All animals

Where is the bearded dragon legal?

Pogona vitticeps. Restricted in 1 of the 9 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Interactive map

Alabama: not checked yet for bearded dragonAlaska: not checked yet for bearded dragonArizona: no restriction found for bearded dragonArkansas: not checked yet for bearded dragonCalifornia: no restriction found for bearded dragonColorado: not checked yet for bearded dragonConnecticut: not checked yet for bearded dragonDelaware: no restriction found for bearded dragonFlorida: not checked yet for bearded dragonGeorgia: not checked yet for bearded dragonHawaii: banned for bearded dragonIdaho: not checked yet for bearded dragonIllinois: not checked yet for bearded dragonIndiana: not checked yet for bearded dragonIowa: not checked yet for bearded dragonKansas: not checked yet for bearded dragonKentucky: not checked yet for bearded dragonLouisiana: not checked yet for bearded dragonMaine: not checked yet for bearded dragonMaryland: not checked yet for bearded dragonMassachusetts: not checked yet for bearded dragonMichigan: no restriction found for bearded dragonMinnesota: not checked yet for bearded dragonMississippi: not checked yet for bearded dragonMissouri: not checked yet for bearded dragonMontana: not checked yet for bearded dragonNebraska: not checked yet for bearded dragonNevada: no restriction found for bearded dragonNew Hampshire: not checked yet for bearded dragonNew Jersey: not checked yet for bearded dragonNew Mexico: no restriction found for bearded dragonNew York: not checked yet for bearded dragonNorth Carolina: not checked yet for bearded dragonNorth Dakota: not checked yet for bearded dragonOhio: not checked yet for bearded dragonOklahoma: not checked yet for bearded dragonOregon: not checked yet for bearded dragonPennsylvania: no restriction found for bearded dragonRhode Island: not checked yet for bearded dragonSouth Carolina: not checked yet for bearded dragonSouth Dakota: not checked yet for bearded dragonTennessee: not checked yet for bearded dragonTexas: not checked yet for bearded dragonUtah: not checked yet for bearded dragonVermont: no restriction found for bearded dragonVirginia: not checked yet for bearded dragonWashington: not checked yet for bearded dragonWest Virginia: not checked yet for bearded dragonWisconsin: not checked yet for bearded dragonWyoming: not checked yet for bearded dragonDistrict of Columbia: not checked yet for bearded dragon

Select a state for the rule behind its colour. Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are drawn out of position so they can be clicked. 9 of the 51 jurisdictions we cover, the 50 states plus DC, have been read for this animal, so the 42 dotted ones are a gap in our research rather than a finding of no rule.

What the colours mean

  • Banned (1)No legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
  • Permit requiredLegal, but you need a permit or licence before the animal arrives.
  • Conditions applyLegal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
  • UnclearThe rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction found (8)This jurisdiction was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one.
  • Not checked yet (42)We have not read this jurisdiction for this animal. It is not a clean bill of health, it is a gap.

Choose an animal (A to Z, 52 of them)

Ackie MonitorAfrican grey parrotArgentine black and white teguAxolotlBall pythonBearded dragonBengal catBlue-tongue skinkBoa constrictorBox turtleBurmese pythonCalifornia KingsnakeCapybaraChinchillaCockatooCorn snakeCrested geckoDeguEmperor scorpionFennec foxFerretFlying SquirrelGarter SnakeGerbilGiant African millipedeGreen anoleGreen iguanaGuinea pigHamsterHedgehogHognose snakeJackson's chameleonLeopard geckoMadagascar hissing cockroachMilk snakeNile monitorPrairie dogQuaker parakeetRabbitRed-eared sliderRed-Footed TortoiseRosy boaRussian tortoiseSavannah monitorServalSnapping turtleSugar gliderSulcata tortoiseTarantulaTiger salamanderTokay geckoVeiled chameleon

Every restriction on the bearded dragon

1 of the 9 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find. Open a row for the wording of the rule and the citation behind it.

Hawaii

Banned§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A
Pogona (Amphibolurus) vittaceps dragon, inland bearded

Part A is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION, so a listed animal has no pet route: a university or a licensed exhibitor can hold one and a private keeper cannot. The inland bearded dragon is the species the pet trade actually sells, and Hawaii names it directly, alongside the Australian and Nullarbor bearded dragons. The official list misspells the species as vittaceps for vitticeps.

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.

Hawaii Administrative Rules § 4-71-6.5, List of Restricted Animals, Part A (research and exhibition) →

Past the legal question? See the bearded dragon profile.

How to read this

Two of the shades mean very different things and are worth telling apart. A flat grey state was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one. A dotted state has not been read for this animal at all. Coverage runs from two jurisdictions to fifty-one depending on the species, so on a less-researched animal most of the map is a gap in our work rather than a finding, and it should not be taken as permission.

Even a flat grey is not a guarantee. It means no restriction was found in the specific body of law checked for that state, which is recorded alongside each jurisdiction. Cities and counties regularly ban animals their state allows, and several states say so in their own rules.

Hatched grey means the rule genuinely does not resolve. Usually a definition arguably reaches the animal without naming it, and the honest answer is to ask the agency rather than to guess. Those entries are marked unclear on purpose rather than being rounded to a yes or a no.

Every entry links to the regulation it came from. None of this is legal advice, laws change without much notice, and the agency that issues the permit is always the last word. For the federal layer and how state schemes are structured, see the exotic pet legal hub.