Illustrated bearded dragon wearing sunglasses and a scarf, the BeastlyFacts loading screen
All animals

Where is the california Kingsnake legal?

Lampropeltis californiae. Restricted in 5 of the 50 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for california KingsnakeAlaska: no restriction found for california KingsnakeArizona: no restriction found for california KingsnakeArkansas: no restriction found for california KingsnakeCalifornia: no restriction found for california KingsnakeColorado: no restriction found for california KingsnakeConnecticut: no restriction found for california KingsnakeDelaware: permit required for california KingsnakeFlorida: no restriction found for california KingsnakeGeorgia: no restriction found for california KingsnakeHawaii: banned for california KingsnakeIdaho: no restriction found for california KingsnakeIllinois: no restriction found for california KingsnakeIndiana: no restriction found for california KingsnakeIowa: no restriction found for california KingsnakeKansas: no restriction found for california KingsnakeKentucky: no restriction found for california KingsnakeLouisiana: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMaine: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMaryland: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMassachusetts: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMichigan: not checked yet for california KingsnakeMinnesota: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMississippi: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMissouri: no restriction found for california KingsnakeMontana: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNebraska: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNevada: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNew Hampshire: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNew Jersey: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNew Mexico: unclear for california KingsnakeNew York: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNorth Carolina: no restriction found for california KingsnakeNorth Dakota: no restriction found for california KingsnakeOhio: no restriction found for california KingsnakeOklahoma: no restriction found for california KingsnakeOregon: conditions apply for california KingsnakePennsylvania: no restriction found for california KingsnakeRhode Island: no restriction found for california KingsnakeSouth Carolina: no restriction found for california KingsnakeSouth Dakota: no restriction found for california KingsnakeTennessee: no restriction found for california KingsnakeTexas: no restriction found for california KingsnakeUtah: no restriction found for california KingsnakeVermont: unclear for california KingsnakeVirginia: no restriction found for california KingsnakeWashington: no restriction found for california KingsnakeWest Virginia: no restriction found for california KingsnakeWisconsin: no restriction found for california KingsnakeWyoming: no restriction found for california KingsnakeDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for california Kingsnake

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. 50 of 51 states and DC have been read for this animal, so the single dotted one is 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 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 found (45)This jurisdiction was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one.
  • Not checked yet (1)We have not read this jurisdiction for this animal. It is not a clean bill of health, it is a gap.

Choose an animal

ServalFennec foxPrairie dogCapybaraFlying SquirrelBurmese pythonGarter SnakeBengal catTiger salamanderFerretHedgehogSnapping turtleSugar gliderDeguMilk snakeQuaker parakeetNile monitorBox turtleCorn snakeTarantulaArgentine black and white teguAxolotlEmperor scorpionRed-eared sliderBoa constrictorGiant African millipedeGreen iguanaRosy boaSavannah monitorAckie MonitorCalifornia KingsnakeBall pythonChinchillaCockatooVeiled chameleonAfrican grey parrotGerbilHognose snakeRed-Footed TortoiseRussian tortoiseSulcata tortoiseTokay geckoGuinea pigHamster

Every restriction on the california Kingsnake

5 of the 50 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's snake ban reaches every species in the suborder, kingsnakes included, with no pet-keeping permit available.

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) →

Delaware

Permit requiredDel. Code tit. 3, c. 72

A live reptile not native to or generally found in Delaware needs a permit from the Department of Agriculture before it may be brought into the state, possessed, sold, or exhibited. The California kingsnake, a Pacific coast species, is exotic to Delaware.

How this rule works: §7201 requires a permit before bringing in, possessing, selling, or exhibiting any live wild mammal or reptile not native to Delaware; the California kingsnake, a Pacific coast species, falls under this permit requirement.

Delaware Code, Title 3, Chapter 72 — Possession of Mammals or Reptiles Exotic to Delaware →

Oregon

Conditions applyOAR 635-056-0060(D)
Individuals of Lampropeltis getula, L. zonata and Pituophis catenifer that are morphologically distinct from native species.

Oregon's kingsnake clearance, written under the older taxonomy in which the California kingsnake was classified as Lampropeltis getula californiae, only reaches individuals 'morphologically distinct from native species' -- in practice, a recognizable color or pattern morph rather than a wild-type-looking snake. Wild-caught, native-looking kingsnakes and their offspring aren't covered.

How this rule works: Oregon Secretary of State's administrative rules database entry listing wildlife species exempt from ODFW importation permits.

OAR 635-056-0060 →

New Mexico

Unclear

New Mexico sorts exotic wildlife into Groups I through IV by danger level; the California kingsnake wasn't named in the regulation text located, and an unlisted species defaults to Group IV, whose actual requirements weren't confirmed in this research.

How this rule works: Four groups. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit; Group IV is 'dangerous, invasive, undesirable, state or federal listed threatened, endangered, a furbearer or any other species of concern' and is barred to the general public, allowed only for scientific study, restoration, zoological display, temporary events, service animals or qualified experts. The operative default: 'Any species of live non-domesticated animal not currently on the species importation list will be designated group IV until such time as another determination is made by the director.' The group assignments themselves live in a separate Director's Species Importation List, roughly 27 pages, which I could not obtain.

N.M. Admin. Code 19.35.7, Importation of Live Non-domesticated Animals, Birds and Fish →

Vermont

Unclear10 V.S.A. App. § 18

Vermont requires an Importation & Possession Permit for any wild animal not on its Unrestricted Wild Animals List. This research could not confirm whether the California kingsnake appears on that list.

How this rule works: Vermont Legislature's official text requiring an Importation and Possession Permit for any wild animal not on the Commissioner's Unrestricted Wild Animals List.

10 V.S.A. App. § 18 →

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

Past the legal question? See the california Kingsnake 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.