# Baby turtles illegal to sell????



## smacktart (Sep 3, 2009)

Hi I went to mentone aquarium today and they had a sign up saying as of october 1st baby turtles will be illegal to sell...... 


DAMMIT I said cos I went up there to buy one and they had no left AHHHHHHHHH yer so does anyone know why it is illegal after october 1st and can anyone sell me a baby?????


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## Noongato (Sep 3, 2009)

Maybe its just to stop impulse buyers who slap them in a fishtank without proper equipt, and then when they get older dont know what to do with them and dump them?

What state are you?


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## gregcranston (Sep 3, 2009)

Not illegal, as of 1st October baby turtles (those with shell carapace length under 10cm) will be LEGAL to buy/sell. At the moment any under 10cm are ILLEGAL (in Victoria) to buy/sell. I'm pretty sure that's correct.
So if you go back after 1st October, you will be allowed to buy a baby turtle, provided you have the correct license for them, if the one you're buying requires a license. 
Can anyone back me up on this?


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## reptilefan95 (Sep 3, 2009)

Well in NSW were not allowed to buy any reptiles at petshops, but i think that gregcanston is right they must be a certain shell size before being sold


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## gregcranston (Sep 3, 2009)

reptilefan95 said:


> i think that gregcanston is right they must be a certain shell size before being sold


No, what I said was, they are getting rid of the shell size restriction in VIC, so you can buy a turtle of any size from 1st October.


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## smacktart (Sep 3, 2009)

Well its in victoria and I used to go to mentone aquarium and you used to be able to buy the small ones but they said today they are illegal to sell the small ones after october 1st


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## reptilefan95 (Sep 3, 2009)

Sorry, my mistake i know that in some places around the world (some states in america, not sure about here though) turtles have to be a certain shell size before being sold....


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## gregcranston (Sep 3, 2009)

smacktart said:


> Well its in victoria and I used to go to mentone aquarium and you used to be able to buy the small ones but they said today they are illegal to sell the small ones after october 1st


I used to work in a petshop (in VIC), and the regulations in Victoria state they Petshops are not allowed to sell small ones (under 10cm), so I doubt mentone aquarium was selling them. 
But the law is changing from 1st October and ones under 10cm will be allowed to be sold. Having said that, I'm not sure how those new laws will apply to petshops.

So the short answer is, it is opposite to what you are saying. Except if for some reason Petshops will have new restrictions, but they have NEVER been allowed to sell small ones in the recent past.


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## gregcranston (Sep 3, 2009)

Can anyone back me up on this?


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## trippz (Sep 3, 2009)

greg u are correct.U will now BE ABLE to buy turtles under 10 cm


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## Kimbully (Sep 3, 2009)

Yep, you are right.


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## karasha (Sep 3, 2009)

thats right greg. as of 1st october they can be sold at any size, because the government believes that there is enough education out there in the proper care of them that things like MBD wont be as prevalent. but given that we still see this disease on a regulkar basis in water dragons and central bearded dragons ect this has got us worried. so please dont buy from petstore as they do not educate people in the right manner of keeping, please use experience breeders that will make sure you have the right set up before selling animals to anyone.


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## mckellar007 (Sep 3, 2009)

yes, after oct 1st, it will be legal to sell turtles under the current limit of 10cms, however, petshops/reptileshops, will be required to have a care sheet provided for customers(this care sheet must be written by a vet or herpetologist).


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## omg_ebtl (Sep 17, 2009)

mckellar007 said:


> yes, after oct 1st, it will be legal to sell turtles under the current limit of 10cms, however, petshops/reptileshops, will be required to have a care sheet provided for customers(this care sheet must be written by a vet or herpetologist).


 


october 1st as in 2009 or 2010?

so right now we can buy/sell baby turtles for example??


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

1/10/09, beginning of next month it will be legal to purchase or sell any sized turtle


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## channi (Sep 17, 2009)

Right now is september so right now to buy/sell a turtle in Victoria it must have a shell size over 10cm, on the first day of next month (17 days from now), ie Oct 1 you will be able to buy/sell turtles smaller than 10 cm.


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## Chrisreptile (Sep 17, 2009)

mckellar007 said:


> yes, after oct 1st, it will be legal to sell turtles under the current limit of 10cms, however, petshops/reptileshops, will be required to have a care sheet provided for customers(this care sheet must be written by a vet or herpetologist).



Yes that is correct. 
There needs to be a care sheet handed out regarding calcium, uv etc.


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## Jay84 (Sep 17, 2009)

what i dont understand is previously, if you bred your turtles... why did you have to keep them till they were over 10cm ???? can you imagine how much of a hassle that would have been?

also, are the turtles in petshops wild caught? cos there always seems to be such a huge supply and they are all massive!


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## Chrisreptile (Sep 17, 2009)

Jay84 said:


> what i dont understand is previously, if you bred your turtles... why did you have to keep them till they were over 10cm ???? can you imagine how much of a hassle that would have been?



I think it was to do with little kids putting a small turtle in their mouth, and the possible risks of salmonella? correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Jay84 (Sep 17, 2009)

hahaha are you serious ? baby turtle = choking hazzard ?

irresponsible parenting at its best lol


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## Chrisreptile (Sep 17, 2009)

lol or baby turtle = salmonella + choking hazard?


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

Yes Jay, they are wild caught or at least pulled from dams.
Pet stores were paying between $20 & $40 per turtle, depending on it's size, even less for multiples. You can also tell they are wild caught by their appearance.
To grow a turtle from a hatchy to a minimum of 10cm cost $$$ (food, power, time, etc)
How can a breeder make a profit at that price, after all, how many breeders would still breed without a profit of some kind after all is done? I think the purchase price says it all!


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

The law was originally passed for conservation purposes along with the amount that were dying well before they reached the 10cm mark. Knowledge in turtle husbandry has come a long way since then & the conservation side of things stopped short of being laughable. If anyone is interested, here is the best caresheet for Australian Freshwater Turtles. It's also free to download;
CARESHEETS - Australian Freshwater Turtles


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## Jay84 (Sep 17, 2009)

Yeah i thought so. the poor things always look really displaced in pet shops, not like they have grown up in a tank at all. so it is legal for these animals to be wild caught? with a bit of luck, ppl will start breeding them now, as everyone will want babies, therefore minimising the amount taken from the wild.


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

I suppost it is as legal to take turtles from the wild as any other animal


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## wasgij (Sep 17, 2009)

gregcranston said:


> Can anyone back me up on this?


 
yes you are correct


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## gregcranston (Sep 17, 2009)

garycahill said:


> I suppost it is as legal to take turtles from the wild as any other animal


Not any other animal, isn't it illegal to take animals from the wild that require a license to keep?


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

I was being sarcastic. It is illegal to take any animal from the wild without the correct licence/permit to allow you to do this.


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## gregcranston (Sep 17, 2009)

garycahill said:


> I was being sarcastic. It is illegal to take any animal from the wild without the correct licence/permit to allow you to do this.


He he, my bad, sarcasm doesn't come across that well in written text, lol.


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

No worries Greg, I know exactly what you mean


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## varanid_mike (Sep 17, 2009)

Last time i went to mentone they had a barrel full of turtles being sold to them from the back of the ute. Straight out of some dam, not like they have morals. The turtles where upside down, side ways and crammed in on top of each other. Short necks are much better when they are young but long necks should have stayed over 10cm, they are very touchy.


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## garycahill (Sep 17, 2009)

IMO, they all should be put on licence as in other states.
ELN's are easy to raise from hatchies if you know what you are doing.
I have posted a link for a care sheet for those who don't.
Without removing the law there can basically be no conservation for them


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## varanid_mike (Sep 17, 2009)

Sorry i meant for the general public long neck turtles would be a bit touchy. Not something im looking forward to seeing for sale in shops. In other states that sell baby turtles short necks are much more popular.


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## adder99 (Sep 27, 2009)

Kimbully said:


> Yep, you are right.


 
sure are i cant wait,im gona get a few from pails for scales:lol:


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