All animals

Where is the box turtle legal?

Terrapene spp.. Restricted in 4 of the 5 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for box turtleAlaska: no restriction found for box turtleArizona: no restriction found for box turtleArkansas: no restriction found for box turtleCalifornia: no restriction found for box turtleColorado: no restriction found for box turtleConnecticut: no restriction found for box turtleDelaware: no restriction found for box turtleFlorida: no restriction found for box turtleGeorgia: no restriction found for box turtleHawaii: conditions apply for box turtleIdaho: no restriction found for box turtleIllinois: no restriction found for box turtleIndiana: no restriction found for box turtleIowa: no restriction found for box turtleKansas: no restriction found for box turtleKentucky: no restriction found for box turtleLouisiana: conditions apply for box turtleMaine: no restriction found for box turtleMaryland: no restriction found for box turtleMassachusetts: no restriction found for box turtleMichigan: no restriction found for box turtleMinnesota: no restriction found for box turtleMississippi: no restriction found for box turtleMissouri: no restriction found for box turtleMontana: no restriction found for box turtleNebraska: no restriction found for box turtleNevada: no restriction found for box turtleNew Hampshire: banned for box turtleNew Jersey: no restriction found for box turtleNew Mexico: no restriction found for box turtleNew York: no restriction found for box turtleNorth Carolina: no restriction found for box turtleNorth Dakota: no restriction found for box turtleOhio: no restriction found for box turtleOklahoma: no restriction found for box turtleOregon: no restriction found for box turtlePennsylvania: no restriction found for box turtleRhode Island: banned for box turtleSouth Carolina: no restriction found for box turtleSouth Dakota: no restriction found for box turtleTennessee: no restriction found for box turtleTexas: no restriction found for box turtleUtah: no restriction found for box turtleVermont: no restriction found for box turtleVirginia: no restriction found for box turtleWashington: no restriction found for box turtleWest Virginia: no restriction found for box turtleWisconsin: no restriction found for box turtleWyoming: no restriction found for box turtleDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for box turtle

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.

What the colours mean

  • Banned (2)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 apply (2)Legal 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 foundNothing in the body of law we read restricts this animal here.

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Every restriction on the box turtle

4 of the 5 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

New Hampshire

BannedFis 804.05, Table 800.2
5 Eastern box turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

Permittee category 5 is an exhibitor, with no category 1 for an individual, so a private keeper cannot be permitted for one.

How this rule works: Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, needing no permit. Fis 804.05 is the controlled table, and the number beside each species is the permittee category allowed to hold it. Category 1 is an individual, category 5 is an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be kept by a private person at all.

New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules, Fis 800, Importation and Possession of Wildlife →

Rhode Island

Banned§ 3.17(A)(4)(a)(2)
The possession of native turtles is restricted to those institutions identified within § 3.7(C) of this Part... Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina),

Native to Rhode Island, so possession is limited to the Department, USFWS, AZA zoos, research institutions and USDA licensed exhibitors. Not a pet species here.

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.

250-RICR-40-05-3, Rules and Regulations Governing the Importation and Possession of Wild Animals →

Hawaii

Conditions applyList of Conditionally Approved Animals
Terrapene (all species in genus except T. coahuila)

The whole genus is conditionally approved apart from the Coahuilan box turtle, which sits on the restricted Part B list instead.

How this rule works: The list that matters most for pet keepers and the one almost never quoted. Conditional approval means importation and possession are allowed subject to the conditions the Board of Agriculture sets, unlike the restricted list, which is research and exhibition only.

Hawaii Administrative Rules, List of Conditionally Approved Animals (Hawaii Department of Agriculture official PDF) →

Louisiana

Conditions apply§ 101.G.2, § 101.G.3.a.x
Box Turtles—Terrapene sp.

A restricted turtle. No more than ten restricted turtles in total and no more than two of any one species, and § 101.G.2.a.ii separately caps native box turtles at two regardless of species. A basic recreational fishing licence is needed to collect one.

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 →

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

Past the legal question? See the box turtle 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.