John Michael Martino aka John Michael Reptile. New York Long Island.

I received a beautiful baby Burmese Star Tortoise from John Martino in perfect health however I am disappointed with his business practices post purchase as far as providing a half certificate. I made a certificate one to help make the process easier for him so all he needed to do is write the date and sign. However, he refused and since then he deleted the contact information in his website and removed the Burmese Star Tortoise selling thread.


January 20th, 2017
I received a beautiful baby Burmese Star Tortoise - Gillian, from John Martino. Because it is a thousand dollars purchase, I suggested to bring her to vet for body check right after I picked her up and if there is any serious health issues he can make a refund, return or share the medicine bill. But he refused, however I really like this little girl so i bought her eventually.

February 10th to 17th, 2017
I have an intention of breeding Burmese star tortoise in the future in order to raise the population of this species. So I was planning to get another one from John Martino. At the time I thought Burmese Star Tortoise is on Cities two list, but actually they are CITIES one. So before I purchase the second one from John, i asked if he can sign a CBB certificate for me, just in case if Burmese will be added to ESA in the future and it'll be difficult to get cities permit. Then he started to give me attitude, sent me 2 pictures of Gillian's parent and told me the hatch date is November 21th, 2016.

I thought he misunderstood something so i made a certificate paper for him at 12pm. And he didn't respond my msg, then i found out that he was ignoring me, because when i used another phone number to text and he replied quickly.
An hour later he took down his contact information on his website and deleted the Burmese star tortoise sale thread. Then messaged me back and claimed he is done with me and not going to do any further business with me. He always said my English improved a lot in just a night, also said that I was being offensive and my attitude is bad.


So I don't understand why he doesn't want to sign the certificate, I think a reputable breeder would be more than willing to provide a captive hatch/birth certificate for the new owners records! Especially for a rare species. I started to doubt if Gillan really a cbb Burmese or not....

He just gave me half certificate without his name and address etc...., and i sent him mine... but he ignores my msg...

and i found out that he deleted the ccb TSF Burmese star tortoise thread and removed his contact info on his website.

Also, he was online at 2:30pm, and my girlfriend also texted him. He was just ignoring my msg. I asked for the certificate politely before getting another Burmese from him.... this dude..

CITES will be irrelevant here since they (platynota) are CITES-1 and you are not moving them into or out of the country.

The ESA is not in effect for this species, but if it ever gets added to the ES list and there comes a time where you want to buy, sell, or trade (execute commercial activity that is not a breeding loan or something) between states, there is then the application for a CBW (Captive Born Wildlife) permit. I am skipping over any grandfathering argument here, too.

The makeshift certificate you are asking for is not necessary to apply for a CBW permit if that time ever comes for this species.

Even it is not necessary, I just want more paperwork for future use. And the thing is, this certificate is to prove that the Burmese Star Tortoise is a CBB from him. But the problem is why he refused to do that ?

The certificate would not prove it is CBB. It would state it. Not exactly the same.

That said, John Martino does produce platynota from his adults.

Not sure why he would or would not do the certificate, but it is not the norm in the chelonian corner of the hobby, so maybe he felt it unusual (and unnecessary). For instance, he could be worried that someone might try to justify a smuggled animal down the road using a certificate with his name and so forth on it. Even if you are totally above board, that would spring into my mind if someone asked me for such a thing.

I'll refrain from this thread as I am biased. I voted for that "awful" guy Trump. Lol. I'll just say good luck.

Lets go over a few things as i will not be going back and forth with you.

The first thing you want to address is bringing her to a vet. I said you could bring her to a vet. After you told me you had multiple other tortoises i declined to offer any conditions on her. What you do with her, who you put her with, or how you care for her after i sell her to you is out of my control. I then agreed to drive 45 minutes out of my way to meet with you so you could handle her and give her a good going over in person. You accepted, were happy, and went on your way. Good transaction i thought?

Now almost a month later you are badgering me for paperwork. You have contacted me numerous times in less than 24 hrs demanding paperwork that is nether necessary, nor the norm in the industry. All this time i am dealing with a loss and you don't stop. I said i would send it you. Not only wasn't that good enough, but you decided to start sending me certificates and links and long texts asking for something i said i would send. And yes, when someone starts sending me links to my website with my address and pressuring me non stop i start to get a little apprehensive. Yes, i deleted my info, i felt you were becoming a stalker and were acting shady. When we first met you were a nice guy who then seemed to go to a very pushy guy to the point of sending me pdf files demanding I docusign them? At this point you were really making me uneasy, i felt something was up and you were looking to do something illegal with the tortoise? Maybe try and ship it out of the country? Idk you kept asking about cities? But having your girlfriend message me in addition to screen shotting my location doesn't really speak to not being shady so i feel my suspicions were correct. And again all this was going on as i was dealing with a LOSS OF A FRIEND! Your response to that? Accusing me of being a poacher and a smuggler! So you my friend can go ahead and enjoy your CBB Burmese Star tortoise as I'm done dealing with you. And I would precaution anyone else from dealing with you as you are a rude, offensive, irrational person. Good day sir!

***The contents of this post have been removed because the person posting them is not the author and failed to provide adequate attribution, thereby leaving it an anonymous third-party quotation despite more than enough warning and time provided to avoid this. - Nick A***

I accidentally posted my friends private message to me in regard to the actual response below:

Since English is not my first language, I had a friend assist me in writing this response so that I can be understood as clearly as possible.

John, let me start by saying I am sorry for your loss. I do apologize for my impatience. The tortoise was a lot of money and with the anticipation of getting another one from you I did want to have some sort of hatch record on file for the future. I have purchased other animals in the past where the sellers have given signed certificates with photo identification and lineage of the parents and the purchased animal(s). I would have hoped that with such an uncommon and valuable species that you would happily provide the same. When you seemed hesitant, I became worried about the source of my tortoise. The more we exchanged texts, the more it appeared that you may be unwilling to provide anything, however I may have misunderstood your intent. I put together a hatch certificate using the photos of the parents as you sent me, along with the photo of the actual tortoise I purchased from you because I thought you may have misunderstood what I was looking for. I figured that sending you the certificate would make things easier for you if we were not understanding one another. I became overwhelmed with concern as our communication continued. I am trying to be as responsible as possible in regards to maintaining good records on my animals. I do care deeply about the status of this species and know that record keeping is imperative for the future.

From reading the BOI, it is clear that you have an outstanding history and reputation. I wish we hadn't run into a disagreement over paperwork. If we can please come to some sort of agreement of misunderstanding and I could get something in writing similar to the example certificate I sent you, I would greatly appreciate it and we can both happily move forward. My tortoise IS stunning and completely healthy. With some documentation for my own records, I would be more than happy to purchase from you again and/or recommend you to others.