Exotic pet laws in Idaho

§ 410.08

South American Rodents. All South American rodents except guinea pigs and chinchillas.

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris is a South American rodent and is not excepted.

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 410.08

South American Rodents. All South American rodents except guinea pigs and chinchillas.

Octodon degus is a Chilean rodent and is not one of the two exceptions, so it is a deleterious exotic animal needing a possession permit.

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 402.01

All Non-native Canidae Species.

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 410.07

Prairie Dogs (Cynomys).

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 404.04

Serval (Felis serval).

Listed under small felidae. Only the large felidae and primate lists carry the extra requirement that the facility be AZA accredited.

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 010.06

Privately owned companion animals not intended for research or resale that are not native wildlife captured from the wild in Idaho

Captive bred stock is a conventional pet. Ambystoma mavortium is native to Idaho, so one taken from the wild in the state is wildlife and falls outside the definition.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

§ 010.06

non-venomous or non-dangerous reptiles and amphibians

Non-dangerous is not defined anywhere in the rule. A Burmese python is non-venomous, which on the literal wording is enough, but a giant constrictor is exactly the animal the qualifier appears aimed at. Ask Idaho Fish and Game before relying on this.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

IDAPA 13.01.10.200.01

No person may import into Idaho... possess or otherwise hold in captivity... any live wildlife, except those animals exempted by Idaho Code or these rules, without a corresponding... captive possession... license/permit from the Department.

Same gap as the tarantula. The venom test in the conventional pets definition is attached to reptiles and amphibians, so it says nothing either way about a scorpion, and no invertebrate category exists to fall into.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

IDAPA 13.01.10.200.01

No person may import into Idaho... possess or otherwise hold in captivity... any live wildlife, except those animals exempted by Idaho Code or these rules, without a corresponding... captive possession... license/permit from the Department.

A millipede is animal life and is not on the conventional pets list, so the same literal reading applies. Idaho's deleterious exotic animal rules at IDAPA 02.04.27 do not mention myriapods either, so nothing prohibits one outright.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

§ 36-202(g); IDAPA 13.01.10.010.06 and .200

"Wildlife" means any form of animal life, native or exotic, generally living in a state of nature provided that domestic cervidae as defined in section 25-3701, Idaho Code, shall not be classified as wildlife.

Two readings, both textual, and Idaho has published nothing that chooses between them. Read one way an insect is a form of animal life and therefore wildlife, IDAPA 13.01.10.200.01 bars possessing live wildlife without a Department licence, and the conventional pets definition at 010.06 is a closed enumeration naming mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and no invertebrate, so an imported cockroach would need a captive possession licence. Read the other way the commission's scheme never reaches a terrestrial invertebrate at all: the eight classes at Idaho Code § 36-201 are vertebrate groups, IDAPA 13.01.06 classifies no invertebrate anywhere, and chapter 13.01.10 opens by excluding crustaceans from its own use of the word. The agriculture side is clean either way, because the invasive insect list at IDAPA 02.06.09.146 is a closed list of three forest pests and names no cockroach. Recorded unclear rather than guessed, on the same footing as New Jersey and New Mexico.

How this rule works: § 36-202(g) defines wildlife as "any form of animal life, native or exotic, generally living in a state of nature", excluding only domestic cervidae. § 36-201 then lists the eight classes the commission may sort wildlife into, all of them vertebrate groups, with predatory wildlife fixed by statute at seven named animals. IDAPA 13.01.06.250 sweeps up the remainder: "Unprotected Wildlife includes all wildlife not classified in the preceding categories."

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

§ 010.06

non-venomous or non-dangerous reptiles and amphibians

Same undefined non-dangerous qualifier. A two metre monitor with a serious bite sits on the line.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

IDAPA 13.01.10.200.01

No person may import into Idaho, export from Idaho, transport, possess or otherwise hold in captivity, propagate, sell or release into the wild any live wildlife, except those animals exempted by Idaho Code or these rules, without a corresponding import, export, transport, captive possession... license/permit from the Department.

Idaho Code § 36-202(g) defines wildlife as any form of animal life, native or exotic, generally living in a state of nature, which on its face reaches an invertebrate. The conventional pets exemption is a closed list that names no invertebrate, and the contrast is deliberate: the agricultural animals definition two lines above says include but are not limited to, while this one does not. Read literally that means a captive possession license, which is almost certainly not how the Department treats a pet shop tarantula. Worth a phone call rather than an assumption.

How this rule works: Section 010.06 defines conventional pets, which sit outside the wildlife permit regime. Unusually explicit: it names ferrets, hedgehogs and sugar gliders in the rule text.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.