Exotic pet laws in Virginia

4VAC15-360-10(A)(6); 4VAC15-20-50

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

Va. Code § 29.1-521(A)(10); 4VAC15-360-10(A); 4VAC15-290-60

To hunt, trap, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, by any means whatever, receive for transportation or export, or import, at any time or in any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof, except as specifically permitted by law and only by the manner or means and within the numbers stated.

The southern flying squirrel is a Virginia native, carried on the department's incorporated fauna list as "Small Eastern Flying Squirrel ... Glaucomys volans volans" and "Southeastern Flying Squirrel ... Glaucomys volans saturatus" with no naturalized asterisk. So it is not a nonnative (exotic) animal and the permit table at 4VAC15-30-40 is not its rule; § 29.1-521(A)(10) is, and it bars possessing a wild animal except as specifically permitted. Nothing specifically permits it. The one-per-address allowance at 4VAC15-360-10(A) covers aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and nongame fish, and no mammal. Chapter 290 has no captive wildlife permit for a pet: 4VAC15-290-60 is for an exhibit "educational and purposeful in nature", 4VAC15-290-20 is scientific collection, and 4VAC15-360-50's propagation and sale permits reach amphibians and reptiles only. Recorded banned on the strength of the statute rather than on a named prohibition, which is the shape to re-check if the department ever publishes a captive wildlife permit reaching native mammals.

How this rule works: The definitions that decide which of Virginia's two schemes reaches an animal, and the one place a species can be written out of both. "Wild animal" is "any member of the animal kingdom, except domestic animals", and the list that follows names arthropods expressly. "Nonnative (exotic) animal" excludes domestic AND naturalized species, so a naturalized animal is not an exotic and goes to the native rules instead. The domestic animal list is closed and unusually specific: it clears "Domesticated breeds of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association, Inc." and "Domesticated morphs of red cornsnake (Pantherophis guttatus) visibly distinguishable from native red cornsnakes". Native and naturalized status is fixed by the department's List of Native and Naturalized Fauna of Virginia, incorporated by reference: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A)(6); 4VAC15-20-50

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 department’s list carries "Red-eared Slider * Trachemys scripta elegans *", the asterisk denoting a naturalized species, and a naturalized animal is expressly excluded from the definition of a nonnative (exotic) animal, so the permit table the old entry read never applied to this turtle. What applies is 4VAC15-360-10, and the slider is the only animal the section names by common name in its bar: subdivision (A)(6) says the red-eared slider and every reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use. In any number, so this is not the one-per-address cap at a smaller figure, it is the private-use allowance withheld outright, and with it withheld nothing permits possession of what 4VAC15-20-50 makes a wild animal. Virginia writing the most common pet turtle in the country into the same sentence as its conservation-priority natives is deliberate: the slider is naturalized here because released pets established it. Note also that the two sliders Virginia does treat as its own, the Cumberland slider and the yellow-bellied slider, are on the Species of Greatest Conservation Need list and are barred by the same subdivision.

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A)(6); 4VAC15-20-50

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. This cell read permit on 4VAC15-30-40’s Ambystomatidae row, "All species, except Ambystoma mexicanum", which is a correct reading of a table that cannot reach this animal. The eastern tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, is on the department’s native list with no asterisk, and the permit table operates only on nonnative (exotic) animals, which by definition exclude species naturally occurring in Virginia. So the Ambystomatidae row reaches the mole salamanders Virginia does not have and stops short of the three it does. What reaches this one is 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6): the eastern tiger salamander is on the department’s amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need list at tier I, the highest, and the subdivision says such species may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use. In any number, so there is no one-per-address version of this and no permit behind it; the tiger salamander is also a state endangered species in Virginia. The regulation names the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan and the department now publishes the list as revised for 2025, and the eastern tiger salamander is on both.

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

§ 15-30-40(A)

Canidae All Species Wild Dogs, Wolves, Coyotes or Coyote hybrids, Jackals and Foxes

Virginia restricts the whole dog family by name and spells out foxes in the common name column, so the fennec is caught by the same row as a jackal.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 15-30-40(A)

Sciuridae Cynomys spp. Prairie dogs

Listed by genus in the squirrel family section of the permit table, so every prairie dog species is covered.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 15-30-40(A)

Felidae All Species Cats*

The table restricts the whole cat family by name rather than listing species, so the serval is caught by the same line as a lion. A special permit is required to import, possess or sell one.

Existing owners: Cats carry the asterisk, so an animal held before 1 July 1992 and declared in writing by 1 January 1993 may be kept under a possession-only permit that renews every five years and cannot be transferred.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A); 4VAC15-20-50

Domesticated morphs of red cornsnake (Pantherophis guttatus) visibly distinguishable from native red cornsnakes based on their unique colors and patterns.

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 red cornsnake, Pantherophis guttatus, with no asterisk, so it is a Virginia native and the exotic permit table never reached it. What makes this the most useful cell in the state is that the corn snake is the one reptile Virginia writes into its closed domestic animal list, and it does it by appearance: domesticated morphs of red cornsnake visibly distinguishable from native red cornsnakes based on their unique colors and patterns are domestic animals, and a domestic animal is not a wild animal under 4VAC15-20-50 at all. So the condition here is about which snake you own. A snow, amel, lavender or any other morph a warden could tell from a wild Virginia cornsnake at sight is outside the whole scheme, with no cap and no limit. A normal-phase or wild-type cornsnake is a native reptile and 4VAC15-360-10(A) caps it at one individual per physical address, live, for private use and not for sale or export. The cornsnake is on neither the red-eared slider bar nor the Species of Greatest Conservation Need list that 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) closes possession on.

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A); 4VAC15-20-50

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 gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, with no asterisk, so it is a Virginia native and the special permit table never applied to it; the old entry’s reading that the table contains no relevant reptile was accurate and was answering the wrong question. 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. The other clause to check is 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6), which 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. The common gartersnake is on neither list, 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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

§ 15-360-10(A)

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

The exotic permit table is the wrong rule for this animal. Virginia fixes native and naturalized status by an incorporated document, the department's List of Native and Naturalized Fauna of Virginia, and that list carries "Green Anole * Anolis carolinesis *", the asterisk denoting a naturalized species. A naturalized animal is expressly excluded from the definition of a nonnative (exotic) animal at 4VAC15-20-50, so 4VAC15-30-40 does not reach it and 4VAC15-360-10 does: one individual per physical address, live, for private use, and not for sale or export. That the cap binds a keeper rather than only a collector is confirmed from the other direction by the domestic animal list, 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 ordinary keeping of a native herp were free. Checked against 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) on this pass as well: that subdivision withholds the private-use allowance from the red-eared slider and from every reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need, and the green anole is on neither, so the one-per-address cap is the whole answer for it.

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A)(6); 4VAC15-20-50

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 two hognose snakes part company here and the answer depends on which one is in the tank. The eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos, is on the department’s native list with no asterisk and is also a reptile Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) says may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use. Not capped at one, barred. The western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, is the animal nearly every captive-bred hognose in the pet trade is, and it appears nowhere on the Virginia native and naturalized list, which makes it a nonnative (exotic) animal; 4VAC15-30-40’s permit table names one snake in the whole of it, the brown tree snake, so a western hognose needs no permit and is not capped. The condition is the species: legal for the western, prohibited for the Virginia native.

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A); 4VAC15-20-50

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

§ 15-30-40(A), (C)

Exception for certain monk parakeets. No permit is required for monk parakeets (quakers) that have been captive bred and are closed-banded with a seamless band.

Virginia lists Myiopsitta monachus in the subsection A permit table and then writes an exception for the birds people actually buy. A captive bred quaker wearing a seamless closed band needs no permit. A wild caught bird, or one with an open band that could have been fitted later, does. The band is the whole test, so keep the paperwork that came with the bird.

Existing owners: An asterisked animal held before 1 July 1992 could be kept if declared to the department in writing by 1 January 1993. That declaration works as a possession-only permit, renews every five years and cannot be transferred.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

4VAC15-360-10(A)(5); 4VAC15-20-50

The daily limit for bullfrogs shall be 15 and for snapping turtles shall be five. Snapping turtles shall only be taken from June 1 to September 30 and must have a minimum curved-line carapace length of 13 inches.

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 snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina, is on the native list with no asterisk, so the exotic permit table never reached it. It is also the one animal in the chapter that the one-per-address cap does not bind, because 4VAC15-360-10(A) applies that cap "unless specifically listed in this subsection" and subdivision 5 lists the snapping turtle with numbers of its own: a daily limit of five, a season running 1 June to 30 September, and a minimum curved-line carapace length of 13 inches, with no taking from the banks or waters of designated stocked trout waters. The size minimum is the condition that bites a keeper, because it rules out the hatchling that is how almost anyone acquires one. The snapping turtle is on neither the red-eared slider bar nor the Species of Greatest Conservation Need list in 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6).

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.

Checked against the published text on 16 September 2026.

§ 15-30-40(A)

Felidae All Species Cats*

The table restricts the cat family without exception and without a hybrid clause, which is the problem. A Bengal is registered as Felis catus but carries leopard cat ancestry, and the rule offers no filial generation line to settle which side it falls. Ask the Department of Wildlife Resources before buying.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.