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Where is the red-footed Tortoise legal?

Chelonoidis carbonarius. Restricted in 2 of the 31 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseAlaska: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseArizona: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseArkansas: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseCalifornia: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseColorado: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseConnecticut: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseDelaware: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseFlorida: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseGeorgia: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseHawaii: conditions apply for red-footed TortoiseIdaho: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseIllinois: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseIndiana: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseIowa: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseKansas: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseKentucky: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseLouisiana: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseMaine: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseMaryland: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseMassachusetts: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseMichigan: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseMinnesota: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseMississippi: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseMissouri: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseMontana: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseNebraska: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseNevada: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseNew Hampshire: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseNew Jersey: permit required for red-footed TortoiseNew Mexico: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseNew York: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseNorth Carolina: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseNorth Dakota: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseOhio: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseOklahoma: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseOregon: not checked yet for red-footed TortoisePennsylvania: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseRhode Island: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseSouth Carolina: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseSouth Dakota: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseTennessee: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseTexas: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseUtah: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseVermont: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseVirginia: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseWashington: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseWest Virginia: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseWisconsin: not checked yet for red-footed TortoiseWyoming: no restriction found for red-footed TortoiseDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for red-footed Tortoise

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. 31 of 51 states and DC have been read for this animal, so the 20 dotted ones are a gap in our research rather than a finding of no rule.

What the colours mean

  • BannedNo 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.
  • UnclearThe rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction found (29)This jurisdiction was read for this animal and nothing in it restricts one.
  • Not checked yet (20)We have not read this jurisdiction for this animal. It is not a clean bill of health, it is a gap.

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Every restriction on the red-footed Tortoise

2 of the 31 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

New Jersey

Permit requiredN.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4, 4.5

Not on the exempt-species list (N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4), which names only American anole, common iguana, boa constrictor, eastern painted turtle, snapping turtle, fence lizard, garter snake, tokay gecko and ribbon snake among reptiles. Falls to the § 4.5 catch-all: 'a permit shall be required for any other exotic mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians... not specifically exempted.'

How this rule works: 4.4 is a closed exempt list; 4.5 requires a permit for 'any other' exotic species not exempted.

N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4 Exempted Species and 7:25-4.5 Additional Species →

Hawaii

Conditions applyList of Conditionally Approved Animals, Family Testudinidae
Chelonoidis (all species in genus except C. elephantopus)

Confirmed directly from the HDOA conditional-animal-list PDF. Unlike the sulcata (which moved out of Geochelone entirely into the unlisted genus Centrochelys, leaving its status genuinely unclear), the red-footed tortoise's current genus Chelonoidis is named outright on this list, with only the Galapagos tortoise (C. elephantopus, separately restricted) carved out. Chelonoidis carbonarius is squarely covered.

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) →

Past the legal question? See the red-footed Tortoise 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.