Is It Legal to Own a Hognose Snake? State-by-State Guide
Hognose snakes are mildly rear-fanged, but that doesn't make them a regulated venomous species anywhere we checked. The real restriction to watch for is Georgia, which bans keeping native hognose as pets regardless of captive-bred origin.
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Is It Legal to Own a Hognose Snake? State-by-State Guide
Hognose snakes get flagged by first-time keepers for one reason: they're mildly venomous, in the sense that they have small rear fangs and a weak venom evolved to subdue toads. That's led to a persistent assumption that they must fall under the same permits as cobras or vipers. In practice, every venomous-reptile law we checked draws its line well above hognose. The real legal wrinkles are elsewhere. For everything else about keeping one, see our full Hognose Snake care guide, and the Hognose Snake encyclopedia profile for the rear-fanged anatomy that starts the confusion.
Where Hognose Snakes Actually Stand
| Where | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida | Legal, explicitly exempted | State venomous-reptile bans specifically carve out hognose (genus Heterodon) by name |
| Alabama | Exempted from the venomous ban, but one species is protected | 220-2-.26(1) excepts "hognose snakes (genus Heterodon)" by name; 220-2-.92(1)(c) separately protects the southern hognose, Heterodon simus |
| Georgia | Illegal as a pet | Native-wildlife law bans keeping Eastern and Southern hognose as pets, regardless of captive-bred origin |
| Colorado | Legal for Western and Plains only (2026) | New rule legalized captive-bred Western and Plains hognose; Eastern hognose stays excluded, and wild collection of any native hognose is now banned |
| Connecticut, New Hampshire | Wild collection restricted | Native Eastern hognose has special-concern or endangered status; this targets wild populations, not lawfully captive-bred pets |
| Massachusetts | Western yes, Eastern no | The exemption list clears Heterodon nasicus by name; the Eastern hognose is a state species of special concern, which puts it outside the list whatever its origin |
| Texas | Legal, capped at 25 | Both native hognose species sit on the nongame list that allows 25 per species without a permit and bars selling, trading, or bartering any of them |
| West Virginia | Banned as a native | The eastern hog-nosed snake is on the state checklist, and the reptile rule bans possessing any native it does not list |
| Hawaii | Banned | The entire snake suborder Serpentes is prohibited, having no native snakes to protect |
| New York | Banned | Caught twice: on the native snake list with no open season, and separately a species of special concern on the Part 182 list |
| New York City | Banned | The one animal the Colubridae clause is plainly written for: rear-fanged and Duvernoy-glanded, prohibited even if devenomized |
| Missouri | Permit as a native | Both the eastern and the western hognose are Missouri natives and neither is venomous for the purposes of the Class II list, so they fall in Class I |
| Illinois | Permit, and it is the western that is caught | The snake the trade sells as the western hognose is Heterodon nasicus, which Illinois lists as a threatened species, so possessing one without a Department permit is unlawful |
| Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin | Depends which hognose | The eastern hognose is native across this row and is protected to different degrees: no open season and a zero limit in Pennsylvania, DNREC's animal in Delaware, a graded split in Maryland, and a fishing licence with limits in Michigan and Wisconsin |
| Nebraska, Indiana, Oklahoma | Native caps and licences | Nebraska puts both its hognose species on the three-per-species list, Indiana governs sale regardless of place of origin, and Oklahoma requires a hunting licence with a six-per-species bag limit |
| New Mexico | Import permit with conditions | Group III, which the list defines as animals presenting manageable concerns that require specific provisions attached to the permit |
| New Jersey | Permit required | The two hognoses reach the permit from opposite directions: the eastern is a New Jersey native on the nongame list, and the western is an exotic caught by the catch-all |
| Minnesota | Legal from a permitted breeder | Snakes are protected wild animals as a whole category, and one from a permitted breeder or held before August 2021 may be kept as a pet |
| Everywhere else | Generally legal | No venomous-reptile law captures hognose; check native-species rules before collecting from the wild |
The "Venomous Snake" Myth
A real medical case report on a keeper bitten by a Western hognose during feeding documented local swelling, bruising, and mild cellulitis, with a full recovery in about five months and no systemic effects. That's consistent with how state law treats the species: Florida's wildlife agency states outright that rear-fanged colubrids like hognose "are not regulated as venomous" in the state, and Alabama, Kentucky, and Louisiana all explicitly name Heterodon as an exception to their venomous-reptile bans. Even South Carolina's pending 2025 bill to expand venomous-reptile regulation was drafted to exclude hognose.
Alabama is worth a second look, because clearing the venomous rule is not the same as clearing the state. 220-2-.26(1) does except "hognose snakes (genus Heterodon)" from its ban on venomous reptiles that have never naturally existed in Alabama, and that is the clause the exemption lists all quote. A different rule then protects one of the three hognoses: 220-2-.92(1)(c) lists the southern hognose, Heterodon simus, among the nongame species nobody may possess without a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The eastern hognose, H. platirhinos, is an Alabama animal and is not on that list, and the western, H. nasicus, is the pet-trade species and is not native there at all. So in Alabama the answer turns on which hognose you have, which is exactly the kind of thing a venomous-reptile carve-out will not tell you.
Georgia's Real Exception
Georgia is the clearest genuine restriction here. Its Department of Natural Resources lists Eastern and Southern hognose under species that "may not be held as a pet," and states the restriction applies regardless of the animal's origin or morphology, meaning captive breeding doesn't create an exception the way it does in most other states.
Colorado's New Split Rule
Colorado's 2026 herpetofauna overhaul (Chapter W-7, effective May 1, 2026) legalized possessing, selling, and transporting captive-bred Western and Plains hognose with proof of origin, but pointedly excluded Eastern hognose from that legalization. At the same time, wild collection of any native Colorado hognose is now banned outright. It's a clean, current example of the captive-bred-versus-wild-collected distinction that runs through hognose law generally.
What's Still Unverified
California is frequently cited on aggregator sites as requiring a hognose permit, but we couldn't confirm this against the state's actual restricted-species list, and the format of that claim doesn't match how California's list is normally structured. Texas is settled now, and it turned out not to be a venom question at all. The state's controlled exotic snake rule reaches six named constrictors and venomous species that are not native to Texas, and a hognose is neither. What does reach it is the nongame rule at 31 TAC 65.331(d), which names both the western and the eastern hognose, so a Texas keeper may hold 25 of a species without a permit and may not sell, offer for sale, exchange, or barter any of them. The cap follows captive-bred animals too, because 31 TAC 65.325(a) defines nongame wildlife to include them. Treat California alone as the open question, and confirm it with the state agency rather than an aggregator.
The Real Takeaway
West Virginia Is the Second Ownership Ban
Georgia is not the only place hognose ownership is off the table. West Virginia gets there by a different route and reaches further, because its rule is a permitted list rather than a prohibited one. W. Va. C.S.R. § 58-73-1.1 prohibits "the take or possession of any native West Virginia reptile or amphibian species not listed hereafter," and section 4 lists ten salamanders, two frogs and two turtles. No snake is on it.
The Eastern Hog-nosed Snake, Heterodon platirhinos, is on WVDNR's checklist of the state's twenty-two native snakes, so it is inside the prohibition. The department's summary of the rule puts the total at 80 species of reptiles and amphibians whose possession the regulations bar. Nothing here turns on the venom question that decides this species everywhere else: West Virginia is not treating the hognose as dangerous, it is treating it as its own wildlife.
If you're getting a hognose snake, the venomous-reptile angle almost never applies to you, no matter where you live. Georgia and West Virginia are the two states where hognose ownership itself is off the table. Colorado owners of Eastern hognose specifically should be aware their subspecies wasn't part of the 2026 legalization, and Massachusetts draws the same line harder: its exemption list clears the Western hognose by name and its special-concern listing puts the Eastern one in a permit tier the state says it will not open for a pet, captive-bred or not. Everywhere else, this is one of the more broadly legal reptiles on this list. If you're weighing another commonly kept snake, see Is It Legal to Own a Ball Python? for its own species-specific legal wrinkles, or browse our exotic pet legal hub for the full federal and state picture.
To see this at a glance, our interactive map of hognose snake laws shades every state that restricts one, and clicking a state gives you the rule it comes from.
Sources & Further Reading
Last reviewed 22 Jul 2026 · 6 sources
- W. Va. C.S.R. § 58-73, Reptile and Amphibian Rule, as summarized by WVDNR (official PDF)
- Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.26, Restrictions On Possession, Sale, Importation (official text)
- Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.92, Protected Nongame Species (official text)
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: Venomous Reptiles
- Georgia DNR: Guide to Legal Pets
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Chapter W-7 Herpetofauna Regulation (official PDF)
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is a hognose snake venomous, and does that make it illegal?
Hognose snakes are mildly rear-fanged, meaning they produce a weak venom used mostly to subdue toads, but medical case reports describe bites as causing local swelling at worst, not a systemic reaction. Every state venomous-reptile law we checked, including Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, specifically excludes the genus Heterodon by name.
Can I legally own a hognose snake in Georgia?
No. Georgia's native-wildlife law bans keeping Eastern and Southern hognose snakes as pets regardless of whether the animal is wild-caught or captive-bred, which is a real exception to the otherwise permissive pattern in most states.
What changed with Colorado's 2026 rule?
Colorado now allows captive-bred Western and Plains hognose snakes to be possessed, sold, and transported with documentation, effective May 1, 2026. Wild collection of any native Colorado hognose is now banned, and Eastern hognose is excluded from the new legalization entirely.
Written by Michael Ryan
Mike keeps two rescued bearded dragons, Dex and Cera, and writes the care guides on BeastlyFacts from his own research and mistakes. He is not a veterinarian.
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