legality of Tarantulas and Hawaii?

[DeTwan]

I might be moving to Hawaii here is several months and I know that they are very strict on what you can bring in and out of the isles. I was wondering if anyone knew what the legalities are behind trying to take T's with them from the mainland? Do you need permission, a licence...

 

[reverendsterlin]

In Hilo, a tarantula was turned in to the Panaewa Zoo, which turned it over to Hilo Plant Quarantine personnel. An unidentified woman said she found the tarantula in a car that she recently purchased. The illegal spider is being transported to Honolulu today for identification of species. Persons possessing illegal animals are subject to stiff penalties, including fines of up to $200,000 and up to three years in jail. Individuals with illegal pets are encouraged to voluntarily turn them in under the Amnesty Program. Anyone with information or knowledge of illegal animals in Hawaii is asked to call the department's PEST HOTLINE at 586-PEST(7378) or the Plant Quarantine Branch at 832-0566.

Janelle Saneishi
Public Information Officer
Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Phone: (808) 973-9560

hope this helps.
Rev

 

[UrbanJungles]

You absolutely cannot legally bring your spiders into Hawaii and you will not get permits as they are rarely granted. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[xgrafcorex]

Can you buy any there at all? I might move there soon.

 

[Nerri1029]

Can you buy any there at all? I might move there soon.

I would look into native spiders and go from there.
it's a small group of islands with a relatively isolated( that the right word?) ecosystem... rules will be strict!!

My guess would be no. (unless native species are available)

 

[Hedorah99]

Since Hawaii already has a plethora of invasive species, I am guessing bringing non native arachnids would be taboo.

 

[xhexdx]

You cannot bring any species of animal to Hawaii that does not already exist there.

That means no snakes, period. No tarantulas, period. There is only one species of scorpion to my knowledge and maybe a handful of species of centipede.

So to answer the question in regards to tarantulas, no, you cannot legally bring them to Hawaii.

And just to throw this out there for you to think about as well, any animals that are allowed in Hawaii have to go through a mandatory 6-month quarantine before they return them to you. So don't plan on seeing Fido for 6 months if you happen to have a dog, cat, rabbit, etc. that you wanted to bring.

That's one of the only things keeping me from moving back. I'd have to lose all my spiders.

 

[xgrafcorex]

Yea, I knew about the quarantine..we lived on Oahu for 2 years and wound up leaving our dog with a relative until we came back to the mainland. There are centipedes and mantids there..pretty sure there are no tarantulas though. Either way, I found out that I'm NOT going to HI. Looks like I'm moving to Norfolk, VA and there should be no issue with tarantulas there.

 

[RichardMorris]

We have hiked all over Kauai and never seen any big spiders or scorpions at all. Lots of geckos (noisy little buggers).

Are there any scorpions on Kauai? And where at (give some google earth coordinates)?

We go once to twice a year and love the Garden Island. Oahu was ok, but too many people. Maui was beautiful, but again, a lot of people. (Road to Hana was way cool). Big island was too big and I am not into volcanos (but my wife is). Molokai was very nice, perhaps a little too few people. Lanai is the only one we haven't been on.
Richard

 

[xhexdx]

There are scorps, but I would find them when I was younger and they'd be under rocks, wood, etc.

Big Island, Kona Palisades.

 

[Matts inverts]

Can you collect centipedes there and legally bring them back. I know they are invasive there. I know reptiles are illegal but can you export invasive invertebrates