Taricha torosa availability in San Diego?

[brian]

Hi everyone, can you please aid me in finding a place to purchase some california newts? I live in San Diego, California and have already gone to the exotic pet stores in my area and spent a good amount of time searching the internet for them. I would love to acquire this species again and cant find them anywhere. Even if a petco back home in NJ carries this species they will not ship it, making my quest much more difficult. Any help would be very appreciated.

 

[joseph]

In CA Taricha are not offered in petstores...I believe it is illegal. Oddly enough they are captured and sent out to other places just fine though.

 

[russ]

True it is illegal to sell CA natives in CA, and to collect them for export with the intent to sell. Most Taricha seen on the market are from OR which allows the legal export for sale. It might be more interesting to go out and observe some in the wild and maybe collect a couple (you'll need a CA fishing license). You can find them right there in town if you put some effort in to it.

(Message edited by Rust on December 02, 2005)