Where is the hognose snake legal?

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. These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology. ... The following list of species native to Georgia may not be held as a pet regardless of its origin or morphology.

Georgia handles its own wildlife separately from the wild animal rule, and the sentence that matters is "These restrictions apply to the various species of animal, regardless of the origin or morphology." A captive-bred animal from an out-of-state breeder is in the same position as one caught in a Georgia yard, and a colour morph is too. Both Georgia hognose snakes, the eastern and the southern, is on DNR's list of native species that may not be held as a pet. Licences exist under O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4 and DNR says in terms that they "are not issued for the purpose of holding native wildlife as pets". The western hognose, the ordinary pet-trade animal, is not a Georgia species and is not on the list, so which hognose a keeper has decides this cell.

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".

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder with no exception for harmless species, having no native snakes to protect.

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.

The following species shall be designated nongame species in need of conservation within the boundaries of the state of Kansas. ... (4) Reptiles ... Plains hog-nosed snake, Heterodon nasicus (Baird and Girard, 1852) ... Eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos (Latreille, 1801)

This is the flying squirrel pattern, and it is the sharpest case on the map of three regulations closing in sequence. Kansas has both hognose snakes, the western and the eastern, and both are established taxa on the Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas. K.S.A. 32-1002(a)(2) makes it unlawful to possess any wildlife except as permitted by law or regulation. K.A.R. 115-20-3 permits exotic wildlife, but (d) defines exotic as a species not native or indigenous to Kansas, and a Kansas native is not that. K.A.R. 115-20-2 permits taking certain Kansas wildlife, and its reptile clause at (b)(13) would cover a hognose, but the opening words of (b) exclude any species listed in K.A.R. 115-15-1 or 115-15-2, and this regulation is that list with both Heterodon species on it by binomial. Nothing is left to permit possession. The special permit at 115-15-3 covers threatened and endangered wildlife rather than nongame species in need of conservation, so there is no permit route either. Worth knowing for the pet trade specifically: the western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, is the animal almost every captive-bred hognose in the trade is, and it is the one Kansas names first.

Existing owners: K.A.R. 115-15-2(c) lets an animal possessed before the regulation took effect be retained if an application of affidavit was filed with and approved by the secretary before 1 January 1990, or possession had already been approved by the department.

How this rule works: The list of nongame species in need of conservation, adopted under K.S.A. 32-959. It is both a protection and a statement of nativity: a species on it exists in Kansas, which takes it out of the exotic wildlife definition in 115-20-3(d) and out of the takeable list in 115-20-2(b).

"Small game" means black, gray and fox squirrels, European hares, varying hares, cottontail rabbits, native frogs, native salamanders, native turtles, native lizards, native snakes, coyotes, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) except captive bred red fox or gray fox, raccoon, opossum, or weasel, skunk, bobcat, lynx, muskrat, mink, except mink born in captivity, fisher, otter, beaver, sable and marten but does not include coydogs. ... No person shall, at any time of the year, buy, sell, offer or expose for sale, transport, or have in his possession any fish protected by law, game, protected wildlife ... whether taken within the state or coming from without the state, except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law.

Caught twice over. The eastern hognose snake is on the § 3.3 native snake list with no open season, and it is separately listed as a species of special concern on DEC's Part 182 list, which is named directly in the definition of protected wildlife at ECL § 11-0103(6)(c). The western hognose, the ordinary pet-trade animal, is not a New York species, so the answer turns on which hognose a keeper actually has, and the state list only reaches one of them. The chain runs through a definition nobody expects. ECL § 11-0103(2)(c) puts "native frogs, native salamanders, native turtles, native lizards, native snakes" inside the definition of SMALL GAME, which makes them game, which makes them protected wildlife under § 11-0103(6)(c). § 11-0107(2) then bars possessing protected wildlife "whether taken within the state or coming from without the state, except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law", so a captive-bred animal bought in another state is in the same position as one caught in a New York yard. And the only possession licence, § 11-0515, is issued for "propagation, banding, scientific or exhibition purposes", which is not a pet.

How this rule works: Two sentences and a list. Subdivision (a) defines native snakes as sixteen named species including the common garter snake, the eastern milk snake, the eastern hognose snake and the black rat snake, and subdivision (b) reads in its entirety "Open season. None." That is what turns the small game classification into a prohibition. DEC states the result plainly in its own season summary: for turtles, "The only turtle species for which there is an open hunting season is the snapping turtle. You may not harvest, take, or possess any other turtle species at any time", and for the rest, "You may not harvest, take, or possess any native snakes, lizards, or salamanders at any time." New York publishes the NYCRR only through Westlaw, which serves document pages to a browser User-Agent but not the Part 175 possession chapter, so the seasons and this section are the readable half of the regulation.

Reptiles (Reptilia). All Helodermatidae ...; all front-fanged venomous snakes, even if devenomized ...; all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including, but not limited to, the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda; any member of the family Pythonidae, including, but not limited to, the African rock python, Indian or Burmese python, Amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc's or African savannah monitor, Komodo monitor or dragon, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, Bornean earless monitor; any member of the family Iguanidae, including the green or common iguana; any member of the family teiidae, including, but not limited to, the golden, common, or black and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; all turtles and tortoises with a carapace length of less than four (4) inches; and all members of the order Crocodylia ...

The one animal on this map that the Colubridae clause is plainly written for. It reaches "all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized", and the hognose is the textbook rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded colubrid whose bite produces local envenomation. The words "even if devenomized" show the clause is aimed at exactly this category rather than at front-fanged species, which the previous sentence already covers. The eastern hognose is also a New York species of special concern, so § 161.01(b)(ii) reaches it independently through the state's protected wildlife scheme. The western hognose, the ordinary pet-trade animal, escapes the state route and not the colubrid one. § 161.01(d) is worth knowing alongside the prohibition: a prohibited animal may be seized by any authorized city employee, the owner has three business days to request a hearing, and with the Department's written consent the animal may be removed to a jurisdiction where it is not prohibited. That last provision is the closest thing to relief in the article.

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.

The take or possession of any native West Virginia reptile or amphibian species not listed hereafter is prohibited pursuant to W. Va. Code 20-2-4.

West Virginia bars its own reptiles rather than exotic ones, which is the opposite of how most states are built and the reason this reads as banned while a bearded dragon here is legal. 58-73-1.1 prohibits taking or possessing any native species not listed later in the rule, and section 4 lists ten salamanders for bait, two frogs, and two turtles, the snapping turtle and the eastern spiny softshell. No snake and no lizard is anywhere in it. The DNR summary of the rule opens by saying West Virginia herp regulations prohibit the possession of 80 species of reptiles and amphibians. The DNR checklist names the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) among the state twenty-two snakes.

How this rule works: A closed list for natives. Section 4 names ten salamanders for bait, two frogs, and exactly two turtles. No lizard and no snake appears anywhere in it, and 58-73-1.1 says possession of any native species not listed is prohibited. The DNR summary of this rule opens by saying West Virginia herp regulations prohibit the possession of 80 species of reptiles and amphibians.

THREATENED AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF ILLINOIS ... Snakes ... Plains Hog-nosed Snake Heterodon nasicus

The species the pet trade sells as the western hognose is Heterodon nasicus, and Illinois lists it as a threatened species. 520 ILCS 10/3 then makes it unlawful to possess any animal on the Illinois List unless otherwise authorized by law, with no captive-bred carve-out written into the statute, so a Department endangered or threatened species possession permit is the route, applied for through the Office of Resource Conservation, with a separate Herptile Endangered and Threatened Species Propagation Permit at $150 a year on top if the animal is to be bred or sold. The eastern hognose, Heterodon platirhinos, is the other Illinois native and is not listed, so it sits under the ordinary 4-per-species and 8-total cap instead. Which hognose it is decides the answer here, and the pet trade animal is the listed one. Illinois is a home rule state, so a municipal ordinance can be stricter than anything above and is often the rule that actually decides this.

How this rule works: Amended effective 30 October 2025. Three entries here reach animals sold in the pet trade: the Great Plains ratsnake is endangered, and the plains hog-nosed snake and the ornate box turtle are threatened.

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

Both the eastern and the western hognose are native to Missouri and neither is venomous for the purposes of the Class II list, so they fall in Class I.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

A permit shall be required for any other exotic mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians, or nongame species not specifically exempted by N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4.

The two hognoses reach the permit from opposite directions. The eastern hognose, Heterodon platirhinos, is native to New Jersey and appears on the 4.17 nongame table as secure-stable, so it is a nongame species and 4.5 catches it. The western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, is not native, so it is an exotic reptile and 4.5 catches it too. Neither is on the closed exempt list at 4.4, whose only colubrids are the garter snake and the ribbon snake. For the native one there is the further point that taking it from the wild is separately illegal, so the permit has to sit on a captive-bred animal.

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.

Rep/Amph | Snake | Colubridae | Heterodon nasicus nasicus | Western Hognose Snake | III

Group III, which is a permit with strings: the list defines the group as animals presenting minimal or manageable concerns that require specific provisions to be met before an importation permit issues. All three Heterodon on the list sit here, the western, eastern and Mexican hognose alike, so unlike most states the answer does not turn on which hognose you have. One caveat on all of this: 19.35.7 NMAC is an importation rule, its stated scope being persons who desire to bring wildlife species into New Mexico, so it governs getting the animal here rather than keeping one already in the state.

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.

Snake, Southern Hognose Heterodon simus

Which hognose decides this, and Alabama says so twice. 220-2-.92(1)(c) protects the southern hognose, Heterodon simus, by name, so possessing that species needs a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The eastern hognose, H. platirhinos, is also an Alabama animal and is not on the list, and the western hognose, H. nasicus, is the pet trade species and is not native here at all. Both of those are unrestricted. The other half is a nice piece of drafting: 220-2-.26(1) bans venomous reptiles that have never naturally existed in the wild in Alabama and then writes an express exception, "except for hognose snakes (genus Heterodon)", which settles the rear-fanged argument that leaves this animal ambiguous in several other states.

How this rule works: The native side of Alabama, and the rule that catches what 220-2-.26 does not. Protection means no possession without a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The reptile list is species by species, the amphibian list is not: it protects all native salamander species by genus. Cornell LII still shows the older per-species salamander list, so read the official PDF.

Any captive-bred species from the genus Heterodon except the Eastern hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platirhinos), Lystrophis, or Leioheterodon (hognose snakes)

Captive-bred western hognose is on Appendix B, needing documentation under § 703(B) but no licence, and CPW files Heterodon nasicus (captive bred) against exactly this line. Two things fall outside it. The eastern hognose is excluded by name. And a hognose taken from the wild in Colorado is not covered: CPW files that as legacy possession only, lawful if held on or before 1 May 2026 and reported by 30 July 2026, with no new wild capture allowed. CPW tells keepers to check their city or county as well, so a local ordinance can still be the binding rule.

How this rule works: Secretary of State's official text of the new herpetofauna chapter, effective 1 May 2026. A closed-list scheme: #701 makes possession of any live reptile or amphibian unlawful unless the chapter allows it, Appendix A is free possession, Appendix B is free possession with documentation, Appendix C is wild collection under a resident licence, and anything on none of them is regulated wildlife.

Eastern Hog-nosed Snake ... State Species of Special Concern

Which hognose it is decides the answer, and the split runs the opposite way from Illinois. Connecticut's own eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos, is a State Species of Special Concern, which makes it a Category Four Wild Animal needing a permit to import or possess. The western hognose, H. nasicus, is the animal the pet trade sells, is not a Connecticut species, and appears in none of the four categories, so it is unrestricted. Illinois lists the western and leaves the eastern alone; Connecticut does the reverse.

How this rule works: DEEP's own species pages carry the state listing status in their header, which is what decides whether an animal is a Category Four Wild Animal under § 26-55-6. The eastern box turtle and the eastern hog-nosed snake are both State Species of Special Concern; the common snapping turtle is not listed. Fact sheet URLs follow the common name with hyphens, but not predictably: eastern-hog-nosed-snake works and eastern-hognose-snake does not.

The condition is which hognose. The eastern hognose is native to Delaware, so it is DNREC's and native reptiles are not available for private ownership, subject only to the captive-bred aberrant colour morph carve-out held under permit. The western hognose that dominates the pet trade is not a Delaware species, which makes it a non-native reptile needing an Individual permit from Agriculture instead. Neither route is simply open, but they are different routes.

How this rule works: Delaware Code Online's game and fish possession chapter administered by DNREC, paired with a separate exotic species permit chapter at Del. Code tit. 3, c. 72.

This section governs the: (1) sale; (2) transport for sale; or (3) offer for sale; of any reptile or amphibian native to Indiana regardless of place of origin. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section and in section 9 of this rule, an individual must not sell, transport for sale, or offer to sell a reptile or amphibian that is native to Indiana.

The hognose snake is native to Indiana, which is what decides it, and Indiana's native rule is unusual in reaching a purchased animal. 9-5-7(c) lists the eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos, among the 99 taxa whose sale it governs, and 9-5-7(a) says the section applies "regardless of place of origin", so a captive-bred animal from an out-of-state breeder is caught by it just as a wild-caught one is. Selling, offering for sale or transporting for sale is barred; possessing is not, subject to 9-5-6(f)'s cap of four live animals of any one native species. Two exits exist. 9-5-7(f) exempts a captive-bred animal with albinistic, leucistic or xanthic colour morphology, on the same logic New Jersey uses for corn snake morphs, that a morph is visibly not a wild-caught animal. And 9-5-9 provides a reptile captive breeding licence under which sales are lawful. Which hognose matters. The eastern is the Indiana animal and is on the list; the western, Heterodon nasicus, is the pet trade species, is not native here, and is not on it. The rear-fanged question never arises, because 9-5-8 and 9-11-8(a)(4) reach a venomous reptile and Indiana has not treated a hognose as one.

How this rule works: The rule 312 IAC 9-11 does not reach. 9-5-1(b) makes every reptile and amphibian native to Indiana a protected wild animal, 9-5-6(f) caps possession at four per species, and 9-5-7 bars selling a native species "regardless of place of origin" against a list of 99 taxa given by binomial. 9-5-7(f) then exempts captive-bred albinistic, leucistic and xanthic morphs. Indiana's own rules site, iar.iga.in.gov, serves its React shell for every path including its own script bundles, so this is read from Cornell LII and cited to the official section.

Notwithstanding Natural Resources Article, §4-902, Annotated Code of Maryland, a person without a reptile and amphibian permit may possess only one of each individual reptile or amphibian, live or dead, listed in Regulation .03B of this chapter. A person may not take wood turtles, spotted turtles, or diamond-backed terrapins, including their eggs, from the wild. ... All turtles shall have a carapace length of at least 4 inches.

Which hognose it is decides the answer, and Maryland makes the split a matter of degree rather than of kind. The eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos, is a Maryland native on the middle tier, so one per person with no permit. The western hognose, H. nasicus, is the animal the pet trade sells, is not on any of the three native lists, and is therefore outside the chapter entirely and unrestricted. Illinois and Connecticut each list one hognose and leave the other alone too, and no two of the three states pick the same one. Subsection (e) of § 10-621 preserves stricter county and municipal rules, and Maryland counties use that power, so the local ordinance is worth checking before the state list.

How this rule works: Maryland's native reptile and amphibian chapter, adopted 1993 and amended through 2016, renumbered from 08.03.09. It works off three lists in Regulation .03: .03A species may be kept four per species without a permit, .03B species one only, and .03C species not at all outside a scientific collection or endangered species permit. A species on none of the three lists is not native to Maryland and the chapter does not reach it. Regulation .03D provides that where both names are given, the scientific name controls.

Snakes of the family Colubridae, as follows: ... Garter and Ribbon Snakes (Thamnophis spp.) ... Kingsnakes and Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis spp.) ... North American Ratsnakes (Pantherophis spp.) except the Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis other than albinistic and leucistic individuals) which requires a permit ... Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Massachusetts answers the two hognose species differently, and the common name hides it. The colubrid list clears the Western Hognose Snake, Heterodon nasicus, by name and by name only, so the ordinary pet-trade hognose is exempt. The eastern hognose, Heterodon platirhinos, is a Massachusetts species of special concern on the 321 CMR 10.90 list, which makes it categorically non-exempt under 9.01(3)(c) and puts it in the permit tier that MassWildlife says is not issued for pets. Both animals are IUCN least concern, so this split comes entirely from the state list.

How this rule works: Massachusetts runs a closed white list and says so in terms: a species not on it, or listed as requiring a permit, is not exempt from M.G.L. c. 131, § 23. Two structural points decide most of this state. First, 9.01(2) defines "species" as a "distinct non-domestic VERTEBRATE animal population", and § 23 itself reaches only fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, so terrestrial invertebrates are outside the scheme entirely. Second, 9.01(3) is a categorical override that most readings of this rule miss: no species may be exempted if it is listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, appears in the IUCN Red Book(s), or is on the Massachusetts endangered, threatened and special concern list at 321 CMR 10.90. Nearly every group listing in 9.01 repeats the cross-reference, so it operates as a live carve-out rather than as drafting furniture, and it is what pulls the Burmese python out of Boidae, the crested gecko out of Gekkonidae and the box turtle out of the turtle allowance.

Reptiles and amphibians may not be bought, sold or offered for sale.

The eastern hog-nosed snake is Michigan native and is not on the protected list, so it may be taken, but only on conditions. A fishing license is required, the limit is three a day and six in total across snakes, lizards and turtles combined, and the quoted sale ban means you cannot lawfully buy one in Michigan or sell the one you have. Personal collection is the only lawful route. The western hognose that dominates the pet trade is not a Michigan species at all, so it sits outside this order and is simply legal, which makes the answer depend entirely on which hognose is in the tank.

How this rule works: The order that actually governs herps in Michigan, and the one most summaries miss because it sits in the fishing rules rather than the wildlife rules. Its reach is the phrase "any state reptile or amphibian from the wild", so it binds native species taken here and leaves captive-bred non-native pets alone. Michigan.gov blocks automated access, so this was read from the official guide as published by the state's regulations publisher.

The commissioner must prescribe conditions and may issue permits to breed, propagate, and sell snakes, lizards, and salamanders. A snake, lizard, or salamander that is obtained from a permitted breeder or that was possessed before August 1, 2021, may be possessed as a pet.

Minnesota gets here in three steps, and the surprise is that none of them turns on the species being native. Section 97A.015, subd. 55 defines wild animals as creatures wild by nature and includes reptiles, with no geographic limit. Subd. 39 makes snakes, lizards and salamanders protected wild animals as whole categories. Section 97A.501, subd. 1 then bars possessing a protected wild animal unless the game and fish laws allow it, and this subdivision is the allowance. Both hognose species are Minnesota natives, so the wild-collection reading and the breeder-source reading point the same way. Neither is listed as endangered or threatened in Minnesota; the DNR's listed snakes are the eastern massasauga, the timber rattlesnake and the western ratsnake. Two things to know about how firm this is. The statute says the commissioner "must" prescribe conditions, but there is no snake, lizard or salamander breeder permit on the DNR's permits page, Minnesota Rules chapter 6256 covers only frogs and turtles, and no rule chapter implements the subdivision. And the DNR's own pet-trade page describes the change as reaching "wild collected Minnesota snakes, lizards, and/or salamanders", which is narrower than the statute's words and does not mention the breeder permit at all. So the condition is real on paper and its machinery is not visibly in place.

How this rule works: Subd. 8, added in 2021, is the pet reptile rule: the commissioner must prescribe conditions and may issue breeder permits, and a snake, lizard or salamander is possessable as a pet if it came from a permitted breeder or was held before 1 August 2021. Subd. 3 is the older, broader route, allowing special permits without a fee to possess wild animals as pets.

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

Both Nebraska hognose species are on the three-per-species list at § 001.03A4, the plains hognose Heterodon nasicus and the eastern hognose H. platirhinos. That is unusually even-handed: most states on this map treat the two differently, because the eastern is the one that tends to be listed. Nebraska caps them identically. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

No closed season. All reptiles except those listed in (3) and (5) of this section shall have a year-round season. (2) Bag limit. The bag limit is 6 per day or in possession for each species allowed in section (1) of this section.

The hognose snake is an Oklahoma animal, which moves it out of the exemption at 800:25-25-3(c), since that clause is written for species "not indigenous to Oklahoma". What applies instead is the reptile and amphibian part at 800:25-7. Two provisions matter to a keeper. 7-7(2)(A) requires a resident or nonresident hunting licence of anyone "taking or attempting to take reptiles and amphibians or possessing reptiles or amphibians" that are land dwelling, which is a possession hook and not merely a collecting one. And 7-8 gives every reptile a year-round season except a closed list of twelve, with a limit of "6 per day or in possession for each species". Recorded as conditional on those two rather than as a permit, because there is no application and no discretion: a hunting licence is sold over the counter. 29 O.S. § 7-502(B)(4) separately exempts anyone possessing legally obtained wildlife "from a source other than the wild, as pets" from the statutory possession bar, which is why a captive-bred animal is not caught by the closed-season rule. Both the eastern and the plains hognose reach Oklahoma, so unlike most states the answer does not turn on which species you have. Neither is on the closed list at 7-8(5), and Oklahoma does not treat a rear-fanged colubrid as venomous anywhere in the part: the venomous species it does single out are the four rattlesnakes, which get their own March to June season and their own five-day permit.

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 licence 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.

Eastern Hog-nosed Snake ( Heterodon platirhinos ) | No open season | 0 | 0

The condition is which hognose. The eastern hognose is Pennsylvania native, gets no open season and a zero limit, and cannot be imported from another jurisdiction under § 79.10(a), so it can be neither taken nor bought. The western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, which is what the pet trade almost always sells, is not on the Commission's native species list and so falls outside Chapter 79 entirely. Nearly every hognose in a Pennsylvania shop is lawful and the one in the field is not.

How this rule works: Official Pennsylvania Code text; the catch-all 'native species not listed' line sets a 1-per-day/1-in-possession limit, and companion §79.4 requires a permit for continued possession regardless of the animal's origin.

A person without a nongame or nongame dealer’s permit may: (A) possess six or fewer specimens of a species of nongame wildlife listed in §65.331(e) of this title, provided the person does not engage in commercial activity involving the nongame wildlife; and (B) possess 25 or fewer specimens of a species of nongame wildlife listed in §65.331(d) of this title, provided the person does not engage in commercial activity involving the nongame wildlife.

Both Texas hognose species are on the § 65.331(d) list by name, the western Heterodon nasicus and the eastern H. platirhinos, so whichever one a keeper has, the answer is 25 without a permit and no commercial activity. The cap reaches captive-bred animals: § 65.325(a) says nongame wildlife "includes captive-bred nongame wildlife", so a pet shop receipt does not lift it. The western hognose is the ordinary pet-trade animal and is squarely native to Texas, so the captive-bred qualification is the one that matters here.

How this rule works: The rule that decides a Texas pet question whenever the animal is native, and the one the dangerous wild animal statute distracts from. § 65.327(a) starts from a prohibition, "no person may collect, acquire, possess, import, export, cause the import or export of, or engage in a commercial activity involving nongame wildlife", and § 65.327(b)(3) then gives an unlicensed keeper two numbers: 25 of a species on the § 65.331(d) list, six of anything else. Three definitions carry the weight. § 65.325(a) says nongame wildlife "includes captive-bred nongame wildlife", so buying from a breeder does not lift the cap. The same sentence limits the subchapter to VERTEBRATE wildlife, which is narrower than the statute it implements, since Parks & Wild. Code § 67.001 says "vertebrate and invertebrate", and that gap is what leaves every terrestrial invertebrate outside the scheme entirely. And § 65.326(2) defines commercial activity as "the sale, offer for sale, exchange, or barter", so buying is not itself commercial activity, and § 65.327(b)(1)(B) lets a permitted dealer "sell lawfully obtained nongame wildlife to anyone". The two species lists are attached figures rather than statutory text: the (d) list names about 100 species, and the (e) list is longer and expressly "not limited to" what it names, so a native species on neither list falls to the six cap.

The following species may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use: red-eared slider and all reptile and amphibian Species of Greatest Conservation Need designated in Virginia’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan.

Virginia runs two schemes and 4VAC15-20-50 decides which one an animal is in, so the exotic permit table is the wrong rule for anything Virginia already has. A nonnative (exotic) animal is one "not naturally occurring in Virginia, excluding domestic and naturalized species", which puts every native and every naturalized species outside 4VAC15-30-40 and inside 4VAC15-360-10. Native and naturalized status is not a judgment call here: it is fixed by a document incorporated by reference, the department’s 2024 List of Native and Naturalized Fauna of Virginia, where an asterisk marks a naturalized species and two asterisks one native in some areas and naturalized in others. The two hognose snakes part company here and the answer depends on which one is in the tank. The eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos, is on the department’s native list with no asterisk and is also a reptile Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) says may not be taken or possessed in any number for private use. Not capped at one, barred. The western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, is the animal nearly every captive-bred hognose in the pet trade is, and it appears nowhere on the Virginia native and naturalized list, which makes it a nonnative (exotic) animal; 4VAC15-30-40’s permit table names one snake in the whole of it, the brown tree snake, so a western hognose needs no permit and is not capped. The condition is the species: legal for the western, prohibited for the Virginia native.

How this rule works: The list 4VAC15-360-10(A)(6) turns on. The regulation names Virginia’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, and the department now publishes the list as revised for the 2025 Action Plan, saying the 2025 rankings were built from the 2015 ones. The reptile list carries the woodland box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, and the eastern hog-nosed snake, Heterodon platirhinos; the amphibian list carries the eastern tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. It does not carry the common gartersnake, the red cornsnake, the eastern milksnake, the snapping turtle or the green anole. Several entries name the conservation action as continuing to maintain "no possession" regulations, which is the department describing this rule from the other side.

A person may take or possess up to 5 individuals or eggs of each species of native amphibian, lizard and snake that are not endangered or threatened

The eastern hognose is a Wisconsin native, listed by DNR as Common rather than threatened, so it falls under the general native-herp cap rather than the endangered species rules. Wisconsin repealed and recreated NR 16.12(3) effective 1 January 2027 (CR 25-092). Until then the rule allows taking or possessing up to 5 individuals of each non-listed native species. From that date possession of live native reptiles and amphibians is prohibited outright except under narrow exemptions, of which the one that matters to keepers is NR 16.12(3)(k): captive-bred colour variants acquired from a legal source. A wild-type native animal will no longer be keepable.

How this rule works: Official Wisconsin State Legislature code text; caps take/possession of native, non-listed amphibians, lizards and snakes at 5 individuals per species, with NR 16.13 layering on the purchase restriction for native species.