Bringing chameleon from USA to Europe

[Klaudiemo]

Hi, I am traveling to Florida for a holiday in August. I would like to bring a melleri and few panther chameleons from there into Europe. My question is: Is it even possible to legally import chameleon to Europe (Czech republic). From what I heard the chameleon has to be in a quarantine for a while. Does anybody have any experience with that? I don't want to put them in too much stress.

 

[Dragon1516]

Hi, I am traveling to Florida for a holiday in August. I would like to bring a melleri and few panther chameleons from there into Europe. My question is: Is it even possible to legally import chameleon to Europe (Czech republic). From what I heard the chameleon has to be in a quarantine for a while. Does anybody have any experience with that? I don't want to put them in too much stress.

From what I understand you also have to have paperwork for them as well to travel over seas. Thats why someone in the USA can't just ship a reptile over seas whenever they want.

 

[Klaudiemo]

At this moment the biggest issue for me is the stress of the chams. I really don't want them to be in stress. It would be very helpful if somebody could tell me all the procedures that the chams would have to go trough.

From what I understand you also have to have paperwork for them as well to travel over seas. Thats why someone in the USA can't just ship a reptile over seas whenever they want.

I am counting with that for sure. I would do all the paperwork.

 

[Dragon1516]

At this moment the biggest issue for me is the stress of the chams. I really don't want them to be in stress. It would be very helpful if somebody could tell me all the procedures that the chams would have to go trough.


I am counting with that for sure. I would do all the paperwork.

Ok cool as long at you are prepared for that. And i may know a couple people that could help you I will try to reach out to them for you.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Hi, I am traveling to Florida for a holiday in August. I would like to bring a melleri and few panther chameleons from there into Europe. My question is: Is it even possible to legally import chameleon to Europe (Czech republic). From what I heard the chameleon has to be in a quarantine for a while. Does anybody have any experience with that? I don't want to put them in too much stress.

Why would you buy in the USA when you can buy the same thing in Europe?

The melleri will be a problem. They will be wild caught. You need to know the original CITES permit that exported them from either Tanzania or Mozambique. So, you need to find the importer.

Next, you will need a CITES "Re-Export Permit" to re-export them from the US to Europe. US Fish and Wildlife does that. The cost is in the $250 to $300 range; however, the price might be more since I last applied for CITES permits. You will also need US Fish and Wildlife to inspect the shipment which is another $150 or so.

If the panthers are wild caughts, you need the same kind of permits as the mellers. You would have to track down the importer and get the CITES permit numbers they were imported under and have new Re-Export Permits issued.

If the panthers are captive bred, you need a declaration from the breeder including date of hatch, etc., to prove they are captive bred. Then you have to apply for a CITES Export Permit for the panthers.

I'm not sure how many animals you can put on one CITES permit. US Fish and Wildlife deals differently with commercial exports and pet exports.

If you actually manage to get all the permits done in a timely manner, you will then need to ship them to Europe. I don't know the cost, but it isn't cheap. They cannot go as excess baggage the way dogs and cats do. They have to go Cargo.

I can easily see the costs being in the $1000 to $2000 range. The minimum cost of the paperwork I've ever paid was in the $500 range and that was several years ago before funding to government agencies was cut. Expect long delays and high costs.

I do not believe chameleons are quarantined in Europe.