Where is the Russian tortoise legal?

Testudo horsfieldii. Restricted in 2 of the 25 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseAlaska: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseArizona: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseArkansas: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseCalifornia: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseColorado: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseConnecticut: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseDelaware: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseFlorida: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseGeorgia: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseHawaii: conditions apply for Russian tortoiseIdaho: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseIllinois: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseIndiana: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseIowa: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseKansas: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseKentucky: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseLouisiana: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMaine: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMaryland: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMassachusetts: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMichigan: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMinnesota: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMississippi: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMissouri: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseMontana: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNebraska: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNevada: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNew Hampshire: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNew Jersey: permit required for Russian tortoiseNew Mexico: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNew York: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNorth Carolina: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseNorth Dakota: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseOhio: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseOklahoma: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseOregon: no restriction found for Russian tortoisePennsylvania: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseRhode Island: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseSouth Carolina: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseSouth Dakota: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseTennessee: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseTexas: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseUtah: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseVermont: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseVirginia: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseWashington: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseWest Virginia: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseWisconsin: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseWyoming: no restriction found for Russian tortoiseDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for Russian tortoise

Select a state for the rule behind its colour. Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are drawn out of position so they can be clicked.

What the colours mean

  • BannedNo legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
  • Permit required (1)Legal, but you need a permit or licence before the animal arrives.
  • Conditions apply (1)Legal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
  • UnclearThe rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction foundNothing in the body of law we read restricts this animal here.

Choose an animal

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Every restriction on the Russian tortoise

2 of the 25 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

New Jersey

Permit requiredN.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4, 4.5
any other exotic species not exempted

Not on the exempt list, so the catch-all permit provision applies. This is the only permit requirement for a Russian tortoise anywhere in the country.

How this rule works: 4.4 is a closed exempt list; 4.5 requires a permit for 'any other' exotic species not exempted.

N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4 Exempted Species and 7:25-4.5 Additional Species →

Hawaii

Conditions applyList of Conditionally Approved Animals, Family Testudinidae
FAMILY Testudinidae ... Testudo (all species in genus)

A genuine surprise given how much Hawaii bans. The whole genus Testudo is conditionally approved, so Testudo horsfieldii may be imported and kept subject to the conditions the Department of Agriculture attaches, rather than being barred by the default rule the way most exotics are.

How this rule works: The list that matters most for pet keepers and the one almost never quoted. Conditional approval means importation and possession are allowed subject to the conditions the Board of Agriculture sets, unlike the restricted list, which is research and exhibition only.

Hawaii Administrative Rules, List of Conditionally Approved Animals (Hawaii Department of Agriculture official PDF) →

For the full write-up, including the states that get reported wrongly, read the Russian tortoise legal guide.

Past the legal question? See the Russian tortoise profile.

How to read this

A state with no colour is one where nothing in the law we read restricts that animal. That is not the same as a guarantee: it means no restriction was found in the specific body of law checked for that state, which is recorded alongside each jurisdiction. Cities and counties regularly ban animals their state allows, and several states say so in their own rules.

Hatched grey means the rule genuinely does not resolve. Usually a definition arguably reaches the animal without naming it, and the honest answer is to ask the agency rather than to guess. Those entries are marked unclear on purpose rather than being rounded to a yes or a no.

Every entry links to the regulation it came from. None of this is legal advice, laws change without much notice, and the agency that issues the permit is always the last word. For the federal layer and how state schemes are structured, see the exotic pet legal hub.