Where is the box turtle legal?

W-07, Appendix A, C: Family Emydidae not approved in regulation

Emydidae, the family that holds the box turtles and most North American pond turtles, is on none of Chapter W-7's appendices, and § 701 makes possession of any herpetofauna the chapter does not allow unlawful. CPW files the common, eastern, ornate and three-toed box turtles alike against this finding, so this is not a native-versus-imported distinction: a captive-bred eastern box turtle is in the same position as Colorado's own ornate box turtle. The one route is legacy: § 704(B)(7)(a) names the ornate box turtle among the animals a keeper could retain for life if it was legally collected on or before 1 May 2026 and reported by 30 July 2026.

Existing owners: An ornate box turtle legally collected on or before 1 May 2026 may be kept and transported within Colorado for the life of the animal if a CPW Legacy Report was filed by 30 July 2026. No new wild capture is allowed.

How this rule works: CPW's own page, with four downloadable lists, herpetofauna, mammals, birds, and fish and marine animals, each row giving a species and the regulation that decides it: Domestic, Unregulated, Appendix A or B, Appendix C, Regulated or Prohibited. Updated 1 May 2026. Not exhaustive, and CPW takes questions on unlisted species by email. This is the agency applying its own rule, which matters most where Appendix A turns on whether a species is native only to the tropics.

The eastern box turtle is native to Delaware and is a species of greatest conservation need there, so it is not exotic and falls to DNREC rather than to the Agriculture permit. Native reptiles are not available for private ownership, and the captive-bred colour morph carve-out is written for snakes. A Terrapene that is not a Delaware native would instead need an Individual permit as a non-native reptile.

How this rule works: Delaware Code Online's game and fish possession chapter administered by DNREC, paired with a separate exotic species permit chapter at Del. Code tit. 3, c. 72.

By Georgia Law, most native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets. These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology. ... The following list of species native to Georgia may not be held as a pet regardless of its origin or morphology.

Georgia handles its own wildlife separately from the wild animal rule, and the sentence that matters is "These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology." A captive-bred animal from an out-of-state breeder is in the same position as one caught in a Georgia yard, and a colour morph is too. All four box turtles Georgia lists, the eastern, Florida, Gulf Coast and three-toed, is on DNR's list of native species that may not be held as a pet. Licences exist under O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4 and DNR says in terms that they "are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets".

How this rule works: The agency page that answers the native half of Georgia, which the wild animal rule does not reach. It states the operative rule in one line, "By Georgia Law, most native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets", and adds the sentence that closes the captive-bred argument: "These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology." It then lists native species that may not be held as a pet, among them the corn snake, milksnake, garter snake, green anole, both hognose snakes, all four box turtles and the flying squirrel. Two limits are worth carrying: the list says of itself that it "does not include all native wildlife that is prohibited", and a separate paragraph names the natives Georgia does allow to be taken, "rats, mice, armadillos, coyotes, groundhogs, beaver, freshwater turtles, venomous snakes, frogs, spring lizards, fiddler crabs, freshwater crayfish, freshwater mussels, and nutria".

Blanding's, spotted, wood, and eastern box turtles; black rat snake, Butler's garter snake, eastern fox snake, copper-bellied water snake, Kirtland's snake, queen snake, smooth green snake, and eastern massasauga rattlesnake; boreal chorus frog, Blanchard's cricket frog, pickerel frog, and Fowler's toad; mudpuppy; small-mouthed salamander, marbled salamander, six-lined racerunner, western lesser siren, northern two-lined salamander, northern dusky salamander, and mink frog; all reptile eggs

The eastern box turtle is on Michigan's protected list, which means it may not be taken or possessed at all except as the DNR Director authorizes, and the Director's authorizations run to scientific and zoological purposes rather than pet keeping. The sale prohibition closes the other route, since reptiles and amphibians may not be bought or sold here. A Terrapene that is not a Michigan native, such as the ornate box turtle, is outside the order because it reaches only a state reptile from the wild.

How this rule works: The order that actually governs herps in Michigan, and the one most summaries miss because it sits in the fishing rules rather than the wildlife rules. Its reach is the phrase "any state reptile or amphibian from the wild", so it binds native species taken here and leaves captive-bred non-native pets alone. Michigan.gov blocks automated access, so this was read from the official guide as published by the state's regulations publisher.

5 Eastern box turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

Permittee category 5 is an exhibitor, with no category 1 for an individual, so a private keeper cannot be permitted for one.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

"Small game" means black, gray and fox squirrels, European hares, varying hares, cottontail rabbits, native frogs, native salamanders, native turtles, native lizards, native snakes, coyotes, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) except captive bred red fox or gray fox, raccoon, opossum, or weasel, skunk, bobcat, lynx, muskrat, mink, except mink born in captivity, fisher, otter, beaver, sable and marten but does not include coydogs. ... No person shall, at any time of the year, buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, transport, or have in his possession any fish protected by law, game, protected wildlife ... whether taken within the state or coming from without the state, except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law.

Native turtles are small game, and DEC puts the result in one sentence: "The only turtle species for which there is an open hunting season is the snapping turtle. You may not harvest, take, or possess any other turtle species at any time." The woodland box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is separately on the Part 182 list, which reaches it a second time through the species of special concern branch of the protected wildlife definition. The chain runs through a definition nobody expects. ECL § 11-0103(2)(c) puts "native frogs, native salamanders, native turtles, native lizards, native snakes" inside the definition of SMALL GAME, which makes them game, which makes them protected wildlife under § 11-0103(6)(c). § 11-0107(2) then bars possessing protected wildlife "whether taken within the state or coming from without the state, except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law", so a captive-bred animal bought in another state is in the same position as one caught in a New York yard. And the only possession licence, § 11-0515, is issued for "propagation, banding, scientific or exhibition purposes", which is not a pet.

How this rule works: Two sentences and a list. Subdivision (a) defines native snakes as sixteen named species including the common garter snake, the eastern milk snake, the eastern hognose snake and the black rat snake, and subdivision (b) reads in its entirety "Open season. None." That is what turns the small game classification into a prohibition. DEC states the result plainly in its own season summary: for turtles, "The only turtle species for which there is an open hunting season is the snapping turtle. You may not harvest, take, or possess any other turtle species at any time", and for the rest, "You may not harvest, take, or possess any native snakes, lizards, or salamanders at any time." New York publishes the NYCRR only through Westlaw, which serves document pages to a browser User-Agent but not the Part 175 possession chapter, so the seasons and this section are the readable half of the regulation.

No person shall sell or give to another person, possess, harbor, keep, or yard wild or other animals identified in this section ... other than in: (i) a zoological park or aquarium ...; or (ii) a laboratory ...; or (iii) a veterinary hospital ...; or (iv) a temporary exhibit, performance or display that has been issued a permit by the Commissioner. ... For the purposes of this Code, a wild animal is deemed to be any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings and all such animals are hereby prohibited ... Such animals shall also include: (i) any animals specified by the Commissioner in regulations ...; (ii) any native or exotic wildlife whose possession or sale is prohibited because they are designated as protected or endangered pursuant to any federal, state or local law, regulation, or rule; and (iii) any of the following animals:

Caught by the clause most readings of this article skip. Before its 24 numbered categories, § 161.01(b)(ii) prohibits "any native or exotic wildlife whose possession or sale is prohibited because they are designated as protected or endangered pursuant to any federal, state or local law, regulation, or rule". New York State makes native frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards and snakes small game and therefore protected wildlife, and ECL § 11-0107(2) bars possessing protected wildlife whether taken in the state or brought in from outside it. The eastern box turtle is a New York native, so the state prohibition becomes a city one through that sentence. It is on the state's special concern list as well as being a native turtle with no open season, so it is protected twice over before the city rule reaches it. § 161.01(d) is worth knowing alongside the prohibition: a prohibited animal may be seized by any authorized city employee, the owner has three business days to request a hearing, and with the Department's written consent the animal may be removed to a jurisdiction where it is not prohibited. That last provision is the closest thing to relief in the article.

How this rule works: A city rule that is stricter than any state on this map, and it works in three layers. It opens with a standard rather than a list, deeming a wild animal to be "any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings". It then adds, at (b)(ii), any wildlife protected or endangered under federal, STATE or local law, which imports New York State's protected wildlife scheme into the city wholesale. And it closes with 24 numbered clauses that work mostly by family: all cats other than Felis catus and their hybrids, all dogs other than Canis familiaris, all Mustelidae including the ferret by name, all squirrels, all marsupials, all large rodents, all Boidae, all Pythonidae, all Varanidae, all Iguanidae, all teiidae, all Chelydridae, all venomous spiders including the tarantula by name, and all turtles under four inches. § 161.01(c) is the short answer to what is left: gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, domesticated rabbit, and small birds such as parakeet, parrot, canary and finch.

Woodland box turtle ( Terrapene carolina carolina ) | No open season | 0 | 0

Pennsylvania's native box turtle is the woodland box turtle, and the table gives it no open season and a daily and possession limit of zero, so it cannot lawfully be taken here. The other route is closed too: § 79.10(a) makes it unlawful to transport or import into or within Pennsylvania a native species from another jurisdiction, and § 79.10(b) makes it unlawful to receive one, so an out-of-state breeder is not an answer either. A Terrapene that is not Pennsylvania native, such as the ornate box turtle, falls outside Chapter 79 altogether, but the eastern box turtle people usually mean is barred both ways.

Existing owners: A one-time permit under § 79.4 let anyone already holding an animal on January 1, 2007 keep it for the rest of its life, but applications closed on June 30, 2007 and no ongoing permit route replaced it.

How this rule works: Official Pennsylvania Code text; the catch-all 'native species not listed' line sets a 1-per-day/1-in-possession limit, and companion §79.4 requires a permit for continued possession regardless of the animal's origin.

The possession of native turtles is restricted to those institutions identified within § 3.7(C) of this Part... Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina),

Native to Rhode Island, so possession is limited to the Department, USFWS, AZA zoos, research institutions and USDA licensed exhibitors. Not a pet species here.

How this rule works: One of the most species-specific schemes in the country. § 3.6 defines domestic animals, § 3.7 sets general prohibitions, § 3.9 governs permits, and § 3.17 is the long exempt list of animals that need no exotic animal possession permit. Anything not domestic, not native and not on the § 3.17 list needs a permit.

The following species may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use: red-eared slider and all reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need designated in Virginia’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan.

Virginia runs two schemes and 4VAC15-20-50 decides which one an animal is in, so the exotic permit table is the wrong rule for anything Virginia already has. A nonnative (exotic) animal is one "not naturally occurring in Virginia, excluding domestic and naturalized species", which puts every native and every naturalized species outside 4VAC15-30-40 and inside 4VAC15-360-10. Native and naturalized status is not a judgment call here: it is fixed by a document incorporated by reference, the department’s 2024 List of Native and Naturalized Fauna of Virginia, where an asterisk marks a naturalized species and two asterisks one native in some areas and naturalized in others. The old entry read the exotic permit table, found no turtle in it and recorded legal, which is the mistake Virginia invites. The woodland box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is on the department’s native list with no asterisk, so the table never applied, and it is on the department’s reptile Species of Greatest Conservation Need list at tier III. 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) says the red-eared slider and every reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need designated in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use. In any number is the operative phrase: this is not the one-per-address cap with a smaller number, it is the allowance withheld, and once it is withheld nothing in Virginia law permits possession of a wild animal, which 4VAC15-20-50 defines as any member of the animal kingdom except domestic animals. The only permits in the chapter are the one at (A)(8) for taking from state or federal land and the scientific and exhibition permits elsewhere, none of them a pet route. Two things to hold: the regulation names the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan and the department now publishes the list as revised for 2025, and the box turtle is on both; and the department’s own conservation action for several listed turtles reads "continue maintaining no possession regulations", which is this rule described from the other side.

How this rule works: The list 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) turns on. The regulation names Virginia’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, and the department now publishes the list as revised for the 2025 Action Plan, saying the 2025 rankings were built from the 2015 ones. The reptile list carries the woodland box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, and the eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos; the amphibian list carries the eastern tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. It does not carry the common gartersnake, the red cornsnake, the eastern milksnake, the snapping turtle or the green anole. Several entries name the conservation action as continuing to maintain "no possession" regulations, which is the department describing this rule from the other side.

The take or possession of any native West Virginia reptile or amphibian species not listed hereafter is prohibited pursuant to W. Va. Code 20-2-4.

West Virginia bars its own reptiles rather than exotic ones, which is the opposite of how most states are built and the reason this reads as banned while a bearded dragon here is legal. 58-73-1.1 prohibits taking or possessing any native species not listed later in the rule, and section 4 lists ten salamanders for bait, two frogs, and two turtles, the snapping turtle and the eastern spiny softshell. No snake and no lizard is anywhere in it. The DNR summary of the rule opens by saying West Virginia herp regulations prohibit the possession of 80 species of reptiles and amphibians. The DNR checklist names the Woodland Box Turtle (Terrapene c. carolina), and the two turtles 58-73-4.5 does allow are the eastern spiny softshell and the snapping turtle.

How this rule works: A closed list for natives. Section 4 names ten salamanders for bait, two frogs, and exactly two turtles. No lizard and no snake appears anywhere in it, and 58-73-1.1 says possession of any native species not listed is prohibited. The DNR summary of this rule opens by saying West Virginia herp regulations prohibit the possession of 80 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Wisconsin's only native box turtle, the ornate box turtle, is a state Endangered species, so it may not be taken or possessed without an endangered and threatened species permit, and those are issued for education, research and conservation rather than pet keeping. The eastern box turtle is not a Wisconsin native and would instead be a non-native reptile under § 169.04.

How this rule works: Listed species may not be taken, transported, possessed, processed or sold without an endangered/threatened species permit, and DNR issues those only for education, research and conservation, not pet keeping. The ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata), Wisconsin's only native box turtle, is state Endangered.

Eastern Box Turtle. Terrapene carolina carolina. State Species of Special Concern ... Because of the population decline in Connecticut, the box turtle was added to the state's List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species when it was revised in 1998.

Category Four is defined as any wild animal listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 26-306, and DEEP's own fact sheet puts the eastern box turtle there. Subsection (b)(5) bars importing or possessing one without a permit, and subsection (d) makes the permit specific to the individual animal, valid for that animal's life and non-transferable. Unlike Category One and Two, this is a real permit route rather than an institutional exemption. Connecticut is not distinguishing captive-bred from wild here; the listing attaches to the species. One caveat that applies to every Connecticut turtle on this map: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 26-78 addresses turtles separately from the regulation, and it could not be read this sitting because cga.ct.gov refuses every connection from this container. This entry rests on § 26-55-6, which is the comprehensive rule and mentions no turtle sale ban, and the point is flagged rather than assumed away.

How this rule works: DEEP's own species pages carry the state listing status in their header, which is what decides whether an animal is a Category Four Wild Animal under § 26-55-6. The eastern box turtle and the eastern hog-nosed snake are both State Species of Special Concern; the common snapping turtle is not listed. Fact sheet URLs follow the common name with hyphens, but not predictably: eastern-hog-nosed-snake works and eastern-hognose-snake does not.

Testudines (Turtles And Tortoises)

No Terrapene appears anywhere on the list. The only match for the words box turtle is the Amboina box turtle, which is a Cuora and a different animal. The eastern box turtle is also a species of special concern in Maine, so its own native status is part of the picture.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

All species of turtles may be kept without a permit, up to a limit of 100 turtles and/or eggs, in any combination, of each species, except for the following species for which a permit is always required: 1. Species categorically non-exempt pursuant to 321 CMR 9.01(3). 2. Argentina or Chaco Tortoise (Geochelone chilensis). 3. Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) and all other species in the genus Gopherus. 4. Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri). 5. Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata). 6. Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta, including all subspecies and forms).

Caught twice by the categorical bar, which is why the general turtle allowance does not reach it. The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, is listed as a species of special concern on the Massachusetts list at 321 CMR 10.90, which triggers 9.01(3)(c), and it is IUCN vulnerable, which triggers 9.01(3)(b) independently. Nothing in either turns on where the animal came from, so a captive-bred box turtle bought from an out-of-state breeder is in the same position as one found in the woods. Massachusetts joins Connecticut in answering this species through its endangered species listing rather than its pet rules, which is why it is easy to miss. MassWildlife's own guidance is blunt about what that means in practice: permits for non-exempt wildlife "are issued only for certain scientific, educational, commercial, or other specific reasons" and "You will not be issued a permit for keeping a wild animal as a pet." The statute is less absolute, since § 23 contemplates "an individual license for an animal that is not on the special exemption list" and even sets a preference for captive-bred animals where wild depletion is an issue, so the licence exists on paper and the agency says it will not grant one for a pet.

How this rule works: The third leg of the categorical bar in 321 CMR 9.01(3)(c), and the one that catches ordinary pet-trade animals. Three entries matter for this map: the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina), special concern; the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos), special concern; and the Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), endangered, which the exemption list already carves out of Pantherophis by name. The tiger salamander is NOT on it, so the general amphibian clearance reaches it.

Class I wildlife shall include birds (including ring-necked pheasants and gray partridge) native to the continental United States, and those species of mammals (except bison and those listed in 3 CSR 10-9.240 and 3 CSR 10-9.250) and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri.

Both the three-toed and the ornate box turtle are native to Missouri, which puts them in Class I. Permits issue only for species on the Approved Confined Wildlife Species List.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene c. Carolina SC

The eastern box turtle is a New Jersey animal, listed as special concern on the nongame conservation status table at 4.17, which makes it a nongame species and not an exotic one. Either way it lands in the same place, because 4.4 exempts only two turtles, the eastern painted and the snapping turtle, and 4.5 requires a permit for any other nongame species. The separate point that matters more in practice is that a permit does not authorise going and getting one: the Division states that it is illegal to take any animal from the wild, so a lawful box turtle has to have a lawful captive origin.

How this rule works: NJDEP's own courtesy copy of the whole of N.J.A.C. 7:25. Subchapter 4 starts at 7:25-4.1 and carries the definitions, the permit requirement at 4.2, the three species lists at 4.3, 4.4 and 4.8, the pet bar at 4.9(a)3 and 4.15(b), and the state endangered list at 4.13. The three list PDFs the Division hands out are extracts of this.

Species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted.

The box turtle is on neither the Unrestricted nor the Restricted list, and Vermont treats that absence as a restriction rather than a gap. Only three chelonians are unrestricted in Vermont, the southern painted turtle and two tortoises, all captive bred only. Terrapene is on neither list. A permit exists on paper but not for a pet: Regulation 881 says the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for keeping or possessing a wild animal in captivity except for bona fide scientific or educational purposes. So restricted here means a private keeper cannot have one, not that there is paperwork to fill in.

How this rule works: The list the whole Vermont answer turns on, and the one earlier research could not obtain. Anything on it may be kept with no permit. Its closing line is the important part: species not found on the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic species lists are considered Restricted, which makes Vermont an inverted-list state like Hawaii. Several entries are marked Captive Bred Only, which is a real condition rather than a note. The site refuses automated requests without a User-Agent header.

It shall be unlawful to possess more than one (1) box turtle or to offer for sale, sell, or trade for anything of value any box turtle (Terrapene spp.), box turtle part, or reproductive product except by permit as outlined in paragraph (1).

Alabama gives the box turtle its own subsection rather than putting it on the protected list, and the condition is a number: one. Possessing more than one box turtle is unlawful, and so is selling, offering for sale or trading one for anything of value, with the only exception a permit under paragraph (1), which is the scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The rule says Terrapene spp., so it reaches the ornate box turtle as well as the eastern, and it carries no origin qualifier, which means a captive-bred one bought out of state counts towards the one. The sale bar is the sharper half in practice: a keeper may lawfully have a box turtle and no one may lawfully sell them one.

How this rule works: The native side of Alabama, and the rule that catches what 220-2-.26 does not. Protection means no possession without a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The reptile list is species by species, the amphibian list is not: it protects all native salamander species by genus. Cornell LII still shows the older per-species salamander list, so read the official PDF.

(6) Turtles. (a) Take and possession ... 1. No person shall take more than one turtle per day unless authorized by permit ... 4. No person shall take Escambia map turtles (Graptemys ernsti), cooters (Pseudemys spp.), striped mud turtles (Lower Keys population) (Kinosternon baurii) or snapping turtles (Chelydra spp.) from the wild. ... 8. No person shall possess more than two Escambia map turtles (Graptemys ernsti), two box turtles of Florida native species ... or two loggerhead musk turtles (Sternotherus minor). ... (c) Sale - No person shall buy, sell, or possess for sale turtles, their eggs or parts thereof, that have been taken from the wild.

Florida caps this animal by number rather than by permit, and the cap is two. 68A-25.002(6)(a)8 bars possessing more than "two box turtles of Florida native species (Florida box turtles [Terrapene bauri]; eastern, Gulf Coast, and three-toed box turtles [Terrapene carolina subsp.]; their taxonomic successors; or hybrids thereof)", which is written wide enough to reach every box turtle a keeper is likely to have. Take from the wild is one turtle per day at (6)(a)1, by hand, baited hook, minnow seine or dip net only, and (6)(c) bars buying or selling any turtle taken from the wild. No permit is involved at any point, which is why this is easy to miss: the animal is otherwise a nonvenomous unprotected reptile needing nothing.

How this rule works: The rule that reaches Florida's native turtles, and it is separate from both the captive wildlife chapter and the nonnative one, which is why it is easy to miss. Subsection (6) caps take at one turtle per day, bars taking snapping turtles, cooters and two other groups from the wild entirely, caps possession at two for the Florida native box turtles and two other species, and bars buying or selling any turtle taken from the wild. None of it turns on a permit for an ordinary keeper; it is a set of numbers and a sale ban.

Terrapene (all species in genus except T. coahuila)

The whole genus is conditionally approved apart from the Coahuilan box turtle, which sits on the restricted Part B list instead.

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.

THREATENED AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF ILLINOIS ... Turtles ... Ornate Box Turtle Terrapene ornata

Illinois splits its two box turtles. The ornate box turtle is a threatened species, so 520 ILCS 10/3 bars possessing one without a Department permit. The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is on the § 885.40 native list but not on the endangered and threatened list, so it needs no permit and sits under the ordinary limits: 4 of the species, 8 indigenous herptiles in total, a sport fishing licence to collect one from the wild and a $50 Herpetoculture Permit to breed or sell. Turtles other than common snapping turtles may be taken by hand only, and § 30-5 bars commercial turtle farming in the State. Illinois is a home rule state, so a municipal ordinance can be stricter than anything above and is often the rule that actually decides this.

How this rule works: Amended effective 30 October 2025. Three entries here reach animals sold in the pet trade: the Great Plains ratsnake is endangered, and the plains hog-nosed snake and the ornate box turtle are threatened.

This section governs the: (1) sale; (2) transport for sale; or (3) offer for sale; of any reptile or amphibian native to Indiana regardless of place of origin. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in section 9 of this rule, an individual must not sell, transport for sale, or offer to sell a reptile or amphibian that is native to Indiana.

The box turtle is native to Indiana, which is what decides it, and Indiana's native rule is unusual in reaching a purchased animal. 9-5-7(c) lists both the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, and the ornate, Terrapene ornata, among the 99 taxa whose sale it governs, and 9-5-7(a) says the section applies "regardless of place of origin", so a captive-bred animal from an out-of-state breeder is caught by it just as a wild-caught one is. Selling, offering for sale or transporting for sale is barred; possessing is not, subject to 9-5-6(f)'s cap of four live animals of any one native species. Two exits exist. 9-5-7(f) exempts a captive-bred animal with albinistic, leucistic or xanthic colour morphology, on the same logic New Jersey uses for corn snake morphs, that a morph is visibly not a wild-caught animal. And 9-5-9 provides a reptile captive breeding licence under which sales are lawful. Turtles then get a rule of their own. 9-5-11 requires an Indiana resident to apply for a turtle possession permit within ten days of taking possession of a native turtle, with a receipted invoice or bill of lading showing the animal was lawfully obtained and a conservation officer inspecting the enclosure before the first permit issues. 9-5-11(b) exempts a turtle already possessed lawfully under 9-5-6, which is the four-per-species allowance, so the permit is the route for anything beyond that.

How this rule works: The rule 312 IAC 9-11 does not reach. 9-5-1(b) makes every reptile and amphibian native to Indiana a protected wild animal, 9-5-6(f) caps possession at four per species, and 9-5-7 bars selling a native species "regardless of place of origin" against a list of 99 taxa given by binomial. 9-5-7(f) then exempts captive-bred albinistic, leucistic and xanthic morphs. Indiana's own rules site, iar.iga.in.gov, serves its React shell for every path including its own script bundles, so this is read from Cornell LII and cited to the official section.

no more than five reptiles and no more than two individuals of any reptile species per person and/or domicile, whichever is reached first

The Kansas column was written against K.S.A. 32-1301, the dangerous regulated animal statute, which names six cats, bears and non-native venomous snakes and answers nothing here. The pair that decides a Kansas cell is K.S.A. 32-1002(a)(2), which makes it unlawful to possess any wildlife at all "unless and except as permitted by law or rules and regulations adopted by the secretary", and the two regulations that do the permitting. K.A.R. 115-20-3 permits exotic wildlife, and 115-20-3(d) reads exotic as a species not native or indigenous to Kansas and not present here as an established wild population. The ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata, and the three-toed box turtle, Terrapene triunguis, are both established Kansas taxa on the Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas, and neither is on K.A.R. 115-15-1 or 115-15-2. A Kansas native is therefore outside 115-20-3 and falls to K.A.R. 115-20-2, which permits taking certain Kansas wildlife for personal use on a noncommercial basis. 115-20-2(b)(13) puts reptiles on that list, with common snapping turtles and soft-shelled turtles taken back out, and the open season under (d) is year-round. What the earlier entry missed is the cap in (e): five reptiles and two individuals of any one reptile species, per person and per domicile, whichever is reached first. 115-20-2(f) defines domicile as the address you declare in legal documents to pay taxes, receive social security, vote, bank, and register vehicles and animals, so two people at one address do not get four. Taking one from the wild needs a hunting license, since 115-20-2(i) exempts only invertebrates from that, but K.A.R. 115-9-7(i) exempts the possession of wildlife that was legally acquired by the individual, so a bought animal needs no license to keep. One gap Kansas has never closed: 32-1002(a)(3) bars purchasing or selling any wildlife in this state unless a regulation permits it, 115-20-2 permits taking only on a noncommercial basis, and 32-1002(b) lifts the possession and sale bars for animals legally taken outside this state without saying what that means for one bred in captivity out of state.

How this rule works: 115-20-3 is the permission K.S.A. 32-1002 refers to for anything not native to Kansas. 115-20-2 is the parallel permission for Kansas own wildlife, and it carries caps that 115-20-3 does not: five reptiles and two of any one reptile species per person or domicile. Read from Cornell LII because ksrevisor.gov serves a bot-check loader and both ksoutdoors.gov and www.kdwp.state.ks.us refuse this container outright.

Notwithstanding Natural Resources Article, §4-902, Annotated Code of Maryland, a person without a reptile and amphibian permit may possess only one of each individual reptile or amphibian, live or dead, listed in Regulation .03B of this chapter. A person may not take wood turtles, spotted turtles, or diamond-backed terrapins, including their eggs, from the wild. ... All turtles shall have a carapace length of at least 4 inches.

The eastern box turtle is on Maryland's middle tier, so one animal per person with no permit and no more. Two further conditions ride on the same subsection: every turtle must have a carapace of at least four inches, which is the state writing the federal small-turtle rule into its own possession law, and Regulation .16 bars using any listed species in a competition, which is aimed at turtle races. The certificate of origin requirement in the same subsection applies to wood turtles, spotted turtles and terrapins rather than to the box turtle. Above one, or to breed or sell, a reptile and amphibian permit is needed. Subsection (e) of § 10-621 preserves stricter county and municipal rules, and Maryland counties use that power, so the local ordinance is worth checking before the state list.

How this rule works: Maryland's native reptile and amphibian chapter, adopted 1993 and amended through 2016, renumbered from 08.03.09. It works off three lists in Regulation .03: .03A species may be kept four per species without a permit, .03B species one only, and .03C species not at all outside a scientific collection or endangered species permit. A species on none of the three lists is not native to Maryland and the chapter does not reach it. Regulation .03D provides that where both names are given, the scientific name controls.

A person may not take, possess, or transport turtles without a resident angling license and a recreational turtle license. ... A person does not need the licenses specified under subdivision 1: ... (2) when buying a turtle at a retail outlet

Turtles are the gap in the 2021 pet reptile rule. Section 97A.401, subd. 8 covers snakes, lizards and salamanders and stops there, so turtles stay under their own older regime, which is a licence requirement with a short list of exemptions rather than a source condition. Neither box turtle is on the DNR's list of native Minnesota turtles, so the ban on selling native turtles as pets, which spares only the snapping turtle and the painted turtle, does not reach one. A box turtle bought at a retail outlet is exempt from the licence requirement; there is no lawful wild-take route, since a recreational turtle licence authorises only painted and snapping turtles.

How this rule works: Turtles are handled apart from the 2021 snake, lizard and salamander rule and were not included in it. Subd. 1 requires an angling licence plus a recreational turtle licence to take, possess or transport turtles; subd. 2c exempts, among others, buying a turtle at a retail outlet, which is what leaves a pet-shop turtle or tortoise unlicensed.

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

The ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata, is on the three-per-species list at § 001.03A4. It is the box turtle that occurs in Nebraska; the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, does not, which puts it outside 166 NAC 10 altogether since the chapter reaches only species native to Nebraska. So the answer depends on which box turtle, and for the one Nebraska has the number is three. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Rep/Amph | Turtle | Emydidae | Terrapene ornata ssp | Ornate Box Turtle | II

The condition is which box turtle. The ornate box turtle, which is the one native to New Mexico, and the three-toed box turtle are both Group II and need an importation permit. The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, appears nowhere on the list, and an unlisted animal defaults to Group IV, which is closed to the general public. The aquatic box turtle is Group IV outright as a federally endangered species. One caveat on all of this: 19.35.7 NMAC is an importation rule, its stated scope being persons who desire to bring wildlife species into New Mexico, so it governs getting the animal here rather than keeping one already in the state.

How this rule works: The roughly 1,300 row table that 19.35.7 NMAC points at and that earlier research could not obtain. Every row gives a family, a scientific name, a common name and a roman numeral group. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit. Group II is not known to be invasive or dangerous and needs a permit. Group III presents minimal or manageable concerns and needs a permit with specific provisions attached. Group IV is prohibited to the general public. The list is reached from the download page rather than a direct file URL, and the site needs a User-Agent header.

The possession, buying and/or selling of any terrestrial turtles commonly known as "box turtles", is prohibited.

The sentence people quote about Oklahoma box turtles is real and it says more than the Department applies. 800:15-9-3(3) reads "The possession, buying and/or selling of any terrestrial turtles commonly known as 'box turtles', is prohibited", with no qualifier. But the section sits inside Chapter 15, the commercial harvest rules for aquatic species, under a heading about the aquatic turtle harvest licence, and the Department's own noncommercial turtle page reads it as a sale bar rather than a possession bar: six turtles of each species may be kept in possession, and "terrestrial (land) turtles may not be sold". 800:25-7-8 backs that up, giving every reptile not on its twelve-species closed list a year-round season at six per species, and no box turtle is on that list. Recorded conditional on the Department's own reading: a keeper may lawfully have up to six and nobody may lawfully sell or buy one. The Department's page says outright that it is an interpretive summary and not a legal document, so the tension is genuine and named here rather than resolved.

How this rule works: Sits in the commercial aquatic species chapter, and its subsection (3) is the sentence everyone quotes about Oklahoma box turtles: possession, buying and selling of box turtles is prohibited. The Department's own noncommercial turtle page reads it more narrowly, as a sale bar sitting alongside a six-per-species possession limit.

A person shall not possess more than 2 eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina).

This entry read legal on § 50-16-60, which clears reptiles as a class from the import permit. Regulation 123-151.4(I) says that section does not privilege a native reptile, and the eastern box turtle gets its own subsection. 123-151.4(D) caps possession at two, and anyone who held more on 28 September 2020 had ninety days to register them by species, wild-caught and captive-born alike, with no further turtles acquirable until the number drops below the cap. Registered turtles are assigned a unique identification number and must be shell notched with it, the keeper must file an affidavit confirming the notching, and permit holders file an annual report. On top of that 123-151.3(A) bars selling, buying or re-homing one at all. Two is also the aggregate cap for diamondback terrapins, against ten for native turtles generally.

How this rule works: The 2021 native reptile rules. 123-151.3(A) bars selling, purchasing, trading, exchanging, bartering, exporting, shipping, transferring or re-homing any native reptile or amphibian, with twelve exceptions that are mostly named snakes under a size limit. 123-151.4 adds possession caps for turtles, two for the eastern box turtle with shell notching and registration. 123-151.4(I) is the clause that matters most: the pet-trade exemption at S.C. Code § 50-16-60 does not privilege a native reptile.

A person without a nongame or nongame dealer’s permit may: (A) possess six or fewer specimens of a species of nongame wildlife listed in §65.331(e) of this title, provided the person does not engage in commercial activity involving the nongame wildlife; and (B) possess 25 or fewer specimens of a species of nongame wildlife listed in §65.331(d) of this title, provided the person does not engage in commercial activity involving the nongame wildlife.

Both Terrapene species that occur in Texas are on the § 65.331(e) list, the eastern box turtle and the ornate box turtle, so the cap is six per species and commercial activity is barred outright. The cap reaches captive-bred animals: § 65.325(a) says nongame wildlife "includes captive-bred nongame wildlife", so a pet shop receipt does not lift it. Texas is a state where the box turtle question is often reported as a flat ban and it is not one; it is a low cap with no sale. The related restriction to know is § 65.331(b), which bars possessing or using a net or trap capable of catching a turtle while on or in public water, dip nets and small minnow traps excepted.

How this rule works: The rule that decides a Texas pet question whenever the animal is native, and the one the dangerous wild animal statute distracts from. § 65.327(a) starts from a prohibition, "no person may collect, acquire, possess, import, export, cause the import or export of, or engage in a commercial activity involving nongame wildlife", and § 65.327(b)(3) then gives an unlicensed keeper two numbers: 25 of a species on the § 65.331(d) list, six of anything else. Three definitions carry the weight. § 65.325(a) says nongame wildlife "includes captive-bred nongame wildlife", so buying from a breeder does not lift the cap. The same sentence limits the subchapter to VERTEBRATE wildlife, which is narrower than the statute it implements, since Parks & Wild. Code § 67.001 says "vertebrate and invertebrate", and that gap is what leaves every terrestrial invertebrate outside the scheme entirely. And § 65.326(2) defines commercial activity as "the sale, offer for sale, exchange, or barter", so buying is not itself commercial activity, and § 65.327(b)(1)(B) lets a permitted dealer "sell lawfully obtained nongame wildlife to anyone". The two species lists are attached figures rather than statutory text: the (d) list names about 100 species, and the (e) list is longer and expressly "not limited to" what it names, so a native species on neither list falls to the six cap.

Box Turtles—Terrapene sp.

A restricted turtle. No more than ten restricted turtles in total and no more than two of any one species, and § 101.G.2.a.ii separately caps native box turtles at two regardless of species. A basic recreational fishing licence is needed to collect one.

How this rule works: Rewritten in January 2025 and now one of the strictest reptile rules in the country. Three tiers: prohibited nonnative species, restricted nonnative species needing a permit, and a general rule that any constrictor over eight feet needs a restricted snake permit.

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife in compliance with Code Chapters 26.00, 27.00, 29.00, 30.00, 31.00, 32.00, 33.00, 34.00, 35.00...

Both the three-toed and the ornate box turtle are native to Arkansas, and a terrestrial native turtle is neither on the unrestricted list nor inside the aquatic wildlife carve-out. Arkansas's native wildlife rules govern, and this document does not reach them.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

all nonnative tropical and subtropical species of turtles with a carapace or shell length of more than 4 inches and not on the controlled or prohibited lists in the families: ... (v) Emydidae (pond turtles)

Box turtles are Emydidae, so the family is cleared, but every category on this list is gated on being tropical and subtropical, and both the eastern and the ornate box turtle are temperate North American animals. The qualifier looks deliberate, since a temperate species could survive a Montana release in a way a tropical one could not. Ask Fish, Wildlife and Parks before buying.

How this rule works: Montana runs a white list, which is unusual. § 87-5-705(1) says a person may not import, possess or sell any exotic wildlife unless it is allowed by law or commission rule, so an animal that appears on none of the three lists is not permitted rather than unregulated. § 87-5-706 is the statutory noncontrolled list and § 87-5-702 puts rodents, cats, dogs and Eurasian ferrets outside the scheme as domestic animals.