are mantids illegal in CA?

konrad16660

Arachnosquire
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my local herp and bug store does not carry mantids. she said they were not allowed to sell them anymore or somthing? arethey illegal? are htey illegal in just california? whats the deal with mantids?:confused: :confused:
 

Wade

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The USDA recently decided to use an old regulation concerning the use of mantids as a natural pest control in order to shut down the trad in exotic mantids in the pet trade. Although it makes no sense whatsoever, exotic mantids are, indeed, not allowed under USDA policy.

Native mantids are still OK, however, unless California has a regulation against them which Iwouldn't know about.

Wade
 

insect714

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I am in Cali and we can still get Mantids here. I am actually taking a class starting on July 17 that teaches the ins and outs of US Customs, Import & Export as part of my major. I am hoping that it will cover a lot of the questions that we all have here.

Jon Insect
 

Wade

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Sure, you can still get them, but it is in violation of USDA regulations. You can also get phasmids, assassin bugs and all sorts of thing officially not allowed by the USDA. The trade in exotic insects is not dead, but it's now almost completely underground.

Wade
 

Peter_Parker

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Wade said:
Sure, you can still get them, but it is in violation of USDA regulations. You can also get phasmids, assassin bugs and all sorts of thing officially not allowed by the USDA. The trade in exotic insects is not dead, but it's now almost completely underground.

Wade
Lol, underground in name only, apparently {D
 

sick4x4

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umm

you should go up tp palmdale ca...they are all over up there!!!
 

kraken

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I really hope they dont decide to suddenly start cracking down
 

crashergs

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yeah i like that phrase "underground" but really it is, you need to speak to people on here and other forums so they can tell you of a person they know of a person they know of a person they know all the way down the chain, thats how it is.

dont expect too much from pet shops, all they have is bearded dragons, ball pythons, a chameleon here and there, some toads and feeder crickets!!!

i dont ever shop at petshops, you know supports my petshop needs, walmart and the internet! :clap:
 

Shelob

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Wade said:
The USDA recently decided to use an old regulation concerning the use of mantids as a natural pest control in order to shut down the trad in exotic mantids in the pet trade. Although it makes no sense whatsoever, exotic mantids are, indeed, not allowed under USDA policy.

Native mantids are still OK, however, unless California has a regulation against them which Iwouldn't know about.

Wade
Correct, I used to get CalZoo's inventory list every week and that was what was said on the list.

HOWEVER, they were supposed to do the same thing for millipedes, but they haven't yet, many places still get them.

At my local nursery you can buy mantis eggsacks with guarenteed live mantids in them, California species of course.
 

Beardo

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Wait, so Mantids, Phasmids and Assassin Bugs are illegal to own period all over the country? I thought that no more were allowed to be imported in and the ones already here were legal.
 

Scorp guy

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what the? i had no idea:eek: i found a huge one today, they are EVERYWHERE where i live, left and right if your in the country. i used to catch em by the dozens, really fun, and easy to care for. they are actually about 5"+ here
 

Shelob

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Scorp_Lver said:
what the? i had no idea:eek: i found a huge one today, they are EVERYWHERE where i live, left and right if your in the country. i used to catch em by the dozens, really fun, and easy to care for. they are actually about 5"+ here
Yeah but the ban was on AFRICAN mantids.
 

Wade

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Actually, the ban is on ALL non-native mantids. However, there are 20 or so mantids native to the US as well a half-dozen or so introduced species. Not sure if it's legal to sell the introduced species, but I doubt there's any problem keeping the ones you catch locally.

The USDA has said it doesn't know what it's going to do about captive bred mantids. My guess is that they won't announce anything and they will remain in a legal limbo for a long time.

Wade
 

Shelob

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Wade said:
Actually, the ban is on ALL non-native mantids. However, there are 20 or so mantids native to the US as well a half-dozen or so introduced species. Not sure if it's legal to sell the introduced species, but I doubt there's any problem keeping the ones you catch locally.

The USDA has said it doesn't know what it's going to do about captive bred mantids. My guess is that they won't announce anything and they will remain in a legal limbo for a long time.

Wade
I stand corrected, what I was getting at though was that most of the imported species are indeed from Africa as those are the most appealing to most hobbists
 

John J Starr Jr

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Irony

Don't you think that it is extremely ironic that the USDA honestly believes that it can truly control the importation of insect species. I believe that they continue to have an inner built in arrogant belief about their own abilities. But then again this is a continued typical item within our govenrnment clear up to and including the whitehouse. I mean come on, even a friend of mine of who works in a clothing warehouse that imports most of their products into the USA found a huge bright green beetle from China in a shoe box.

I guess if all of these imported insect species would take a foot hold in the USA then there would no longer be any need for laws if we could capture our own starter colonies for breeding. Maybe that is all that it would take to get things changed. Massive release by breeders into the enviroment. Take a look at Florida. If I want a giant monitor such as a Nile or Argus I simply have to look in the concrete or channeled water streams in which many are built by man for drainage. I saw an extra on TV a few months ago that indicated the giant monitors and giant constrictor snakes are breeding in the Florida wild very successfully.

I believe that a 100% complete overall of the entire USA government over the next 3 elections is the only way to envoke any true changes within the USA for better or worse.

John J Starr Jr
.
 

8ball

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Who know's, I dont really think they'll crack down though :? nobody really care's about invert's except for keeper's like us.
 

John J Starr Jr

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Yep

8ball said:
Who know's, I dont really think they'll crack down though :? nobody really care's about invert's except for keeper's like us.
Yes, I hope so. I get overly worked up whenever somebody else thinks that he or she knows what is best for me or my animals.

Even though I am so far to the left and truly believe in what the enviromental people are trying to do with the wildlife, I dought that they will make much of an impact on it. The wealthy have the power since so many people will sale out for a handfull of dollars these days. Mankind is on this perpetual ride to make money from what can only occur from the exploitation of the enviroment. Sad but true :mad:

The only hope for any of these wildlife species to stay away from the extinction list is by those of us who are raising them in large numbers and sale a few every now and then when their population is above our needs. Even at that the genetic pool is very thin for the captive breed animals which places them in some trouble.

OWE, BTW, in the time it took me to type this reply enough rainforest to completely fill THREE football fields just disappeared forever and their is the possibility that several plant and animal species became extinct along with the forest before we as people even discovered them. :mad:

John J Starr Jr
.
 
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