Exotic pet laws in Alabama

§ (1)

Any species of Tegus (Salvator sp.);

Banned by genus, so every tegu in the pet trade under the name Salvator is caught, not just the Argentine black and white.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.26(1)

Any species of bird, mammal, fish, crustacea, mollusk, reptile, or amphibian listed as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;

This is what an incorporation by reference does when the federal list moves. Alabama bans possessing any amphibian the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, and the salamander rule effective January 2025 put genus Ambystoma on that list. Nothing in Alabama changed and the answer did. The distinction that saves the axolotl in most states, that an injurious listing restricts importation and interstate shipment rather than possession, does not help here, because Alabama has adopted the federal list as its own possession bar. The state's own native protection at 220-2-.92 would not have reached this animal, since Ambystoma mexicanum is Mexican and that clause covers native salamanders.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ (1)

Any species of bird, mammal, fish, crustacea, mollusk, reptile, or amphibian listed as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;

Alabama does not name the species itself. It adopts the federal injurious wildlife list, which has included Python bivittatus since 2012, so the federal listing does the work.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ (1)

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

The largest rodent in the world, and a wild one. Nothing in the rule carves out captive bred stock.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ (1)

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; any member of the family Cervidae (to include but not be limited to deer, elk, moose, caribou), species of coyote, species of fox, species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey, black bear (Ursus americanus), mountain lion (Felis concolor), bobcat (Felis rufus), Pronghorn Antelope (Antelocapridae), any nondomestic member of the families Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (peccaries), or Bovidae (except bison).

Species of fox, without qualification. Every fennec fox in the trade comes from outside Alabama, which is the trigger.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ (1)

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

The wild-rodent import ban that this site's prairie-dog research already documents names squirrels specifically in the underlying regulation text. A flying squirrel brought into Alabama from outside the state is a wild rodent under this rule.

Cities and counties here can prohibit what state law permits, so check your local ordinance too.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ (1)

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

A prairie dog is a wild rodent on any reading of the phrase, and one brought into Alabama comes from outside the state by definition.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.92(1)(b); r. 220-2-.26(1)

All native salamander species, including those in the genera Ambystoma, Amphiuma, Aneides, Cryptobranchus, Desmognathus, Eurycea, Gyrinophilus, Hemidactylium, Necturus, Notophthalmus, Phaeognathus, Plethodon, Pseudotriton, and Siren.

Alabama catches this one twice, from opposite directions. 220-2-.92(1)(b) does not list amphibians species by species the way it lists reptiles; it protects "all native salamander species", naming fourteen genera, and Ambystoma is the first of them. The eastern tiger salamander is an Alabama animal, so it is protected wildlife and possession needs a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. Then 220-2-.26(1) bans by reference anything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, and the January 2025 federal salamander rule added genus Ambystoma to that list. The second hook has no permit behind it at all, only the 220-2-.26(6) exemption for accredited educational, research and rehabilitation facilities. Note that Cornell LII still shows the older per-species amphibian list, which does not carry the genus-wide language.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.92(1)(c)

Snake, All Native King Lampropeltis spp.

This entry read legal, checked against the Lacey Act clause in 220-2-.26 and against nothing else. That clause does not reach a milk snake and it is not the rule that answers one. 220-2-.92(1)(c) protects "Snake, All Native King" and gives the scientific name as Lampropeltis spp., the whole genus, and Lampropeltis triangulum is native to Alabama. Protection under 220-2-.92(1) bars possessing the species without a scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner, with no carve-out for a captive-bred animal or one bought out of state. Recorded as a permit rather than a ban because the rule does provide for a Commissioner's permit and says nothing about who may hold one, but no pet category is named anywhere in it, so a keeper should not expect one. The California kingsnake gets the opposite answer on this map, and the reason is the word "Native" in the same line.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.92(4)

It shall be unlawful to possess more than one (1) box turtle or to offer for sale, sell, or trade for anything of value any box turtle (Terrapene spp.), box turtle part, or reproductive product except by permit as outlined in paragraph (1).

Alabama gives the box turtle its own subsection rather than putting it on the protected list, and the condition is a number: one. Possessing more than one box turtle is unlawful, and so is selling, offering for sale or trading one for anything of value, with the only exception a permit under paragraph (1), which is the scientific collection permit or a written permit from the Commissioner. The rule says Terrapene spp., so it reaches the ornate box turtle as well as the eastern, and it carries no origin qualifier, which means a captive-bred one bought out of state counts towards the one. The sale bar is the sharper half in practice: a keeper may lawfully have a box turtle and no one may lawfully sell them one.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-2-.92(1)(c); r. 220-2-.26(1)

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ (1)

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

Wild rodent is not defined anywhere in the rule. A pet degu is captive bred, but Octodon degus is a wild species with no domesticated lineage behind it, unlike the hamster or the guinea pig. Ask the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries before buying.

How this rule works: Alabama's prohibited list, not a permitted one, so absence from it means an animal is unrestricted. The official code site is a React app that serves nothing to a fetcher, but /api/rule/<number> returns the current rule as a PDF; use it, because Cornell LII's copy is the 2020 version and the current one differs. Two clauses do most of the work: everything the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a block of mammals is banned when it comes from outside Alabama.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.