Where is the savannah monitor legal?

Varanus exanthematicus. Restricted in 3 of the 19 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for savannah monitorAlaska: no restriction found for savannah monitorArizona: no restriction found for savannah monitorArkansas: no restriction found for savannah monitorCalifornia: no restriction found for savannah monitorColorado: no restriction found for savannah monitorConnecticut: no restriction found for savannah monitorDelaware: no restriction found for savannah monitorFlorida: no restriction found for savannah monitorGeorgia: no restriction found for savannah monitorHawaii: no restriction found for savannah monitorIdaho: no restriction found for savannah monitorIllinois: no restriction found for savannah monitorIndiana: no restriction found for savannah monitorIowa: no restriction found for savannah monitorKansas: no restriction found for savannah monitorKentucky: no restriction found for savannah monitorLouisiana: banned for savannah monitorMaine: no restriction found for savannah monitorMaryland: no restriction found for savannah monitorMassachusetts: no restriction found for savannah monitorMichigan: no restriction found for savannah monitorMinnesota: no restriction found for savannah monitorMississippi: no restriction found for savannah monitorMissouri: no restriction found for savannah monitorMontana: no restriction found for savannah monitorNebraska: no restriction found for savannah monitorNevada: no restriction found for savannah monitorNew Hampshire: no restriction found for savannah monitorNew Jersey: no restriction found for savannah monitorNew Mexico: no restriction found for savannah monitorNew York: no restriction found for savannah monitorNorth Carolina: no restriction found for savannah monitorNorth Dakota: no restriction found for savannah monitorOhio: no restriction found for savannah monitorOklahoma: no restriction found for savannah monitorOregon: no restriction found for savannah monitorPennsylvania: no restriction found for savannah monitorRhode Island: permit required for savannah monitorSouth Carolina: no restriction found for savannah monitorSouth Dakota: no restriction found for savannah monitorTennessee: no restriction found for savannah monitorTexas: no restriction found for savannah monitorUtah: no restriction found for savannah monitorVermont: no restriction found for savannah monitorVirginia: no restriction found for savannah monitorWashington: no restriction found for savannah monitorWest Virginia: no restriction found for savannah monitorWisconsin: no restriction found for savannah monitorWyoming: no restriction found for savannah monitorDistrict of Columbia: no restriction found for savannah monitor

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. The counts include New York City, which has rules separate from the surrounding state and so cannot be shaded on a state map. Listed in full below.

What the colours mean

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

Choose an animal

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Every restriction on the savannah monitor

3 of the 19 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

Louisiana

Banned§ 101.K.2.a.iv
iv. Savannah Monitor (Varanus exanthematicus);

Louisiana is unusual in banning the savannah monitor. Most states that restrict monitors reach only the giant species.

Existing owners: Registration within 365 days of the rule taking effect, no breeding, no further acquisition.

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 →

New York City

Banned
any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc's or African savannah monitor

How this rule works: § 161.01 is the list of animals that may not be kept in the five boroughs. It binds regardless of what New York State allows, which is why the city and the state answer differently for several species.

New York City Health Code Article 161, Animals (NYC Department of Health official PDF) →

Rhode Island

Permit required§ 3.17(A)(4)(c)(1)
Possession of the Gila Monster, Beaded Lizard (Heloderatidae), and all Monitors (Varanidae) requires an exotic animal possession permit.

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 →

Past the legal question? See the savannah monitor 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.