Where is the milk snake legal?

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. The milksnake 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".

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

"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.

The eastern milk snake is on the § 3.3 native snake list, which is what separates it from the corn snake and the California kingsnake in New York: those two are not New York species and nothing reaches them, while this one is small game with no open season. A pet-trade milk snake is very often Lampropeltis triangulum, so the common name is not a safe guide here. 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 milk snake is a New York native, so the state prohibition becomes a city one through that sentence. It is on 6 NYCRR § 3.3's list of native snakes with no open season, which is what makes it protected wildlife. § 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.

The possession of native snakes is restricted to those institutions identified within § 3.7(C) of this Part, and as exempted per § 3.8 of this Part. Snakes considered native to Rhode Island and which possession as pets is prohibited include the following: ... Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

Two provisions have to be read together. § 3.17(A)(4)(b)(2)(D)(x) clears "Kingsnakes and Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis spp.), other than native species listed below", and the list below names Lampropeltis triangulum. § 3.7(C) then confines possession of native wild animals to the Department, the USFWS, AZA-certified zoos, bona fide researchers and short-term USDA exhibitors, so there is no private permit route and captive-bred origin is no answer: § 3.6(A)(15) defines a native animal as one occurring naturally in Rhode Island "regardless of where the animal originated". The bar is written by binomial, so the Central and South American milk snakes that dominate the pet trade, now recognised as separate species such as L. hondurensis and L. polyzona, stay inside the genus clearance.

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 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 Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis t. triangulum) among the state twenty-two snakes.

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.

Snake, All Native King Lampropeltis spp.

This entry read legal, checked against the Lacey Act clause in 220-2-.26 and against nothing else. That clause does not reach a milk snake and it is not the rule that answers one. 220-2-.92(1)(c) protects "Snake, All Native King" and gives the scientific name as Lampropeltis spp., the whole genus, and Lampropeltis triangulum is native to Alabama. Protection under 220-2-.92(1) bars possessing the species without a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner, with no carve-out for a captive-bred animal or one bought out of state. Recorded as a permit rather than a ban because the rule does provide for a Commissioner's permit and says nothing about who may hold one, but no pet category is named anywhere in it, so a keeper should not expect one. The California kingsnake gets the opposite answer on this map, and the reason is the word "Native" in the same line.

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.

Reptiles: ... iv. King Snakes - Lampropeltis spp.;

The milk snake is answered by name on the 4.3 permit list rather than by the catch-all. It is a Lampropeltis and the list takes the genus under the heading "King Snakes - Lampropeltis spp.", so the milk snake is covered even though the entry does not say milk snake. The list is written by family as often as by species, and 4.3 is open-ended, "include, but are not limited to", so being on it settles the permit question but not being on it settles nothing. The permit is the individual hobby permit at 4.6(a)1, subject to the general possession criteria at 4.7. The eastern milk snake is also native to New Jersey and appears on the 4.17 nongame table, so a wild-caught one is separately off limits.

How this rule works: The Division's handout of the 4.3 permit list. It is open-ended, 'include, but are not limited to', and works by family as often as by species, so Pythonidae, Boidae, Lampropeltis, Varanus, Scincidae and Gekkonidae each answer several pet species at once.

Captive born native wildlife: No more than 6 per household of any commercially obtained, captive born native wildlife not listed in Addendum R1.01 may be possessed as personal pets

R1.01 clears the genus Lampropeltis "except species native to Arkansas", and the milksnake is native there, vouchered across the Ozark Highlands and Crowley’s Ridge, so the exception takes it off the unrestricted list and Code 09.14 takes over. No permit and no fee at six or fewer per household, but the animal must be captive born and commercially obtained, acquired either from a Commission-permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealer or under a Wildlife Importation Permit, with acquisition records kept and produced on demand. The Commission names no binomial, so the whole Arkansas milksnake complex is caught whichever way the 2014 split between L. triangulum and L. gentilis is resolved. Code 09.14(A) is the other route, hand-capture in Arkansas, and those animals may not be sold or taken out of the state.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

Any captive-bred species from the genus Lampropeltis (kingsnakes and milksnakes) except the Western milksnakes (Lampropeltis gentilis/Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis) and Speckled kingsnake (Lampropeltis holbrooki/Lampropeltis getula holbrooki)

Captive-bred Lampropeltis triangulum is on Appendix B, so it needs documentation under § 703(B) but no licence. The exclusion is the part that matters for this species: the western milksnake, which Colorado writes as Lampropeltis gentilis or L. triangulum gentilis, is Colorado's own native milksnake and is left out of the exemption, so the answer depends on which milksnake it is. Anyone who held one on 1 May 2026 could file a CPW Legacy Report under § 703(C) in place of documentation. CPW tells keepers to check their city or county as well, so a local ordinance can still be the binding rule.

How this rule works: Secretary of State's official text of the new herpetofauna chapter, effective 1 May 2026. A closed-list scheme: #701 makes possession of any live reptile or amphibian unlawful unless the chapter allows it, Appendix A is free possession, Appendix B is free possession with documentation, Appendix C is wild collection under a resident licence, and anything on none of them is regulated wildlife.

Corrected from legal. The previous entry cleared this snake against a banned list that does not exist in the form described. The real point is that the eastern milk snake is native to Delaware, so it is not exotic, the Agriculture permit chapter does not reach it, and DNREC's native wildlife rules do. Those rules do not make native wildlife available as pets, with one carve-out that matters here: a captive-bred native snake in an aberrant colour morph may be held under permit. Since the pet trade in this species is almost entirely captive-bred colour morphs, most animals offered for sale can qualify where a wild-type one cannot. Hence conditional rather than banned, which is where the garter snake sits.

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.

The possession limit for herptiles (excluding common snapping turtles and bullfrogs) is no more than 4 total per species. ... In no case shall a person possess more than 8 indigenous amphibian or reptiles in total.

The milk snake, in the red and eastern subspecies Lampropeltis triangulum syspila and L. t. triangulum is on the § 885.40 list of Illinois native herptile taxa, which is what puts it inside the cap rather than outside it. No licence is needed to keep one, but three conditions ride along: no more than 4 of the species and no more than 8 indigenous herptiles in total, a sport fishing licence to collect any native taxon from the wild, and a $50 Herpetoculture Permit to breed or to sell. Non-residents may not possess herptiles collected from the wild in Illinois at all except under a scientific collection permit. The genus is well represented on the native list, so the cap is the ordinary answer for a milksnake here, and the $50 Herpetoculture Permit in § 885.80 is what lifts it for a keeper who breeds. 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: The statute behind 17 Ill. Adm. Code 885, and the only Illinois law that reaches pet reptiles and amphibians. § 5-5 sets the possession limits, § 15-5 clears the family Boidae from the permit system outright, § 25-5 defines 'monitor lizards' as only the crocodile monitor and Komodo dragon, and § 85-5 bars possession of a special use herptile. Sections are served individually from this endpoint by DocName, 051000680K<section>.

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.

This entry read legal, checked against 312 IAC 9-11-8, the Class III list, and against nothing else. Class III is purebred wolves, bears, wild cats, venomous reptiles and crocodilians, so of course a milk snake is not on it, and that is not the rule that answers one. 312 IAC 9-5-7(c)(76) lists the eastern milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum, among the 99 native taxa whose sale the section governs, and 9-5-7(a) applies it "regardless of place of origin", so a captive-bred milk snake bought from an out-of-state breeder is inside it. Selling, offering for sale or transporting for sale is barred and possession is capped at four under 9-5-6(f). The exits are 9-5-7(f), which exempts a captive-bred albinistic, leucistic or xanthic animal, and the reptile captive breeding licence at 9-5-9.

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. Kansas has two milksnakes, and the atlas carries the eastern milksnake under this exact binomial, Lampropeltis triangulum, alongside the western milksnake Lampropeltis gentilis. So the pet-trade name and the Kansas native are the same species here, and neither milksnake 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.

All Species in Genus Lampropeltis (Kingsnakes And Milk Snakes) Except for: Lampropeltis herrerae; Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum

Maine clears the genus and then excepts one subspecies, and it is the state's own: Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, the eastern milk snake. So a captive-bred milk snake of any other form is unrestricted, subject to the section heading "Captive Bred Origin Only". The nominate subspecies is not, and it appears in no other category either, so 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(4) bars possessing an imported one and no permit is available for it. What is left is 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B): up to two of any native reptile may be taken from the wild in Maine and possessed without a permit, provided it is not imported, exhibited, propagated, exported or sold. The other exception, L. herrerae, is Category 1.

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.

Except as provided in §§D—F of this regulation, a person without a reptile and amphibian permit may not possess more than four of each individual reptile or salamander, live or dead, listed in Regulation .03A of this chapter. The individual reptiles or salamanders may have been: (1) Obtained from the wild; (2) Captively produced; or (3) Legally obtained outside of Maryland.

The eastern milksnake, and separately the coastal plain milksnake is on Maryland's first tier of native species, which means no permit but a hard cap of four. Read the second sentence: the cap applies whether the animal came from the wild, from captive breeding, or lawfully from outside Maryland, so buying a captive-bred one out of state does not lift it. Above four, or to breed or sell at all, a reptile and amphibian permit is needed. Colour mutations bred in captivity are exempt from the cap under Regulation .04E, with the burden of proving the mutation on the owner, and Regulation .16 bars using any listed species in a competition. Both Maryland forms are on the first tier, so the cap is the whole of the answer for a milksnake here. 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.

Reptiles and amphibians may not be bought, sold or offered for sale.

The eastern milk snake is Michigan native and is not on the protected list, so it may be taken, but only on conditions. A fishing license is required, the limit is three a day and six in total across snakes, lizards and turtles combined, and the quoted sale ban means you cannot lawfully buy one in Michigan or sell the one you have. Personal collection is the only lawful route. Michigan protects the black rat snake and the eastern fox snake but not the milk snake, so this one stays on the takeable side of the line.

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.

The commissioner must prescribe conditions and may issue permits to breed, propagate, and sell snakes, lizards, and salamanders. A snake, lizard, or salamander that is obtained from a permitted breeder or that was possessed before August 1, 2021, may be possessed as a pet.

Minnesota gets here in three steps, and the surprise is that none of them turns on the species being native. Section 97A.015, subd. 55 defines wild animals as creatures wild by nature and includes reptiles, with no geographic limit. Subd. 39 makes snakes, lizards and salamanders protected wild animals as whole categories. Section 97A.501, subd. 1 then bars possessing a protected wild animal unless the game and fish laws allow it, and this subdivision is the allowance. A milk snake is a snake, so it needs to have come from a permitted breeder or to have been held before 1 August 2021. Two things to know about how firm this is. The statute says the commissioner "must" prescribe conditions, but there is no snake, lizard or salamander breeder permit on the DNR's permits page, Minnesota Rules chapter 6256 covers only frogs and turtles, and no rule chapter implements the subdivision. And the DNR's own pet-trade page describes the change as reaching "wild collected Minnesota snakes, lizards, and/or salamanders", which is narrower than the statute's words and does not mention the breeder permit at all. So the condition is real on paper and its machinery is not visibly in place.

How this rule works: Subd. 8, added in 2021, is the pet reptile rule: the commissioner must prescribe conditions and may issue breeder permits, and a snake, lizard or salamander is possessable as a pet if it came from a permitted breeder or was held before 1 August 2021. Subd. 3 is the older, broader route, allowing special permits without a fee to possess wild animals as pets.

A maximum of five (5) specimens of any native wildlife not listed in 3 CSR 10-4.110(4) or 3 CSR 10-9.240, except endangered species, bats, dusty hog-nosed snake, Kirtland's snake, western fox snake, and alligator snapping turtles, may be taken and possessed alive by a resident of Missouri without permit, but these animals shall not be bought or sold.

The Department of Conservation gives the eastern milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum, a statewide Missouri distribution, so the non-native clearance at 3 CSR 10-9.110(2) does not reach it and it is Class I wildlife under 3 CSR 10-9.230, which covers nonvenomous reptiles native to Missouri. A Missouri resident may take and hold five alive with no permit and no fee, which is the condition recorded here; those animals may not be bought or sold and may not be transported out of the state. Buying one is the harder half: 3 CSR 10-9.353(2) lets a Class I breeder sell "only to the holder of the appropriate permit, where required", and the Wildlife Hobby Permit is no help because it covers game birds plus one purchased game mammal, and 3 CSR 10-20.805(33) defines game mammals as a closed list with no reptile in it.

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.

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 species named on the three-per-species list is the western milksnake, Lampropeltis gentilis, which is the Nebraska animal and which was split out of Lampropeltis triangulum in 2014. An eastern milksnake, L. triangulum proper, is not native to Nebraska and so falls outside 166 NAC 10 entirely. Which animal a keeper actually has therefore decides whether the cap applies at all, and a pet-trade "milk snake" can be either. 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.

Indigenous reptiles listed in Table 800.2 for category 1, for up to 2 specimens of each species

The eastern milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, is a New Hampshire native and appears in both controlled tables at "1,5", which means an individual as well as an exhibitor may hold a permit for it. Two specimens may be possessed with no permit at all under Fis 804.02(b)(5); above two, Fis 804.05 requires a permit to possess, available to a category 1 individual. Importation is the tighter half: Fis 803.03(b)(4)a. takes indigenous reptiles listed in Table 800.1 out of the exotic clearance, so bringing one in needs an importation permit. A milk snake of any non-indigenous form is simply an exotic reptile and free on both counts, which is the same species-versus-subspecies split Maine writes into its unrestricted list.

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.

No closed season. All reptiles except those listed in (3) and (5) of this section shall have a year-round season. (2) Bag limit. The bag limit is 6 per day or in possession for each species allowed in section (1) of this section.

The milk snake is an Oklahoma animal, which moves it out of the exemption at 800:25-25-3(c), since that clause is written for species "not indigenous to Oklahoma". What applies instead is the reptile and amphibian part at 800:25-7. Two provisions matter to a keeper. 7-7(2)(A) requires a resident or nonresident hunting licence of anyone "taking or attempting to take reptiles and amphibians or possessing reptiles or amphibians" that are land dwelling, which is a possession hook and not merely a collecting one. And 7-8 gives every reptile a year-round season except a closed list of twelve, with a limit of "6 per day or in possession for each species". Recorded as conditional on those two rather than as a permit, because there is no application and no discretion: a hunting licence is sold over the counter. 29 O.S. § 7-502(B)(4) separately exempts anyone possessing legally obtained wildlife "from a source other than the wild, as pets" from the statutory possession bar, which is why a captive-bred animal is not caught by the closed-season rule. Lampropeltis triangulum is native across much of Oklahoma and is on neither the closed list at 7-8(5) nor any other. The California kingsnake gets a different answer on this map for the plain reason that it is a west coast animal and 800:25-25-3(c) exempts non-indigenous reptiles as a class.

How this rule works: The part that reaches Oklahoma's own herps, and the one that 800:25-25-3 does not answer. 7-7(2) requires a hunting or fishing licence of anyone taking or possessing a reptile or amphibian, 7-8 gives every reptile a year-round season at six per species per day and in possession with a twelve-species closed list, and 7-9 does the same for amphibians at four. 7-7(1) separately bars commercial activity involving wild-collected indigenous species.

Native species not listed in this subsection | No closed season | 1 | 1

Note corrected. The one-per-species cap is right, but the previous entry read § 79.4 as a general permit requirement for continued possession regardless of origin. That section is a one-time grandfather permit for animals already held on January 1, 2007, and its application window closed on June 30, 2007. The rules that actually bind a milk snake today are § 79.10(a), which makes importing a native species from another jurisdiction unlawful, and § 79.9, which bars selling or buying a reptile taken from Pennsylvania and its progeny. Designated color morphs are exempt under § 79.12, which is how most captive-bred milk snakes are lawfully sold here.

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.

eastern milksnakes reproduced in captivity and under 10 inches in total length are also permitted

South Carolina's 2021 native-reptile law (Act 177) bars sale/possession of native reptiles generally, but carves out captive-bred eastern milksnakes under 10 inches total length as an allowed pet-trade exception. We could not confirm the exact regulation subsection for this size cutoff beyond the Chapter 123-150s series.

How this rule works: Official codified text implementing 2021 Act 177; §123-151.3 carves out captive-bred corn snakes under 20 inches and eastern milksnakes under 10 inches from the general native-reptile sale/possession ban.

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.

Lampropeltis triangulum is named on the § 65.331(d) list, and milksnakes are native across east and central Texas, so this is nongame wildlife: 25 without a permit, and no selling, offering for sale, exchanging or bartering. 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. That is the difference between this animal and the corn snake in Texas, which is not native and is not capped at all.

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.

Limited possession (2 daily and yearly/4 total, per species) ... Western milk snake Lampropeltis gentilis

Utah's species table names the state's own milk snake population Lampropeltis gentilis, a segregate split off from the broader Lampropeltis triangulum complex the pet trade calls milk snake, and puts it in Limited possession: two a day, two a year, four in total, on a herpetology collection permit obtained after passing an orientation course. The earlier reading here took the words "limited possession" to mean the cap reached a purchased animal as well as a wild-caught one. R657-53-8(1) says otherwise in terms, and it is the section that decides this: total possession limits apply to everything acquired in state or imported, "except the following do not count towards an individual's applicable limit", and the exceptions are animals that are captive bred and animals "legally obtained outside of Utah", in both cases so long as the species is not Prohibited and not a native venomous reptile under R657-53-12. A milk snake is neither. So the cap is a wild collection cap after all, and a captive-bred milk snake from a breeder is unrestricted in Utah.

How this rule works: The division's classification tables under R657-53. Every table on the page is about animals taken from the wild in Utah: six prohibited natives, six naturalized non-natives at unlimited, four native lizards at Expanded, and the Standard and Limited controlled lists. The page says outright that 'the DWR does not maintain a full list of non-native species', so it answers a pet species only when that species also lives wild in Utah.

Squamata | Serpentes | Colubridae | Lampropeltis | triangulum traingulum | Eastern milk snake

The condition is which milk snake. Colubrids are unrestricted as a family, and then the Restricted list claws back the eastern milk snake specifically, Vermont's own native subspecies. The Honduran, Pueblan and Nelson's milk snakes that fill the pet trade are other subspecies of Lampropeltis triangulum and are not named, so they stay unrestricted. The official list misspells the subspecies as traingulum.

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 lawful to capture and possess live for private use and not for sale or export no more than one individual of any native or naturalized, as defined in 4VAC15-20-50, species of amphibian or reptile per physical address

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. That list carries the eastern milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum, with no asterisk, so it is a Virginia native and the exotic permit table never reached it. 4VAC15-360-10(A) then caps possession at one individual of any native or naturalized species of amphibian or reptile per physical address, live, for private use and not for sale or export. Per physical address, not per person, so two keepers under one roof share the one. That the cap binds a keeper rather than only a collector is confirmed from the other direction by the domestic animal list in 4VAC15-20-50, which writes an express carve-out for domesticated morphs of red cornsnake visibly distinguishable from native red cornsnakes; that exception would have nothing to do if keeping a native herp were free. 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) bars possessing in any number the red-eared slider and every reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan, and the milksnake is not on that list, although the scarlet kingsnake, Lampropeltis elapsoides, is. So the cap is the whole of it: one snake, one address.

How this rule works: The rule the exotic permit table does not reach, and the one that answers a Virginia native or naturalized herp: one individual of any native or naturalized species of amphibian or reptile per physical address, live, for private use and not for sale or export. It covers aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and nongame fish, and no mammal.

A person may take or possess up to 5 individuals... of each species of native amphibian, lizard and snake that are not endangered or threatened.

Milk snake is Wisconsin native. Wild possession/take is capped at 5 individuals under NR 16.12. More notably, our research found that "the purchase of native amphibians and reptiles is prohibited except as provided in specified exceptions," meaning simply buying a milk snake, even a captive-bred one, is restricted in Wisconsin because of its native status, unlike a non-native pet-trade species such as corn snake or ball python. Wisconsin repealed and recreated NR 16.12(3) effective 1 January 2027 (CR 25-092). Until then the rule allows taking or possessing up to 5 individuals of each non-listed native species. From that date possession of live native reptiles and amphibians is prohibited outright except under narrow exemptions, of which the one that matters to keepers is NR 16.12(3)(k): captive-bred colour variants acquired from a legal source. A wild-type native animal will no longer be keepable.

How this rule works: Official Wisconsin State Legislature code text; caps take/possession of native, non-listed amphibians, lizards and snakes at 5 individuals per species, with NR 16.13 layering on the purchase restriction for native species.