Where is the American alligator legal?

The following animals are hereby designated as game animals: Bear, Beaver, Coyote, Deer, Opossum, Eastern Cottontail and Swamp Rabbit, Raccoon, Squirrel, Nutria, Fox, Mountain Lion (Cougar), Groundhog, Bobcat, Red Wolf, Feral Swine (Wild Hog or Wild Pig), and Alligator.

Alabama designates the alligator a game animal, and 220-2-.26(3) makes it unlawful to keep a live protected wild animal except under a permit issued before that amendment, the reading the raccoon and black bear cells rest on.

How this rule works: Designates bear, beaver, coyote, deer, opossum, eastern cottontail and swamp rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, nutria, fox, mountain lion (cougar), groundhog, bobcat, red wolf, feral swine and alligator as game animals.

It is unlawful to hunt, buy, sell or possess an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) or other crocodilian species, or any part, nest or eggs.

The only exception for a live alligator is Code 12.01(C): a written permit or letter of authorization for display and education, which only established facilities such as state and federal parks, zoos, aquariums and nature centers may hold. The alligator is also a game animal under Code 01.00.

How this rule works: Code 12.01 makes it unlawful to hunt, buy, sell or possess an American alligator "or other crocodilian species". The only possession exception for a live animal is a written permit or letter of authorization for display and education, which Code 12.01(C) confines to established facilities such as parks, zoos, aquariums and nature centers.

Order Crocodilia-Crocodiles, Caimans, Alligators and Gavials: All species (D)

Every crocodilian is restricted, marked (D) for detrimental, and alligators are named in the heading. No permit type covers pet keeping.

How this rule works: § 671(b) defines (D) detrimental and (W) welfare. § 671.1(a) lists permit types; none covers pet keeping. The only possession permit, Animal Care, requires lawful possession in California before January 1992.

Crocodilia Alligator mississippiensis American Alligator Common alligator, gator -> W-07: Not an authorized species for private possession. CPW license required.

CPW rules on the alligator by name. Only the caimans are cleared, by Appendix A's other-species block, so an alligator is regulated wildlife with no pet license.

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

(xxviii) A member within the order Crocodylia (including, but not limited to, alligator, crocodile and caiman),

Connecticut names the alligator first in the Category Two crocodilian entry. Subsection (b)(3) allows a Category Two animal only to a treating vet, municipal parks, zoos, aquaria, nature centers, museums, exhibitors, laboratories and research facilities, so there is no private route.

How this rule works: Connecticut's official eRegulations text, served as a PDF. This is the operative rule for every animal on this map, and it sorts wild animals into four categories. Category One (four mammal families) and Category Two (a long specific list) may be possessed only by institutions; Category Three, which is Connecticut's own native species, bars import and export but not possession; Category Four, the state endangered, threatened and special concern species, needs a permit. An animal in none of the four is not restricted by this section. The definitions in subsection (a) do more work than the lists: 'wild animal' reaches invertebrates, and 'domestic animal' is defined in a way that takes the pet rabbit and the ferret out of the scheme entirely.

a person shall not import into the District, possess, display, offer for sale, trade, barter, exchange, or adoption, or give as a household pet, any living member of the animal kingdom, including those born or raised in captivity, except the following

Category (E) admits snakes, fish and turtles; no crocodilian fits any of the seven categories. No permit route.

How this rule works: A closed list and one of the shortest in the country. Subsection (j)(1) bars importing, possessing, displaying, selling, trading or giving as a household pet "any living member of the animal kingdom, including those born or raised in captivity", except seven categories: domestic dogs, domestic cats, domesticated rodents and rabbits, captive-bred common cage birds, non-venomous snakes and fish and turtles, ferrets, and racing pigeons. No lizard, no amphibian and no invertebrate fits any of them. Read from the D.C. Code rather than from a reproduction: the seven categories and their exact wording are what every cell in this jurisdiction turns on.

The following list of species native to Georgia may not be held as a pet regardless of its origin or morphology. ... Alligator

DNR names the alligator first on its native reptile list, and the rule puts every crocodilian in the inherently dangerous tier, licensed only to dealers and exhibitors. No pet route.

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".

ORDER Crocodylia FAMILY Crocodylidae Alligator mississippiensis alligator, American

Named on Part A, the research and exhibition list. No pet route.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

"Crocodilians" means any species of the Order Crocodilia, such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gavials.

Alligators are named crocodilians, special use herptiles that § 85-5 bars possessing except as the Act provides, and § 20-10 issues the special use permit only for bona fide educational programs, six documented a year, with an inspected facility. Crocodilians may not be bred or sold in Illinois. No pet route.

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>.

A member of the order crocodilia, including but not limited to alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gharials.

The crocodilian clause names alligators. § 717F.3 bars owning, possessing, breeding or bringing one into the state, and the only private route was the § 717F.4 registration of animals already held on 1 July 2007.

Existing owners: An owner in possession on 1 July 2007 could keep the animal after implanting an electronic identification device within sixty days and registering with the department by 31 December 2007. No new route exists.

How this rule works: § 717F.3 bars owning, possessing, breeding or importing a dangerous wild animal. § 717F.1(5) defines the class by family and order rather than by species name, so the boundaries are read off the taxonomy. § 717F.4 grandfathers animals already owned on 1 July 2007.

(2) Except as established in Sections 5 and 6 of this administrative regulation, a person shall not import, transport, or possess the following inherently dangerous exotic wildlife: (a) Alligators or caimans (Family Alligatoridae);

The first entry on the inherently dangerous list names alligators. The American alligator has never lived wild in Kentucky, so it is exotic wildlife under § 1. The only routes left are an AZA-accredited facility and the commissioner's exemption in § 5, which is open to municipal zoos, colleges, circuses and earlier exempted facilities, not private keepers.

Existing owners: A person who legally possessed the animal before 13 July 2005 may keep it for its life with veterinary records, acquisition papers or other proof, but may not replace it, breed it or transfer it.

How this rule works: Three lists. Section 4(1) is prohibited species, injurious to native ecosystems. Section 4(2) is inherently dangerous exotic wildlife. Section 7 is the permit-exempt list. Anything on none of the three may be possessed, but a transportation permit is needed to bring it into the state. KRS 65.877, cited in the regulation itself, lets local governments prohibit inherently dangerous wildlife outright.

d.No person other than a licensed alligator farmer or licensed nongame quadruped exhibitor shall possess live alligators at any time other than by a permit issued by the department upon request for use in displays and educational purposes, and by holders of valid department issued permits for scientific purposes.

The native alligator is governed by the alligator rule rather than the reptile rule, and it limits live alligators to licensed farmers and exhibitors, both business licenses, and to display, educational and scientific permits. Bringing a live alligator into the state also needs written permission.

How this rule works: Governs taking, possessing, raising and selling alligators. No person other than a licensed alligator farmer or nongame quadruped exhibitor may possess live alligators except under a department permit for displays and educational purposes or for scientific purposes, and live alligators may be brought into the state only with written permission.

Order Crocodilia All Species in Order Crocodilia (Crocodilians) ... An applicant for a permit pertaining to Category 1 Restricted Species must be an exhibitor, wildlife rehabilitator; laboratory registered with the United States Department of Agriculture, or accredited research facility.

Every crocodilian is Category 1. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so there is no pet route.

How this rule works: Maine is a closed-list state and § 7.06(4) is the sentence that makes it one: "A person may not possess any species that has not been categorized", and an uncategorized species "will not be eligible for a permit under this chapter". The four categories are the Unrestricted List, the Prohibited list at § 7.18(1), and Restricted Categories 1 and 2. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so it is not a pet tier; Category 2 is open to "an individual with demonstrated experience". § 7.05 and § 7.06(5) are the route for getting an unlisted species classified.

A person may not import into the State, offer for sale, trade, barter, possess, breed, or exchange a live: ... (ii) caiman, alligator, or crocodile;

Maryland names the alligator. The exemptions run to research facilities, licensed exhibitors, DNR licensees, sanctuaries, vets and circuses, and a licensed exhibitor may acquire a primate or big cat only with $1,000,000 of insurance, paid full-time staff and a disposition policy. Subsection (e) preserves stricter county and municipal rules.

Existing owners: Lawful possession on or before 31 May 2006 may continue, but only if the keeper gave written notification to the local animal control authority by 1 August 2006, with the number and type of animals and a photograph or a description of a tattoo or microchip. That window is long closed.

How this rule works: Maryland's dangerous animal list, on the General Assembly's own site. Eight clauses and nothing else: fox, skunk, raccoon or bear; caiman, alligator or crocodile; any cat other than the domestic cat; a cat hybrid over 30 pounds; any dog other than the domestic dog and any dog hybrid; non-human primates; and venomous snakes of four named families. A misdemeanor, and subsection (e) says in terms that counties and municipalities may go further. Note COMAR 15.11.16.01, titled List of Prohibited Animals, is an agriculture rule about feral swine and is not this provision.

You cannot have any crocodilian species in your possession in Massachusetts. This includes Alligators Crocodiles Caimans Gavials

No crocodilian is on the reptile exemption list, so the rule requires a § 23 license, and MassWildlife says flatly that no crocodilian may be possessed, naming the alligator on its own line. Its guidance adds that permits are not issued for keeping a wild animal as a pet.

How this rule works: The agency's own restatement of 321 CMR 9.00, cached because it answers two things the regulation leaves open. It reads the categorical bar the same way this map does, saying that any animal "listed in any rarity category of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, any category of federal endangered species law, or listed on the Massachusetts List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern species may not be possessed without a permit", and it paraphrases the reptile groups as "except rare species". And it states what a license application actually gets you: permits "are issued only for certain scientific, educational, commercial, or other specific reasons" and "You will not be issued a permit for keeping a wild animal as a pet." It carries its own disclaimer that the lists "may not be all-inclusive", and it is inconsistent with itself on turtles, where it omits the rarity clause it applies to snakes and geckos, so the regulation governs where the two differ.

(6) The following reptiles are classified as prohibited: ... (b) Alligatoridae family;

The whole alligator family is prohibited, and Crocodylidae separately at (h).

How this rule works: 12.6.2205 is the noncontrolled list, 12.6.2208 the controlled list, 12.6.2215 the prohibited list. The noncontrolled definition at 12.6.2201(8) expressly preserves county and city ordinances.

the importation, transportation or possession of the following species of live wildlife or hybrids thereof, including viable embryos or gametes, is prohibited: ... (1)Alligators, crocodiles and gharials..... All species in the order Crocodilia

Every crocodilian is on the prohibited list, alligators named first. Permits for a prohibited species go only to accredited zoos and aquaria, colleges, universities and government agencies for research, other scientific institutions, commercial aquaculture, and nonprofits that exhibit wildlife solely for education or science, so there is no pet route.

How this rule works: Two lists: 503.110 prohibits, 503.140 names species that may be possessed, transported, imported and exported without a permit. Nevada counties and cities are frequently stricter than the state, notably Clark County, Henderson and Las Vegas.

(b) A permit shall be issued only to a person in the permittee category(ies), as defined in Fis 802.01, and cited in Table 800.2 as follows: ... Reptiles 5 Alligator Alligatoridae, spp

Fis 804.02(b)(4) excepts alligators from the free exotic reptile class, and the Alligatoridae row in Table 800.2 is category 5 only, so no permit can issue to an individual.

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.

The potentially dangerous species shall not be kept as a pet, for hobby purposes or in situations, which, in the judgment of the Department, could adversely affect the health of the animal or which could constitute a hazard to the public.

"Alligatoridae--Alligators and caiman" is on the potentially dangerous species table, and 4.9(a)3 rules out keeping one as a pet.

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

Alligator | Alligatoridae | Alligator mississippiensis | American Alligator | IV | Federally Threatened

Named outright in Group IV. Group IV importation is prohibited for the general public and allowed only for scientific study, department approved restoration, zoological display, temporary events, use as a service animal, or by a qualified expert. 19.35.7 NMAC is an importation rule, so it governs bringing the animal into New Mexico rather than keeping one already here.

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

Wild animal includes, and is limited to, any or all of the following orders and families: ... (6) Crocodylia.

Every crocodilian is a wild animal that may not be kept as a pet, and 180.1(b)(13) lists the order again. The exemptions in § 11-0512(2) are zoos, licensed exhibitors and research facilities, vets, shelters, universities, rehabilitators, sanctuaries and travelers, all holding the animal for a purpose other than a pet, and 6 NYCRR 180.1(c) issues dangerous animal licenses only for scientific, educational, exhibition, zoological or propagation purposes.

How this rule works: New York answers exotic and native animals through two entirely separate mechanisms, and the famous one is the smaller. § 11-0103(6)(e) is a closed "wild animal" list, six clauses long, that § 11-0512 then bars keeping as a pet: primates, Felidae, Canidae, Ursidae, a named set of large constrictors and monitors plus all venomous reptiles, and Crocodylia. It carries two express carve-outs that decide cells on this map, for registered Felis catus hybrids five generations clear of wild parentage and for captive bred fennec foxes. The other mechanism is the one that catches natives, and it is a definition rather than a list: § 11-0103(2)(c) makes native frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards and snakes SMALL GAME, therefore game, therefore protected wildlife under § 11-0103(6)(c), and § 11-0107(2) bars possessing protected wildlife "whether taken within the state or coming from without the state". The only license, § 11-0515, is for propagation, banding, scientific or exhibition purposes, so there is no pet route behind it.

all members of the order Crocodylia, including, but not limited to, alligator, caiman and crocodile.

The crocodilian clause names the alligator first. The Code's only exceptions are the Parks Department and Wildlife Conservation Society zoos, labs, veterinary facilities and permitted temporary exhibits, so there is no pet route.

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.

(A) No person shall possess a dangerous wild animal on or after January 1, 2014. (B)(1) Except as provided in divisions (G)(1) and (2) of section 935.06 of the Revised Code, no person shall acquire, buy, sell, trade, or transfer possession or ownership of a dangerous wild animal on or after the effective date of this section.

Alligators are named dangerous wild animals. The exceptions in R.C. 935.03 are accredited zoos, research facilities, circuses, sanctuaries, rehabilitators of Ohio natives and vets, so there is no route for a new keeper.

Existing owners: Only a person who registered the animal with the Department of Agriculture in 2012 and possessed it on 1 October 2013 could apply for a wildlife shelter or wildlife propagation permit under R.C. 935.05 or 935.07; the permit requires sterilizing males, insurance, caging standards and, outside the small primates, at least one acre.

How this rule works: The operative half of Chapter 935. § 935.02(A) bars possessing a dangerous wild animal on or after 1 January 2014 and (B)(1) bars acquiring one after the chapter took effect; the wildlife shelter and propagation permits at §§ 935.05 and 935.07 are open only to someone who possessed a registered animal on 1 October 2013. § 935.041 sends four marmosets, squirrel monkeys, four capuchins and lemurs to registration with the director of agriculture. The restricted snake permits at §§ 935.08 and 935.10 remain open to a snake acquired after 1 January 2014, within 120 days of acquiring it.

(5) Any member of the order Crocodylia.

Every crocodilian is an exotic animal, and ODFW's own rule says so, adding that releasing one is unlawful. ORS 609.341(1) bars keeping an exotic animal without a Department of Agriculture permit issued before 1 January 2010 or under ORS 609.351, whose application window closed 90 days after that date and never reopened, so there is no route for a new animal. Oregon cities and counties may prohibit exotic animals by ordinance as well.

Existing owners: A State Department of Agriculture permit issued before 1 January 2010, or issued within a year of that date on proof the animal was already held. Applications closed 90 days after 1 January 2010, breeding a permitted animal is barred, and possession ends 30 days after a permit lapses.

How this rule works: A five-line closed definition run by the Department of Agriculture: non-indigenous Felidae except Felis catus, non-human primates, non-wolf non-indigenous Canidae except the domestic dog, bears other than the black bear, and Crocodylia. § 609.341 bars keeping one without a permit and § 609.351 shut the application window, which was 90 days after 1 January 2010, or one year for an animal already held then. There is no hybrid clause anywhere in it. This statute answers cats, canids and crocodilians only; every other animal on this map is decided by the ODFW rules in OAR 635-056.

A. A person shall not possess any species listed as endangered or threatened and in need of management pursuant to S.C. Code Sections 50-15-10, et seq. except by permit issued by the Department.

The American alligator is first on South Carolina's list of nongame species in need of management in Regulation 123-150.2, and § 50-15-20(C) makes possessing one unlawful except as the regulations provide. The permits that exist are for scientific, zoological, educational and propagation purposes under § 50-15-40(D), plus the alligator propagator permit for a licensed facility with setbacks and a five-foot chain-link fence. None is a pet permit.

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

(i) Order Crocodylia: Crocodiles and alligators--All species;

Alligators are named in Class I. Class I "may only be possessed by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators", and § 70-4-404(c)(1) says that after 25 June 1991 "no new animals shall be brought into possession under authority of a personal possession permit".

Existing owners: Persons legally possessing Class I wildlife before 25 June 1991 must hold an annual personal possession permit and may keep the lineage up to three animals per species; no new animal may be brought into possession under a personal possession permit.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".

Except as provided in this subchapter or Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C, no person may possess a live alligator;

The alligator has its own chapter in Texas, which governs its possession to the exclusion of other licensing laws, and the proclamation bars possessing a live one. Its permits are for alligator farmers, dealers and control hunters, and Chapter 43 Subchapter C covers scientific research, zoological collection, rehabilitation and educational display. No pet route.

How this rule works: Read from Cornell LII; the official Texas Administrative Code viewer is an Appian portal. Subsection (b): "Except as provided in this subchapter or Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C, no person may possess a live alligator". The subchapter's permits are for alligator farmers, dealers, control hunters and nuisance hunters, and Chapter 43 Subchapter C covers permits for scientific research, zoological collection, rehabilitation and educational display.

(1)(a) A species of the Order Squamata (snakes and lizards) is classified as a prohibited species if: (i) it is venomous; (ii) not native to Utah; and (iii) a bite from which may cause substantial physical injury to humans ordinarily requiring medical treatment. (b) Species of the Order Crocodilia (crocodiles, gharials, caimans, and alligators) are classified as prohibited.

Every crocodilian is a prohibited species, alligators named. A prohibited species needs a variance from the Wildlife Board before any certificate of registration, and its possession limit is zero, so there is no pet route.

How this rule works: The whole of Utah's herp rule, self-hosted by the Division of Wildlife Resources because the Office of Administrative Rules site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher. Written for collection from the wild: 53-4(1) bars possession outright and 53-5 then gives it back, 53-12 is the only certificate of registration that attaches to possession and it covers native venomous reptiles only, and 53-8(1) lifts captive-bred and out-of-state animals out of the possession limits.

(ii) Order crocodilia, all species, such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gavials.

Alligators are named in the crocodilian entry. RCW 16.30.030(1) bars owning, possessing, keeping or bringing one into the state, and (2) bars breeding; the exemptions in 16.30.020 are for zoos, sanctuaries, exhibitors, research and similar bodies.

Existing owners: A person in legal possession before 22 July 2007 may keep the animal for the rest of its life, with veterinary records or acquisition papers proving the date, but may not breed it.

How this rule works: An enumerated definition. Felidae is limited to lions, tigers, captive-bred cougars, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards; Canidae to wolves excluding wolf-hybrids. § 16.30.030: 'A person shall not own, possess, keep, harbor, bring into the state, or have custody or control of a potentially dangerous wild animal', grandfathering lawful possession before 22 July 2007.

An importation/possession permit shall not be issued for importation or possession of the live cold-blooded wildlife in this section, except as otherwise specified. ... (d) Endangered and threatened wildlife listed in 50 CFR 17.11.

50 CFR 17.11 lists the American alligator as threatened by similarity of appearance, and § 8(d) bars a permit for anything on that list, threatened as well as endangered, so the free reptile clause in § 10(a)(i) does not reach it.

How this rule works: Section 10(a)(i) is the sentence that matters for reptile keepers: amphibians and reptiles not listed in Section 8 or 9 need no permit at all.

When an exotic is kept as a pet, the owner or custodian of the exotic must apply to the Department for an Individual Permit on a form supplied by the Department.

Delaware's reptile class expressly includes crocodilians and none is exempt, so an alligator needs an Individual Permit. Crocodilians appear otherwise only in 7.5.2.10, which bars Sales Permit holders from breeding them. The Individual Permit is issued per animal for three years, after the Department is satisfied the animal will be held in a sturdy, escape-proof primary enclosure inside a secondary enclosure that keeps the public out, and a background check may be run. Delaware's only outright refusals at 4.7 are the gila monster, the beaded lizard and the komodo dragon. County and municipal ordinances were not checked.

How this rule works: The regulation that actually decides Delaware, and it is much narrower than the list circulating in secondary sources. § 7201 requires a permit before anyone brings in, possesses, sells or exhibits a live wild mammal, a hybrid of a wild mammal, or a live reptile not native to Delaware, and bans non-native venomous snakes outright with no permit available. Regulation 6.1 then exempts a named list of pets from the permit entirely, and 6.2 says everything else needs one. The only species the State Veterinarian may not permit at all are at 4.7: gila monsters, beaded lizards and komodo dragons. Pythons, anacondas and boas appear only at 7.5.2.10, a restriction on what Sales Permit holders may breed, not a possession ban. The Delaware regulations site is a single-page app that serves no text to a fetcher, so this was read from a full reproduction and cross-checked against the Department of Agriculture's own exotic animals page.

No person shall buy, sell, take, possess, transport, release, or import any American alligator, or any part thereof, or the nests or eggs of any American alligator except under permit from the executive director, as otherwise provided by this Title, or as follows:

Two rules stack. The reptile rule bars possessing a live alligator except under permit or as the title otherwise provides, and the captive wildlife rule puts "Alligators, caimans (family Alligatoridae)" in Class II, whose personal use permit costs $140 a year and needs documented experience and caging. The alligator rule's own exceptions are for exhibitors and licensed sellers, so the Class II personal permit is the only keeper's route on the text; whether FWC issues it for a native alligator rather than steering keepers to exhibitor licensing is worth confirming with the agency.

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

(4) Venomous reptiles. (5) Crocodilians that are at least five (5) feet long.

A American alligator under five feet needs no permit, but one at least five feet long is a Class III animal, and a Class III permit must be obtained before taking possession, with a recapture plan and a cage inspection. 312 IAC 9-5-6 also counts a crocodilian of five feet or more as a dangerous reptile.

How this rule works: Three classes by risk. Class I is rabbits and squirrels, Class II is a long and specific list of small wild cats plus Indiana's furbearers, Class III is wolves, bears, all other wild cats, venomous reptiles and large crocodilians. Both the Class II and Class III lists end with the same sentence exempting hybrids with a domestic dog or cat, which is the clearest hybrid answer any state gives.

In addition, this definition includes members of the following groups which are on the federal list of endangered or threatened species: wild amphibians, wild reptiles except sea turtles inhabiting and depending upon coastal fishing waters,

The reptile housing statute leaves the American alligator out by name, so the alligator is a wildlife question. § 113-129(15) counts as wild animals any wild reptiles on the federal list of endangered or threatened species, and the alligator is on that list, so holding one alive needs a captivity license, which § 113-272.5(a) says may not issue for an animal acquired "merely as a pet".

How this rule works: The definition that decides North Carolina and is easy to miss, because the answer is not in the captivity license section but in what that section can reach. Wild animals are game animals, fur-bearers, feral swine and other wild mammals, and then reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates only where they are on the federal endangered or threatened list. Everything else in those three groups is outside the Wildlife Resources Commission's jurisdiction, which is why North Carolina has no state reptile law worth the name.

(8) It is unlawful to possess an American Alligator without appropriate permit from the Department.

Oklahoma requires a Department permit by name for the American alligator and keeps a statewide closed season on it, so one may not be taken from the wild. The rule does not say which permit or who may hold it.

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 license 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.

9. "Exotic animal" or "Exotic wild animal" means any vertebrate or invertebrate other than those defined as domestic animals, native wildlife, or exempt exotic animals.

The reptile list in § 3.17 exempts turtles, some snakes and many lizards but no crocodilian, so the American alligator is an exotic animal that needs an exotic animal possession permit from the Division of Agriculture. § 3.9(A) makes that permit available to private persons for animals § 3.7 does not expressly prohibit, and § 3.7 does not name it.

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.

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

No crocodilian is on any of Vermont's three lists, so an alligator is restricted by absence. Restricted means a permit, and Regulation 881 § 5.2 leaves one open to a private keeper: for purposes other than research and education, the Commissioner shall not issue a permit "unless it has been determined that the wild animal or wildlife proposed to be brought into or possessed in the state does not conflict with the purpose of this regulation". That purpose is protecting wild and domestic animals, agriculture and livestock, and human health and safety, and the determination is the Commissioner's, case by case, with no published standard, so an application can be refused.

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.

Crocodilia Alligatoridae All species Alligators, caimans*

The table names alligators in the Alligatoridae entry. A special permit is required to import, possess or sell one, and the department issues it only if consistent with its fish and wildlife management program; the rule does not say whether a private keeper qualifies.

Existing owners: The entry carries 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.

No person shall transport into or have in his possession within this state any live wildlife or viable eggs thereof from without the state, except as authorized by an importation permit issued by the director

A American alligator is a reptile from outside West Virginia: § 20-1-2 counts reptiles as wildlife with no nativity limit, so one brought in from outside the state needs an importation permit from the director under § 20-2-13, the Burmese python's position. The board's Dangerous Wild Animal list names no snake and no crocodilian, although § 19-34-5 allowed both.

How this rule works: No person may transport into or possess within the state any live wildlife or viable eggs from without the state except as authorized by an importation permit issued by the director.

any deadly, dangerous, or poisonous reptile, or any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long, in any place other than a properly maintained zoological park, circus, scientific, or educational institution, research laboratory, veterinary hospital, or animal refuge, unless he or she has registered such animals with the local law enforcement agency in the county in which the animal is kept

Not banned, and the American alligator is not native to Missouri, so it needs no Wildlife Code permit under 3 CSR 10-9.110(2). The statute does not define a dangerous reptile, so whether a small one must be registered is not settled, but one over eight feet plainly must be registered with the county law enforcement agency.

How this rule works: Missouri does not ban these animals. It requires that they be registered with the local law enforcement agency in the county where they are kept. Failure to register is the offense.

1. All species of the order Crocodilia . Common names include: alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gavials.

Arizona names alligators in the Crocodilia entry. Restricted live wildlife may be held only under a special license listed in R12-4-409(A) or a listed exemption, and none of the R12-4-407 exemptions is a pet route.

How this rule works: The operative rule. Restricted live wildlife needs a special license, and the lists run by order and family rather than by species, so the whole of Carnivora is caught while most of the pet reptile trade is not. Two exceptions are written in by name: the genus Atelerix, the pet hedgehogs, and the genus Oryctolagus, which the rule says are not wildlife at all. Two subsections do quiet work: (D) exempts domestic animals, defined at R12-4-401 as a species that does not exist in the wild, and (E) pulls hybrids back in whenever one parent species is on the list. Note that the AZGFD commission rules PDF circulating as Supp. 13-2 is a 2013 edition and predates the Atelerix and Oryctolagus exceptions; read the current text, not that one.

non-venomous or non-dangerous reptiles and amphibians

The American alligator is non-venomous, which on the literal wording makes it a conventional pet exempt from any permit, but "non-dangerous" is not defined and a crocodilian is hard to call that. If it is not a conventional pet, it needs a Fish and Game captive possession license. The Agriculture deleterious list has no reptile.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

b. Species not regulated by this rule include: i. endangered reptiles and amphibians; ii. reptiles and amphibians considered game species (Bullfrog, Pig Frog, Bronze Frog); iii. American Alligator;

The nongame rule carves the American alligator out as regulated elsewhere, and Rule 8.4's closed list of game and furbearing animals does not include it. The only other alligator rules on the department's record are the hunting season rules, which govern harvest under an alligator possession permit, not keeping a live animal. No Mississippi rule read here says whether a live alligator may be kept.

How this rule works: The rule that answers Mississippi natives, and the one the dangerous animal rule never reaches. It covers thirty-two small mammals and all native reptiles and amphibians, names each species, and requires a hunting license to possess any of them for personal use. mdwfp.com serves a cert without its GlobalSign intermediate; complete the chain rather than skipping verification.

(1) No person shall keep in captivity in this state any wild birds, any wild mammals, any nongame wildlife in need of conservation as determined by the commission under section 37-805, or any wildlife determined to be an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act or section 37-806 without first having obtained a permit to do so as provided by section 37-478 or 37-479.

The reptile rule reaches only Nebraska natives, which would leave a alligator free, but 50 CFR 17.11 lists the American alligator as threatened by similarity of appearance, § 37-806(1) makes every federally threatened species threatened in Nebraska, and § 37-477(1) requires a captive permit for any such wildlife. The captive wildlife rules name no reptile, so whether and how that permit would issue for a pet is not settled.

How this rule works: The statute does two things the regulation does not. § 37-477(2) is a flat ban with no permit behind it: "no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae", excepting only Felis domesticus, accredited zoos and public facilities, and lynx or bobcat fur producers. And §§ 37-245 and 37-246 define wild birds and wild mammals by geography rather than by wildness, as species "native to, migrating to or through, or having established free-ranging populations in the State of Nebraska". That definition is the hinge of the whole state: a Nebraska native is caught by the captive wildlife scheme and an exotic is not, which sends the exotic question to the importation list instead. § 37-247 defines wildlife far more broadly, reaching every arthropod and invertebrate, and that breadth sits awkwardly with an importation list containing only mammals and birds.

b. Category 3 species of nontraditional livestock includes the following species and their hybrids: ... (2) Big cats, including mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, and cheetah. (3) Bears. (4) Wolves. (5) Venomous reptiles and nonvenomous injurious reptiles. (6) Primates.

A American alligator is nonvenomous and not on the federal injurious wildlife list, so whether it is a "nonvenomous injurious reptile" in category 3 depends on what the undefined word means. If it means federally listed, the animal is in no category and needs only an importation permit number and a veterinary certificate, plus the board review 48.1-09-01-02(6) requires for an unlisted species. If it means harmful, a crocodilian is the obvious case and needs a license.

How this rule works: The nontraditional livestock category system is alive and sits here, not in the repealed title 48. 48.1-09-01-02 sorts every nondomestic species held in confinement into three categories, category 1 needing no license and categories 2 and 3 needing one before the animal is acquired. Subsection 4 exempts arachnids and invertebrates from even the importation permit, along with a short list of small pets named one by one: gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats and sugar gliders. The Board of Animal Health's own page (https://www.ndda.nd.gov/divisions/animal-health/non-traditional-livestock) files that list under Exempt Animals and calls them exempt from non-traditional livestock requirements and importation requirements. Last amended April 1, 2026.

"Endangered or threatened species" means those species of wild animals that are indigenous to the United States or Canada and are identified on the federal list of endangered and threatened species or on the Wisconsin list of endangered and threatened species.

The alligator is nonnative to Wisconsin and not a harmful wild animal, so it would ordinarily be exempt. But it is indigenous to the United States, and it appears on the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife, listed as threatened because it looks like other protected crocodilians rather than because it is itself at risk. If that entry counts as being identified on the federal list, the exemption in § 169.04(4)(b) does not apply and § 169.04(1)(b) requires a license; if it does not, no license is needed. The statute does not distinguish similarity-of-appearance listings, so it is recorded unclear.

How this rule works: § 169.01(37) defines wild animal; § 169.11(1)(a) designates harmful wild animals as cougars, ursidae, wild and feral swine. § 169.04(4)(b) exempts most non-native species from licensing.