Exotic pet laws in Hawaii

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Varanus acanthurus monitor, spiny-tailed

Confirmed directly from the HDOA restricted-animal-list (Part A) PDF. Part A is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION; a university or licensed exhibitor can hold one by permit, but no pet permit path exists, the same treatment as the savannah and Nile monitor.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Salvator

On Part A, research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Serpentes (all species)

All snakes prohibited.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Pogona (Amphibolurus) vittaceps dragon, inland bearded

Part A is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION, so a listed animal has no pet route: a university or a licensed exhibitor can hold one and a private keeper cannot. The inland bearded dragon is the species the pet trade actually sells, and Hawaii names it directly, alongside the Australian and Nullarbor bearded dragons. The official list misspells the species as vittaceps for vitticeps.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6, List of Prohibited Animals

Felis catus crossed with lynx, ocelot, margay, puma, jaguarandi, bobcat, leopard cat, wild cat, etc. ... cat, hybrid; (all hybrid-crosses where one or both parents are prohibited or restricted)

Hawaii is one of the few states to write the hybrid question into the rule instead of leaving it open. The prohibited list names the leopard cat cross specifically, and § 150A-6.2(b) sets up an expert committee to settle disputed lineage. There is no filial generation cutoff, so a late generation Bengal is in the same position as an F1.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Tiliqua scincoides skink, blue-tongued

Part A is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION, so a listed animal has no pet route: a university or a licensed exhibitor can hold one and a private keeper cannot. Named individually. Several other Tiliqua are listed beside it, so the whole pet-trade group is covered rather than just this species.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name, which is unusually blunt even for Hawaii and reflects having no native snakes to protect. There is no permit route for a pet.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6, List of Prohibited Animals

Serpentes (all species in suborder, except for two male nonvenomous snakes for exhibition in a government zoo, and for four sterile male brown tree snakes, Boiga irregularis, for research or training of snake detector dogs by the department)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder, with two narrow carve outs that are both institutional. HRS § 150A-6(3) repeats the bar at statute level. No snake of any species or size is keepable here.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 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.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

Hydrochoerus is on no Hawaii list, so the default prohibition applies.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter is only allowed: (1) For those animals on the list designated as conditionally approved and dated November 28, 2006, or on the list designated as restricted entry, dated September 25, 2018

Hawaii runs an inverted rule, and this is the clause that creates it. Introduction is allowed only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, so an animal on none of them is barred by default rather than left unregulated. The crested gecko appears on no Hawaii list under either name, Correlophus ciliatus or the older Rhacodactylus ciliatus. Its congener Rhacodactylus leachianus is on the restricted list, which shows the geckos were worked through one species at a time and this one was simply never reached, most likely because it was thought extinct until 1994 and had no pet trade when the lists were written. Absence from the lists here is a ban, not a gap.

How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

Octodon is on no Hawaii list. The contrast with the chinchilla and the guinea pig, both conditionally approved, is a good illustration that Hawaii's lists work species by species rather than by how domesticated an animal looks.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

No scorpion appears on any list. The only matches for the word are scorpion fishes on the prohibited list, which are unrelated.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Vulpes (all species in genus)

Part A reaches the whole genus rather than naming the fennec, so Vulpes zerda is covered without appearing by name. Research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Mustela putorius furo

Named on Part A, which is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION. A university or licensed exhibitor can hold one by permit; a pet keeper cannot, and no pet permit exists. This is the origin of Hawaii's well known ferret ban.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6, List of Prohibited Animals

FAMILY Sciuridae Sciuridae (all in family, except the following two species for exhibition in government zoos only: Callosciurus prevosti (squirrel, prevost's) and Sciurus variegatoides (squirrel, variegated) and except all species in the genus Marmota for research in government universities only)

Confirmed directly from the HDOA prohibited-animal-list PDF. The whole squirrel family is prohibited; the only carve-outs are two unrelated tree squirrels (zoo exhibition only) and marmots (university research only). The flying squirrel is not one of the named exceptions, so no legal pathway exists at all, unlike states where a science/exhibition permit at least exists.

How this rule works: HDOA's prohibited species list, which bans the entire squirrel family Sciuridae except two zoo-exhibition species and university-research marmots.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder outright, with no exception for harmless mainland species. There is no permit path for a pet garter snake in Hawaii.

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.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Part A

Gerbillus gerbillus / Meriones unguiculatus

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

No myriapod appears on any Hawaii list, so the default prohibition applies. Hawaii's concern with invertebrates is unusually close, given what introduced ones have already done to the islands.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter is only allowed: (1) For those animals on the list designated as conditionally approved and dated November 28, 2006, or on the list designated as restricted entry, dated September 25, 2018

Hawaii runs an inverted rule, and this is the clause that creates it. Introduction is allowed only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, so an animal on none of them is barred by default rather than left unregulated. The Iguanidae block on the restricted list names Anolis equestris, the knight anole, and stops there. The green anole appears on no Hawaii list, so it is barred by default even though it has been established in the wild across the islands for decades. Absence from the lists here is a ban, not a gap.

How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Iguana (all species in genus)

Part A lists the genus, so the green iguana is covered even though the common name column reads club tail iguana. Research and exhibition only. The species is also already loose on several islands.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Part A

Mesocricetus auratus

Part A is research and exhibition only, so no pet keeping.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals ... is prohibited except for those animals on the lists

Not named. Barred by the default rule. The only hedgehog Hawaii names is Hemiechinus auritis, not the pet species.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder with no exception for harmless species, having no native snakes to protect.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter is only allowed: (1) For those animals on the list designated as conditionally approved and dated November 28, 2006, or on the list designated as restricted entry, dated September 25, 2018

Hawaii runs an inverted rule, and this is the clause that creates it. Introduction is allowed only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, so an animal on none of them is barred by default rather than left unregulated. The Chamaeleonidae block on the restricted list names only Chamaeleo chamaeleon and Furcifer oustaleti, and Jackson's chameleon appears on no Hawaii list under either Trioceros jacksonii or the older Chamaeleo jacksonii. The result reads oddly, because this is the chameleon most associated with Hawaii, having established wild populations there after escaping the pet trade, and yet keeping one is not permitted. Absence from the lists here is a ban, not a gap.

How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Eublepharis macularius gecko, leopard

Part A is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION, so a listed animal has no pet route: a university or a licensed exhibitor can hold one and a private keeper cannot. Named individually in the Gekkonidae block, so there is no argument to be had about genus or family coverage.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter is only allowed: (1) For those animals on the list designated as conditionally approved and dated November 28, 2006, or on the list designated as restricted entry, dated September 25, 2018

Hawaii runs an inverted rule, and this is the clause that creates it. Introduction is allowed only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, so an animal on none of them is barred by default rather than left unregulated. Hawaii's insect entries across all three lists are a short list of named species, the mealworm, the pomace fly, the honey bee, a green bottle blow fly, a parasitic wasp and a few butterflies. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is on none of them, and on an island chain that quarantines insects harder than anywhere else in the country that absence is decisive. Absence from the lists here is a ban, not a gap.

How this rule works: The rule text the three species lists hang off, and the part that explains why Hawaii answers differently from everywhere else. Two things matter. § 4-71-6.5 allows introduction only for animals on the conditionally approved or restricted lists, which is what makes an unlisted animal barred by default rather than unregulated. And § 4-71-2 defines a set of domestic animals, the European rabbit among them, then says that as used in the chapter the word animal means non-domestic animal, so the lists never reach those species at all.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

Part A names thirteen monitors individually but not Varanus niloticus, so the Nile monitor is barred by the default rule rather than by name. The practical outcome matches the savannah monitor either way.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

Cynomys is on no Hawaii list, so the default prohibition applies.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Myiopsitta monachus parakeet, monk (quaker)

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

Serpentes (all species)

Hawaii bans the entire snake suborder by name, size and family irrelevant.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Varanus exanthematicus

Named individually on Part A, research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

FAMILY Felidae ... Felis serval

Listed under the cat family on Part A using the older name Felis serval rather than Leptailurus. Research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Chelydra serpentina

Named on Part A, research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

Petaurus appears on none of the four lists, so the default rule bars it rather than any decision about sugar gliders. The special permits the subsection goes on to describe are for medical or ecological emergencies and for filming, not for pets.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 150A-6.2(c)

Any animal that is not on the lists of conditionally approved, restricted, or prohibited animals shall be prohibited until the board's review and determination for placement on one of these lists

No theraphosid appears on any of the four lists. Hawaii's lists cover invertebrates in detail, down to leeches and brine shrimp, so the absence is a genuine gap rather than a category the rules ignore, and the default prohibition fills it.

How this rule works: The statute behind the lists. Subsection (c) is the default rule: anything not on the conditionally approved, restricted or prohibited list is prohibited until the board reviews it.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, Restricted Animal List Part A

Gekko gecko

Named on Part A, research and exhibition only.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6

The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter at any stage of development is prohibited except for those animals on the lists

Chamaeleo calyptratus appears on no Hawaii list. The only chameleons named anywhere are Chamaeleo chamaeleon and Furcifer oustaleti, both on the restricted list for research and exhibition only. Veiled chameleons are established in the wild on Maui and Oahu, which is exactly the outcome the default rule exists to prevent.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

List of Restricted Animals, Part B

Trachemys (all species in genus)

Part B is the restricted list for private and commercial use, so unlike a Part A animal this one has a route, but it needs a permit rather than being freely importable.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

List of Conditionally Approved Animals

Psittacus erithacus

Named by binomial on the conditionally approved list.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

List of Conditionally Approved Animals, Family Ambystomidae

Ambystoma mexicanum

Named individually on the conditionally approved list, so importation and possession are allowed subject to Department of Agriculture conditions. A rare yes from a state that bans most exotics by default.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

List of Conditionally Approved Animals

Terrapene (all species in genus except T. coahuila)

The whole genus is conditionally approved apart from the Coahuilan box turtle, which sits on the restricted Part B list instead.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, List of Conditionally Approved Animals

Chinchilla lanigera

On the conditionally approved list rather than a restricted one, so import and possession are allowed by permit subject to the conditions the Board of Agriculture attaches. One of the few mammals with a legitimate route into Hawaii.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, List of Conditionally Approved Animals

White cockatoos (Umbrella, Moluccan, Sulphur-crested, Little Corella, etc.)

Cockatoos are named on Hawaii's conditionally approved list, alongside the galah, gang-gang, black cockatoos, and palm cockatoo, so keeping one is possible but requires an import permit, pre-departure quarantine, health certification, and permanent ID before the bird ever lands in the state.

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.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, List of Conditionally Approved Animals

Cavia cobaya (=Cavia porcellus)

Conditionally approved by binomial, with the older synonym carried alongside the current name.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

List 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.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

List of Conditionally Approved Animals, Family Testudinidae

FAMILY Testudinidae ... Testudo (all species in genus)

A genuine surprise given how much Hawaii bans. The whole genus Testudo is conditionally approved, so Testudo horsfieldii may be imported and kept subject to the conditions the Department of Agriculture attaches, rather than being barred by the default rule the way most exotics are.

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.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 4-71-6.5, List of Conditionally Approved Animals

Ambystoma tigrinum

Conditionally approved, which is the opposite of what Hawaii's reputation would suggest. Part A restricts two other Ambystoma species, so the genus is split across two lists and the species name is what decides it.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

List of Conditionally Approved Animals, Family Testudinidae

Geochelone (all species in genus)

The list was written when the sulcata was Geochelone sulcata. It has since moved to Centrochelys, which appears nowhere on any Hawaii list, so whether the clearance followed the species through the rename is not something the text answers. Ask the Department of Agriculture.

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.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.