Where is the boa constrictor legal?

Boa constrictor. Restricted in 6 of the 32 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for boa constrictorAlaska: no restriction found for boa constrictorArizona: no restriction found for boa constrictorArkansas: no restriction found for boa constrictorCalifornia: no restriction found for boa constrictorColorado: no restriction found for boa constrictorConnecticut: no restriction found for boa constrictorDelaware: unclear for boa constrictorFlorida: no restriction found for boa constrictorGeorgia: no restriction found for boa constrictorHawaii: banned for boa constrictorIdaho: no restriction found for boa constrictorIllinois: no restriction found for boa constrictorIndiana: no restriction found for boa constrictorIowa: no restriction found for boa constrictorKansas: no restriction found for boa constrictorKentucky: no restriction found for boa constrictorLouisiana: permit required for boa constrictorMaine: no restriction found for boa constrictorMaryland: no restriction found for boa constrictorMassachusetts: no restriction found for boa constrictorMichigan: no restriction found for boa constrictorMinnesota: no restriction found for boa constrictorMississippi: no restriction found for boa constrictorMissouri: conditions apply for boa constrictorMontana: no restriction found for boa constrictorNebraska: no restriction found for boa constrictorNevada: no restriction found for boa constrictorNew Hampshire: no restriction found for boa constrictorNew Jersey: no restriction found for boa constrictorNew Mexico: no restriction found for boa constrictorNew York: no restriction found for boa constrictorNorth Carolina: no restriction found for boa constrictorNorth Dakota: no restriction found for boa constrictorOhio: no restriction found for boa constrictorOklahoma: no restriction found for boa constrictorOregon: no restriction found for boa constrictorPennsylvania: no restriction found for boa constrictorRhode Island: no restriction found for boa constrictorSouth Carolina: no restriction found for boa constrictorSouth Dakota: no restriction found for boa constrictorTennessee: no restriction found for boa constrictorTexas: no restriction found for boa constrictorUtah: no restriction found for boa constrictorVermont: no restriction found for boa constrictorVirginia: no restriction found for boa constrictorWashington: no restriction found for boa constrictorWest Virginia: unclear for boa constrictorWisconsin: no restriction found for boa constrictorWyoming: no restriction found for boa constrictorDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for boa constrictor

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. The counts include New York City, which has rules separate from the surrounding state and so cannot be shaded on a state map. Listed in full below.

What the colours mean

  • Banned (2)No legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
  • Permit required (1)Legal, but you need a permit or licence before the animal arrives.
  • Conditions apply (1)Legal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
  • Unclear (2)The rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction foundNothing in the body of law we read restricts this animal here.

Choose an animal

ServalFennec foxPrairie dogCapybaraBurmese pythonHedgehogFerretSugar gliderQuaker parakeetBengal catSnapping turtleBoa constrictorDeguArgentine black and white teguNile monitorTiger salamanderBall pythonChinchillaGreen iguanaSavannah monitorTarantulaVeiled chameleonEmperor scorpionGerbilRussian tortoiseHamsterGuinea pigTokay gecko

Every restriction on the boa constrictor

6 of the 32 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

Hawaii

Banned§ 4-71-6
Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name, which is unusually blunt even for Hawaii and reflects having no native snakes to protect. There is no permit route for a pet.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Hawaii Administrative Rules § 4-71-6, List of Prohibited Animals →

New York City

Banned
any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including ... the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda

How this rule works: § 161.01 is the list of animals that may not be kept in the five boroughs. It binds regardless of what New York State allows, which is why the city and the state answer differently for several species.

New York City Health Code Article 161, Animals (NYC Department of Health official PDF) →

Louisiana

Permit required§ 101.K.2.c.i
The following restricted nonnative species may be in possession only via permit to be approved and monitored by the department... i. Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor);

Restricted rather than prohibited, so a permit route exists, but a Restricted Snake Permit is required regardless of the animal's length and the facility is open to inspection.

How this rule works: Rewritten in January 2025 and now one of the strictest reptile rules in the country. Three tiers: prohibited nonnative species, restricted nonnative species needing a permit, and a general rule that any constrictor over eight feet needs a restricted snake permit.

LAC 76:XV.101, Reptiles and Amphibians, Recreational and Commercial Harvests; Prohibitions →

Missouri

Conditions apply§ 578.023(1)
any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long... unless he or she has registered such animals with the local law enforcement agency in the county in which the animal is kept

A large female Boa constrictor can pass eight feet, which brings the registration duty into play. A smaller animal does not.

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 offence.

Missouri Revised Statutes § 578.023, Keeping a dangerous wild animal →

Delaware

Unclear

The list names pythons and anacondas but not Boidae generally, and the anaconda is a boid, so whether the boa constrictor is caught is not resolvable from the list as written.

How this rule works: An exotic animal is 'ecologically foreign to Delaware, but allowed for possession, sale, and exhibition if a permit has been issued by the Department', covering live wild mammals, hybrids of wild mammals, and live reptiles not native to the state. A prohibited sublist sits on top, barred to everyone outside parks, zoos, aquariums, museums and research facilities. Administered by the State Veterinarian.

7 Del. Admin. Code 3900, Wildlife, exotic animal provisions →

West Virginia

Unclear§ 19-34-5(c)(2)(E)
(E) Constrictor snakes greater than six feet, and venomous snakes;

Six feet is a low bar for a boa constrictor, so most adults would be caught if the list is adopted as guided.

How this rule works: Unusual structure, and the reason most entries here are unclear. § 19-34-4 bans possession of a dangerous wild animal, but § 19-34-2 defines the term by character rather than by species and § 19-34-5 directs a three member board to create the actual list by legislative rule. The statute itself names no animal. Until that list is confirmed in force, the ban has no species attached to it.

W. Va. Code § 19-34, Dangerous Wild Animals Act →

For the full write-up, including the states that get reported wrongly, read the boa constrictor legal guide.

Past the legal question? See the boa constrictor profile.

How to read this

A state with no colour is one where nothing in the law we read restricts that animal. That is not the same as 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.