Exotic pet laws in Arkansas

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Ball Python (Python regius) ... Blood Python (Python curtus) ... Bornean Shorttail and Red Blood Pythons (Python breitensteini, P. brongersmai)

Arkansas clears pythons species by species and by genus for the Australasian group. Python bivittatus is on none of those entries, so the Burmese python stays restricted. It is federal injurious wildlife as well, which bars bringing one across a state line.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

Not on the mammal list, which stops at the Norway rat and the chinchilla in rodent terms.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

Octodon degus is absent while the chinchilla, guinea pig and hamsters are all named, so the omission looks deliberate rather than accidental.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The unrestricted mammal list has one carnivore, the European domestic ferret, plus wolf and dog hybrids. The fennec is on neither.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Arkansas's unrestricted list clears several New World colubrid genera by name (Lampropeltis, Pantherophis, Nerodia, and others), but every one of those entries excepts species native to Arkansas, and Thamnophis never appears on the list at all. As Arkansas's own native species, a garter snake isn't covered by the pet-trade clearance and instead needs the state's Permitted Captive Wildlife Species List.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Monitor Lizards (Genus Varanus: V. acanthurus, V. albigularis, V. glauerti, V. jobiensis, V. kingorum, V. macraei, V. pilbarensis, V. prasinus, V. salvator, V. timorensis)

Varanus niloticus is absent from the cleared list, so it remains restricted non-native wildlife.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

No Cynomys is on the unrestricted mammal list, so the restriction and permit codes still apply.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The bird list runs to dozens of parrots by name and the monk parakeet is not among them, so it stays inside Code 09.02 rather than being exempted. This is the usual pattern: the monk parakeet is the one parrot states single out, because established colonies damage electrical infrastructure.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Monitor Lizards (Genus Varanus: V. acanthurus, V. albigularis, V. glauerti, V. jobiensis, V. kingorum, V. macraei, V. pilbarensis, V. prasinus, V. salvator, V. timorensis)

Arkansas clears ten monitors by name and the savannah is not one of them, which is a near miss worth noticing: V. albigularis, the white-throated monitor, is on the list and was long treated as a subspecies of V. exanthematicus.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

No felid appears anywhere on the unrestricted list.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code 09.14(A)(1) and (B)

It is unlawful to possess native wildlife as pets except as follows: ... No more than 6 per household of any combination of the following animals may be possessed as pets: Hand-captured opossum, rabbit, raccoon and squirrel

The southern flying squirrel is an Arkansas native and appears nowhere in Addendum R1.01, whose mammal section runs to thirteen entries and no sciurid, so it is a Code 09.14 animal rather than an unrestricted one. Six per household, by either route: hand-captured in Arkansas under (A), which bars sale and removal from the state, or commercially obtained and captive born under (B), which requires a Commission-permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealer or a Wildlife Importation Permit and acquisition records. Recorded conditional rather than permit because nothing is issued and nothing is paid at six or fewer; above six the Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit at Code 09.07 is what applies.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Addendum R1.01, Reptiles, Geckos and Lizards; Code 09.14(B)

Anoline Lizards (Genera: Anolis, Audantia, Chamaelinorops, Ctenonotus, Dactyloa, Deiroptyx, Norops, Xiphosurus) except Brown Anoles (Anolis sagrei) or species native to Arkansas

Two exceptions, and the second is written for this animal: Anolis carolinensis is the only anole native to the United States, and the Arkansas Herpetological Atlas vouchers it in 29 of the state’s 75 counties across the Ouachita Mountains and South Central Plains. Off R1.01 it becomes a Code 09.14 native pet, six per household, either hand-captured in Arkansas or commercially obtained and captive born from a Commission-permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealer or under a Wildlife Importation Permit. The first exception, the brown anole, is an invasive rather than a native, which is why the entry needed both.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Code 09.14(B); Addendum R1.01

Captive born native wildlife: No more than 6 per household of any commercially obtained, captive born native wildlife not listed in Addendum R1.01 may be possessed as personal pets

R1.01 clears the genus Lampropeltis "except species native to Arkansas", and the milksnake is native there, vouchered across the Ozark Highlands and Crowley’s Ridge, so the exception takes it off the unrestricted list and Code 09.14 takes over. No permit and no fee at six or fewer per household, but the animal must be captive born and commercially obtained, acquired either from a Commission-permitted Wildlife Breeder/Dealer or under a Wildlife Importation Permit, with acquisition records kept and produced on demand. The Commission names no binomial, so the whole Arkansas milksnake complex is caught whichever way the 2014 split between L. triangulum and L. gentilis is resolved. Code 09.14(A) is the other route, hand-capture in Arkansas, and those animals may not be sold or taken out of the state.

How this rule works: Code 09.01 makes it unlawful to hold any live wildlife captive unless otherwise specified, and its exceptions include terrestrial invertebrates. Code 09.02 conditions non-native wildlife on sourcing and veterinary certification. Code 09.14 caps native wildlife pets at six per household. Chapter 01.00 supplies the two definitions that decide the rest: WILDLIFE reaches "all other wild animals, regardless of classification", and WILD means "living in a state of nature and not domesticated". Addendum R1.02 closes with "Species not listed in Addenda R1.01, R1.02, or R1.03 are prohibited until evaluated", so absence is a bar rather than a silence.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife...

No amphibian section exists on the unrestricted list, so a non-native salamander is neither exempted nor addressed. Note separately that federal law at 50 CFR 16.14 bars bringing any Ambystoma across a state line.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The unrestricted list names one hybrid, the wolf and dog cross, and no cat of any kind. A Bengal is registered as a domestic cat, so whether Code 09.02 reaches it at all is the question, and this document does not answer it. Ask the Game and Fish Commission.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife in compliance with Code Chapters 26.00, 27.00, 29.00, 30.00, 31.00, 32.00, 33.00, 34.00, 35.00...

Both the three-toed and the ornate box turtle are native to Arkansas, and a terrestrial native turtle is neither on the unrestricted list nor inside the aquatic wildlife carve-out. Arkansas's native wildlife rules govern, and this document does not reach them.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

Same open question as the tarantula: no invertebrate appears on the list in either direction.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

No myriapod is named, and the list's scope is birds, mammals, reptiles and snakes, so nothing here settles it.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife in compliance with Code Chapters 26.00, 27.00, 29.00, 30.00, 31.00, 32.00, 33.00, 34.00, 35.00...

An aquatic turtle and native to Arkansas, so it falls under the chapters the unrestricted list defers to rather than under the list itself.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife in compliance with Code Chapters 26.00, 27.00, 29.00, 30.00, 31.00, 32.00, 33.00, 34.00, 35.00, and Addenda Chapters I1.00, J1.00, and V1.00.

The unrestricted list expressly hands aquatic turtles to a different set of chapters rather than answering for them, and the common snapping turtle is native to Arkansas and commercially harvested there. The answer exists, but not in this document.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The unrestricted list has no invertebrate section, so whether a tarantula needs an exemption depends on whether the Game and Fish Commission's definition of wildlife reaches invertebrates at all. Most state game codes stop at vertebrates, but Arkansas's does list mussels among the aquatic wildlife it regulates, which cuts the other way.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Code Addendum R1.01, Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List

Additionally, persons may possess and hold captive fish, bullfrogs, mussels, aquatic turtles, alligators and other aquatic wildlife...

The unrestricted list has sections for birds, mammals, reptiles and snakes and no amphibian section at all. The only amphibian it mentions is the bullfrog, and that by deferring to other chapters. Ambystoma tigrinum is also native to Arkansas.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.