bringing reptiles through customs

[new2BP]

just wondering if its a big issue if someone was to buy a reptile in the USA and tried to bring it back acrossed to Canada. do u just need your reciepts of where you purchased it or is there more to it than that.

[Adam_Wysocki]

just wondering if its a big issue if someone was to buy a reptile in the USA and tried to bring it back acrossed to Canada. do u just need your reciepts of where you purchased it or is there more to it than that.

It's more than that for ball pythons at least. Balls are a CITES controlled species and their import and export is regulated. Export from the US to Canada involves CITES permits and inspections thru US Fish & Widlife as well as an import process on the Canadian side. Once you've gotten a few under your belt it's not too bad, but the first couple of times are a little daunting.

-adam

[new2BP]

thanks adam, just kinda needed that for future reference. Reptiles here on the east coast of Canada are very expensive compared to the states or say larger cities in Canada such as Montreal and Toronto.

[invadertoast]

I applied for a permit to bring my ball with me when I thought I was going to school in Canada. The process itself wasn't too hard, it just took forever for them to process it. When I was issued mine they just told me to call the border crossing ahead of time to set up a date, I never ended up doing it though. These sites might help you out some:

http://international.fws.gov/permits/pets.html

http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-46.pdf

That last one is the form you would have to fill out to move a personal pet across the border. I filled it out a couple years ago, it's a big help to have your receipt, as well as if the animal is CB, CH, or WC and so on and so on. Like I said, it wasn't very complicated or difficult, just took a couple months to actually get the permit. Hope this helped!

edit:

Reptiles here on the east coast of Canada are very expensive compared to the states or say larger cities in Canada such as Montreal and Toronto.

Your reptile food is way more expensive too! I spent a small fortune to feed my leos for a couple summers in Nova Scotia. Plus, I saw small frozen rats for 7 bucks a piece in Halifax! I'm spoiled down here... lol

[new2BP]

Your reptile food is way more expensive too! I spent a small fortune to feed my leos for a couple summers in Nova Scotia. Plus, I saw small frozen rats for 7 bucks a piece in Halifax! I'm spoiled down here... lol

sure is. i pay 3.50 plus 15% tax for a adult pre killed mouse. i did swing somewhat of a deal today when i bought 15 and they gave me a cut. well it figure out to 2.75 per mouse. probably still alot compared to what everyone else pays. not to mention they want 150$ for there baby BP's and 230 for there Burm. yes thats how much i payed and I hear of guys paying like 30 or 40 $ USD which is like 55$ canadian for there Ball Pythons. Damn our Canadian Government!!!! oh yeh, and gas went up to $1.13 per litre yesturday too. any reptile owners wanta move to canada? sorry for the rant. LOL

[invadertoast]

Ouch, $1.13?? Last time I was up there it had just hit a dollar... glad I'm not bringing my car across with me on the ferry this time! It doesn't matter that I've been to Canada over two dozen times in the past couple years, I still can't get used to kilometers, liters, or spelling stuff like "kilometre," "litre" or "cheque." Maybe I can smuggle you some frozen rodents... I wonder what the border's policy on that is, lol, they wouldn't let my mom bring a bowl of wal-mart brand dog food through last time because it was considered a "beef" product!

[BallPythonBabe448]

gas is like 2.50 per gallon here, insane i tell yoU! I remember when it was like 1.06 and stuff..

Wow I didn't know it was so hard!

[frankykeno]

$2.50! more like $2.79 here *sigh* As far as Canadian breeders and such, have you checked out Markus Jayne out of Peterborough, Ontario. They may be a great resource for you.

Oh and our local pet stores sell adult feeder rats for around $4.00 American.


~~Jo~~