Exotic pet laws in Maine

§ 7.06(4)

Unclassified Species: A person may not possess any species that has not been categorized. Any species which has not been identified as a Prohibited, Restricted, or Unrestricted species will not be eligible for a permit under this chapter, however a request may be made to review the categorization of a species subject to section 7.06(5).

Glaucomys volans is in none of Maine's four buckets. The Unrestricted List's Rodentia section runs to thirteen entries, all cage rodents, and no Glaucomys. § 7.18(1) Prohibited is two species, the monk parakeet and the mute swan. Category 1 Mammalia reaches Callosciurus prevostii and Cynomys ludovicianus by name and twenty-one families wholesale, none of them Sciuridae; Category 2 Mammalia is Camelidae, the binturong, genets, three coatis and Caviidae. So § 7.06(4) applies and says in terms that the animal is not eligible for a permit, which is why this is banned rather than permit. The wild-take escape at 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B) covers only reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, so it does not reach a native mammal. The live route is § 7.06(5), a request to the commissioner and the technical committee to classify the species.

How this rule works: Maine is a closed-list state and § 7.06(4) is the sentence that makes it one: "A person may not possess any species that has not been categorized", and an uncategorised species "will not be eligible for a permit under this chapter". The four categories are the Unrestricted List, the Prohibited list at § 7.18(1), and Restricted Categories 1 and 2. Category 1 permits go only to exhibitors, rehabilitators, USDA-registered laboratories and accredited research facilities, so it is not a pet tier; Category 2 is open to "an individual with demonstrated experience". § 7.05 and § 7.06(5) are the route for getting an unlisted species classified.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List

Maine's clean list names only Varanus exanthematicus (savannah monitor) among monitors (documented in this site's savannah-monitor research). Varanus acanthurus is absent, so it falls back to Maine's general importation/possession permit requirement rather than the no-permit list. Whether an individual permit is actually issued for a pet Ackie was not separately confirmed.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Order Psittaciformes* All Species in Order Psittaciformes (Parrots) Except for: Myiopsitta monachus; Cyanoliseus patagonus; Enicognathus leptorhynchus; Enicognathus ferrugineus; Family Strigopidae

The whole parrot order is cleared, but the asterisk carries the footnote that removes anything on CITES Appendix I or listed by the IUCN as Endangered. The African grey is both: it moved to Appendix I on 2 January 2017 and was assessed Endangered in 2016, months before this list was published. So the one parrot most people think of is outside the clearance while a macaw is inside it.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Amphibia (Amphibians) Captive Bred Origin Only ... Anura (Frogs And Toads)

Same gap as the tiger salamander: the amphibian list is frogs and toads only. The axolotl is also IUCN Critically Endangered, which the footnote would catch even if a salamander order existed.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Testudines (Turtles And Tortoises)

No Terrapene appears anywhere on the list. The only match for the words box turtle is the Amboina box turtle, which is a Cuora and a different animal. The eastern box turtle is also a species of special concern in Maine, so its own native status is part of the picture.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Serpentes (Snakes)

The snake section lists pythons individually and neither Python bivittatus nor Python molurus is among them. The asterisk footnote would exclude it in any case, since the Burmese python has been federal injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act since 2012.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Rodentia (Rodents)

Not on the rodent list, which stops at the brown rat in size terms.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list, Psittaciformes

All Species in Order Psittaciformes (Parrots) Except for: Myiopsitta monachus; Cyanoliseus patagonus; Enicognathus leptorhynchus; Enicognathus ferrugineus; Family Strigopidae *Except if listed on: IUCN Red List (Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Extinct in the Wild) OR CITES Appendix I

Maine clears the whole parrot order but then strips back out anything on CITES Appendix I or the IUCN's Endangered/Critically Endangered tiers. That carve-out catches several of the most commonly kept pet cockatoos: the Moluccan and yellow-crested cockatoos are CITES Appendix I, and the umbrella cockatoo is IUCN Endangered even though it's only CITES Appendix II. Smaller, more secure species like the cockatiel or galah would still clear the list; the larger, more iconic cockatoos generally need Maine's captivity permit instead.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Arachnida (Arachnids) ... Araneae (Spiders) ... Mesostigmata

The arachnid section runs to three tarantulas and one predatory mite. No scorpion appears in it, so the emperor scorpion is not unrestricted and needs a permit. Pandinus imperator is also on CITES Appendix II, though that is not what decides it here.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Carnivora (Carnivores) Mustela putorius furo Domestic Ferret

Maine's entire unrestricted carnivore list is one animal, the domestic ferret. Every other carnivore, the fennec included, needs a permit.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list, Serpentes (Captive Bred Origin Only)

Maine's unrestricted-species list runs through every North American colubrid genus commonly kept as a pet, kingsnakes, ratsnakes, hognose, watersnakes, and more, and Thamnophis is conspicuously absent from every entry. A Maine garter snake needs the state's separate captivity permit rather than falling under this pet-trade clearance.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

All Species in Genus Ctenosaura (Spiny-tailed Iguanas)

The only iguanas cleared are the spiny-tailed Ctenosaura. Iguana iguana is not on the list, so the common green iguana needs a permit in Maine while its less commonly kept relative does not.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Varanus exanthematicus

The savannah monitor is the only Varanus on the list. The Nile monitor is absent and therefore restricted, which fits its treatment in Florida and Louisiana for different reasons.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Rodentia (Rodents)

The unrestricted rodent list runs to thirteen species, all of them small cage animals. Cynomys is not among them.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Expressly carved out of the unrestricted list: 'Except for: Myiopsitta monachus'.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Testudines (Turtles And Tortoises)

No Trachemys is on the list. Maine treats the slider as a species it does not want established, so a permit rather than an outright naming is what stands between it and a pet keeper.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Carnivora (Carnivores) Mustela putorius furo Domestic Ferret

Same one-line carnivore list. The serval is not on it.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Testudines (Turtles And Tortoises)

Chelydra serpentina is native to Maine and does not appear on the list of unrestricted species, which is the ordinary pattern: the list is aimed at exotics and native wildlife is handled under the general permit requirement.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Testudines (Turtles And Tortoises)

The tortoises cleared are the Russian, Greek, Hermann's, leopard, red-footed and yellow-footed. Centrochelys sulcata is not among them, and the footnote would exclude it regardless, since the IUCN moved it to Endangered in 2021.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Amphibia (Amphibians) Captive Bred Origin Only ... Anura (Frogs And Toads)

Maine's amphibian section contains one order, Anura, and every entry in it is a frog or a toad. There is no Caudata order at all, so no salamander or newt of any species is unrestricted in Maine. The whole section is also limited to captive bred origin.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

Bearded Dragon Pogona vitticeps

Named by species rather than by genus, so no asterisk and no conservation-status filter. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

All Species in Family Scincidae (Skinks) Family Scincidae*

A family-wide clearance with no species excepted. Tiliqua scincoides is IUCN Least Concern and on none of the four lists the asterisk points at. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Serpentes

All Species in Genus Pantherophis (North American Ratsnakes) Except for: Pantherophis gloydi

A captive-bred corn snake needs no importation, possession, exhibition, propagation or research permit. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all. The one excepted species, the eastern fox snake, is Category 2 at 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.18(3)(D). The genus entry carries the asterisk that removes anything USFWS-listed as injurious or as threatened or endangered, anything in CITES Appendix I, and anything the IUCN rates Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild; Pantherophis guttatus is Least Concern and on none of the others.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

all species in infraorder Gekkota Except for: Nephrurus deleani

Correlophus ciliatus is a diplodactylid and therefore inside Gekkota. The asterisk is the thing to check here rather than the taxonomy: it removes anything the IUCN rates Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild, and the crested gecko is Vulnerable, one rung below the cut. Its CITES listing is Appendix II, and the filter names Appendix I. Both are close enough that a reassessment or an uplisting would move this cell without Maine changing anything, which is the same exposure Massachusetts carries for the ball python. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

All Species in Genus Anolis (Anoles) Anolis spp.*

The genus is cleared outright. The green anole is not native to Maine, so the native-reptile provisions at 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B) and § 7.01 do not come into it, and Anolis carolinensis is IUCN Least Concern, so the asterisk does not remove it. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

Jackson's Chameleon Trioceros jacksonii

Named by species. Maine does not clear Chamaeleonidae as a family: it lists ten chameleons individually, two Trioceros, two Chamaeleo, three Furcifer, Calumma parsonii, Rhampholeon spectrum and Rieppeleon brevicaudatus, so the species entry is what answers this and a chameleon outside those ten is uncategorised. All chameleons are CITES Appendix II, and the asterisk filter names Appendix I. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Sauria

all species in infraorder Gekkota Except for: Nephrurus deleani

Maine clears geckos at infraorder rank, which sidesteps the family-splitting problem that other states run into: Eublepharidae, Diplodactylidae and Gekkonidae are all inside Gekkota. Eublepharis macularius is IUCN Least Concern, not CITES Appendix I and on neither USFWS list, so the asterisk on the entry does not remove it. The one exception, the Pernatty knob-tail, is Category 2. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Serpentes; 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B)

All Species in Genus Lampropeltis (Kingsnakes And Milk Snakes) Except for: Lampropeltis herrerae; Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum

Maine clears the genus and then excepts one subspecies, and it is the state's own: Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, the eastern milk snake. So a captive-bred milk snake of any other form is unrestricted, subject to the section heading "Captive Bred Origin Only". The nominate subspecies is not, and it appears in no other category either, so 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(4) bars possessing an imported one and no permit is available for it. What is left is 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-B): up to two of any native reptile may be taken from the wild in Maine and possessed without a permit, provided it is not imported, exhibited, propagated, exported or sold. The other exception, L. herrerae, is Category 1.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species List, Reptilia, Serpentes

Rosy Boa Lichanur trivirgata

Named by species, with the genus misprinted as Lichanur for Lichanura. The whole Reptilia section of the list sits under the heading "Captive Bred Origin Only", which is the condition on the clearance: a wild-caught animal of the same species is not unrestricted and falls back to § 7.06(4), under which an uncategorised animal may not be possessed at all. A species-level entry carries no asterisk, so the conservation-status filter that qualifies the genus entries does not apply, and Lichanura trivirgata is IUCN Least Concern in any event.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Araneae (Spiders) ... Grammostola pulchra ... Grammostola pulchripes ... Grammostola rosea

Three tarantulas are unrestricted and no others: the Brazilian black, the Chaco golden knee and the Chilean rose. Every Brachypelma, Aphonopelma, Caribena or Poecilotheria needs a permit. This is the sharpest species-level split in the matrix, and it turns entirely on which animal is in the enclosure.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Unrestricted Species list

Carnivora (Carnivores) Mustela putorius furo Domestic Ferret

A Bengal is registered as Felis catus, and a domestic cat is not wildlife, so the unrestricted list is arguably the wrong document to consult. But the list clears exactly one carnivore, and Maine regulates hybrids of wild species elsewhere in its wildlife rules. Nothing here settles which side a Bengal falls on. Ask Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before buying.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.