people in non-game (in Austin HQ) and enforcement (2 different offices). I believe the date has already passed to be able to legally sell them in Texas....regardless of when they were acquired.

If I am incorrect about the final date, I will post it here for you! Of course, feel free to contact the Houston Dispatch office directly with your questions. I can provide the number for you if you would like. I used to work with them.
KJ

Alright, sorry about that and thanks for the info, lol. I did talk to the Houston office when the law went into effect and they told me that I could legally sell any turtles that I had before the law changed if I had the non-game permit, they didn't mention anything about a final sale date. If there was a final date thats kinda messed up though, I seriously wanted to get rid of these guys back in November but because they were hibernating and I didn't want to risk their health I held onto them until now.

If you are not sure if there is a final sale date, perhaps you should research or have you done so already?
I saw this ad in the local Houston Craigslist, is it yours and are you now certain the sale is legal?

Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2008-04-11, 12:58PM CDT


I have a small group of Ornate Box turtles I need to move pretty soon, one male and seven females. I would of already got rid of them but I was waiting for them to come out of hibernation. They woke up a few weeks ago, 5 of them are active and eating great and 3 of them are still pretty sluggish, half asleep and haven't eaten much. I don't have room for them anymore and I need to move them pretty quickly so if anyones interested just email me. A small re-homing fee will apply.

From what I was told by the Houston office back in September there is no final sale date, so as far as I know, it is perfectly legal.

damesta said:

From what I was told by the Houston office back in September there is no final sale date, so as far as I know, it is perfectly legal.

Click to expand...

You just didn't ask the correct questions. Read all of the laws - not just the ones you find on forums. I obtained the section that applies to the sale of stock possessed prior to 1Sept07.

(1) The holder of a permit issued under this subchapter who is in lawful
possession of nongame wildlife prior to the effective date of this
section who would be in violation of this subchapter after the effective
date of this section by continuing to possess the nongame wildlife for
commercial activity must sell, donate, or otherwise dispose of the
nongame wildlife by May 1, 2008.

NOTICE: You have until 1May08. I thought it was 1Mar08, so I was WRONG on the actual date having passed. I wasn't wrong on the limited window, though. In other words, sell these prior to 1May08, or you'll be breaking state and/or federal law (as I originally stated) depending o n the location of the recipient.

Repeat: The date has NOT passed, but it is quickly approaching.
KJ

Alright, thanks for the help.