All animals

Where is the crested gecko legal?

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

Interactive map

Alabama: not checked yet for crested geckoAlaska: not checked yet for crested geckoArizona: no restriction found for crested geckoArkansas: not checked yet for crested geckoCalifornia: no restriction found for crested geckoColorado: not checked yet for crested geckoConnecticut: not checked yet for crested geckoDelaware: no restriction found for crested geckoFlorida: not checked yet for crested geckoGeorgia: not checked yet for crested geckoHawaii: banned for crested geckoIdaho: not checked yet for crested geckoIllinois: not checked yet for crested geckoIndiana: not checked yet for crested geckoIowa: not checked yet for crested geckoKansas: not checked yet for crested geckoKentucky: not checked yet for crested geckoLouisiana: not checked yet for crested geckoMaine: not checked yet for crested geckoMaryland: not checked yet for crested geckoMassachusetts: not checked yet for crested geckoMichigan: no restriction found for crested geckoMinnesota: not checked yet for crested geckoMississippi: not checked yet for crested geckoMissouri: not checked yet for crested geckoMontana: not checked yet for crested geckoNebraska: not checked yet for crested geckoNevada: no restriction found for crested geckoNew Hampshire: not checked yet for crested geckoNew Jersey: not checked yet for crested geckoNew Mexico: no restriction found for crested geckoNew York: not checked yet for crested geckoNorth Carolina: not checked yet for crested geckoNorth Dakota: not checked yet for crested geckoOhio: not checked yet for crested geckoOklahoma: not checked yet for crested geckoOregon: not checked yet for crested geckoPennsylvania: no restriction found for crested geckoRhode Island: not checked yet for crested geckoSouth Carolina: not checked yet for crested geckoSouth Dakota: not checked yet for crested geckoTennessee: not checked yet for crested geckoTexas: not checked yet for crested geckoUtah: not checked yet for crested geckoVermont: no restriction found for crested geckoVirginia: not checked yet for crested geckoWashington: not checked yet for crested geckoWest Virginia: not checked yet for crested geckoWisconsin: not checked yet for crested geckoWyoming: not checked yet for crested geckoDistrict of Columbia: not checked yet for crested gecko

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 crested gecko

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
The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter is only allowed: (1) For those animals on the list designated as conditionally approved and dated November 28, 2006, or on the list designated as restricted entry, dated September 25, 2018

Hawaii runs an inverted rule, and this is the clause that creates it. Introduction is allowed only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, so an animal on none of them is barred by default rather than left unregulated. The crested gecko appears on no Hawaii list under either name, Correlophus ciliatus or the older Rhacodactylus ciliatus. Its congener Rhacodactylus leachianus is on the restricted list, which shows the geckos were worked through one species at a time and this one was simply never reached, most likely because it was thought extinct until 1994 and had no pet trade when the lists were written. Absence from the lists here is a ban, not a gap.

How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.

Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 4-71, Non-Domestic Animal Import Rules, § 4-71-2 definitions and § 4-71-6.5 permitted introductions →

Past the legal question? See the crested gecko 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.