Exotic pet laws by state

Every jurisdiction below was read for the same 52 animals, and every entry quotes the statute or the regulation itself. Pick a state to see what it restricts, what it merely conditions, and which rule says so.

Not Legal Advice
This page ranks jurisdictions by what their published rules say, not by legal advice. The counts are a research summary, they change as rules change, and county and city ordinances sit underneath all of them. Confirm anything you are relying on with the agency before you acquire an animal.

Where the rules are strictest

The shading counts how many of the 52 animals we track are banned outright or gated behind a permit. It is not a count of every exotic pet, and a pale state is not necessarily a permissive one: Minnesota bans only one of the 52 but attaches conditions to thirty more, which the shading does not show. Each state page gives the full breakdown.

Alabama: 9 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedAlaska: 8 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedArizona: 1 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedArkansas: 10 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedCalifornia: 12 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedColorado: 15 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedConnecticut: 9 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedDelaware: 22 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedFlorida: 10 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedGeorgia: 18 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedHawaii: 41 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedIdaho: 5 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedIllinois: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedIndiana: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedIowa: 3 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedKansas: 4 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedKentucky: 4 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedLouisiana: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMaine: 20 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMaryland: 4 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMassachusetts: 14 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMichigan: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMinnesota: 1 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMississippi: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMissouri: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedMontana: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNebraska: 6 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNevada: 6 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNew Hampshire: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNew Jersey: 34 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNew Mexico: 21 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNew York: 8 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNorth Carolina: 1 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedNorth Dakota: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedOhio: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedOklahoma: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedOregon: 8 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedPennsylvania: 6 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedRhode Island: 17 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedSouth Carolina: 1 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedSouth Dakota: 3 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedTennessee: 0 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedTexas: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedUtah: 2 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedVermont: 19 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedVirginia: 7 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedWashington: 0 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedWest Virginia: 29 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedWisconsin: 3 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedWyoming: 10 of 52 animals banned or permit-gatedDistrict of Columbia: 27 of 52 animals banned or permit-gated
  • Nothing on the list restricted
  • 1 to 4 animals
  • 5 to 9 animals
  • 10 to 19 animals
  • 20 or more animals

The ten strictest jurisdictions

  1. 1Hawaii41 of 52
  2. 2New Jersey34 of 52
  3. 3West Virginia29 of 52
  4. 4District of Columbia27 of 52
  5. 5New York City26 of 52
  6. 6Delaware22 of 52
  7. 7New Mexico21 of 52
  8. 8Maine20 of 52
  9. 9Vermont19 of 52
  10. 10Georgia18 of 52

Cite this page

Every entry here is quoted from the statute or regulation it comes from, with the date it was last read against the published text.

Every jurisdiction, A to Z

52 in total: all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City, which runs its own Health Code.