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Exotic pet laws in Missouri

Missouri bans none of the 52 animals on this list outright, but 7 of them need a permit before the animal arrives.

7 permit required4 conditions apply41 no restriction found

Read against the published rules, entries verified 4 August to 5 September 2026. Every entry below quotes the statute or regulation it comes from and carries the date it was last checked.

The governing body of law here: RSMo § 578.023, the dangerous wild animal registration statute, and 3 CSR 10-9, the Wildlife Code chapter on confined wildlife. Between them these are the two places Missouri restricts keeping an animal.

What Missouri restricts

11 of 52, strictest first. Open one for the rule it comes from.

Box turtlePermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

Class I wildlife shall include birds (including ring-necked pheasants and gray partridge) native to the continental United States, and those species of mammals (except bison and those listed in 3 CSR 10-9.240 and 3 CSR 10-9.250) and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri.

Both the three-toed and the ornate box turtle are native to Missouri, which puts them in Class I. Permits issue only for species on the Approved Confined Wildlife Species List.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Box turtle in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Garter snakePermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

The garter snake is native to Missouri and nonvenomous, which places it in Class I, the tier that needs a simple possession permit rather than being unregulated.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Garter snake in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Hognose snakePermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

Both the eastern and the western hognose are native to Missouri and neither is venomous for the purposes of the Class II list, so they fall in Class I.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Hognose snake in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Prairie dogPermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

Class I wildlife shall include birds (including ring-necked pheasants and gray partridge) native to the continental United States, and those species of mammals (except bison and those listed in 3 CSR 10-9.240 and 3 CSR 10-9.250) and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri.

The black-tailed prairie dog is native to Missouri, which puts it in Class I. Permits are issued only for species on the Approved Confined Wildlife Species List in 3 CSR 10-9.105.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Prairie dog in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Red-eared sliderPermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

Native to Missouri, so Class I rather than outside the Wildlife Code.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Red-eared slider in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Snapping turtlePermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

Chelydra serpentina is a native nonvenomous reptile and so falls in Class I.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Snapping turtle in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Tiger salamanderPermit required

3 CSR 10-9.230

those species of mammals... and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri

Ambystoma tigrinum is native to Missouri, which puts it in Class I rather than outside the Wildlife Code.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Tiger salamander in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Boa constrictorConditions apply

§ 578.023(1)

any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long... unless he or she has registered such animals with the local law enforcement agency in the county in which the animal is kept

A large female Boa constrictor can pass eight feet, which brings the registration duty into play. A smaller animal does not.

How this rule works: Missouri does not ban these animals. It requires that they be registered with the local law enforcement agency in the county where they are kept. Failure to register is the offence.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Missouri Revised Statutes § 578.023, Keeping a dangerous wild animal →Boa constrictor in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Burmese pythonConditions apply

§ 578.023(1)

any deadly, dangerous, or poisonous reptile, or any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long, in any place other than a properly maintained zoological park, circus, scientific, or educational institution, research laboratory, veterinary hospital, or animal refuge, unless he or she has registered such animals with the local law enforcement agency in the county in which the animal is kept

Not banned, but an adult Burmese python comfortably passes eight feet, at which point it must be registered with the county law enforcement agency. There is no state permit and no fee, just the registration.

How this rule works: Missouri does not ban these animals. It requires that they be registered with the local law enforcement agency in the county where they are kept. Failure to register is the offence.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Missouri Revised Statutes § 578.023, Keeping a dangerous wild animal →Burmese python in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Flying squirrelConditions apply

3 CSR 10-9.110(1)(A); 3 CSR 10-9.230

A maximum of five (5) specimens of any native wildlife not listed in 3 CSR 10-4.110(4) or 3 CSR 10-9.240, except endangered species, bats, dusty hog-nosed snake, Kirtland's snake, western fox snake, and alligator snapping turtles, may be taken and possessed alive by a resident of Missouri without permit, but these animals shall not be bought or sold.

The southern flying squirrel is a Missouri native, common in forested areas statewide on the Department of Conservation's own account, so it is Class I wildlife rather than a cleared non-native mammal. Five may be taken and possessed alive by a resident without permit or fee, never bought or sold and never shipped out of the state. It is not a game mammal under 3 CSR 10-20.805(33), which names black bears, cottontail rabbit, deer, elk, fox squirrel, gray squirrel, groundhog, jackrabbit, swamp rabbit and furbearers, so the Wildlife Hobby Permit allowance for one purchased game mammal does not reach it either. Note the animal it is nearest to on that list: the fox and gray squirrels are game mammals and Glaucomys is not, which is what leaves this cell resting on the take-five rule alone.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Flying squirrel in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row
Milk snakeConditions apply

3 CSR 10-9.110(1)(A); 3 CSR 10-9.230

A maximum of five (5) specimens of any native wildlife not listed in 3 CSR 10-4.110(4) or 3 CSR 10-9.240, except endangered species, bats, dusty hog-nosed snake, Kirtland's snake, western fox snake, and alligator snapping turtles, may be taken and possessed alive by a resident of Missouri without permit, but these animals shall not be bought or sold.

The Department of Conservation gives the eastern milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum, a statewide Missouri distribution, so the non-native clearance at 3 CSR 10-9.110(2) does not reach it and it is Class I wildlife under 3 CSR 10-9.230, which covers nonvenomous reptiles native to Missouri. A Missouri resident may take and hold five alive with no permit and no fee, which is the condition recorded here; those animals may not be bought or sold and may not be transported out of the state. Buying one is the harder half: 3 CSR 10-9.353(2) lets a Class I breeder sell "only to the holder of the appropriate permit, where required", and the Wildlife Hobby Permit is no help because it covers game birds plus one purchased game mammal, and 3 CSR 10-20.805(33) defines game mammals as a closed list with no reptile in it.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

3 CSR 10-9, Missouri Wildlife Code: Confined Wildlife →Milk snake in every state →Full legal guide →Link to this row

No restriction found in Missouri

41 of 52. Each was read against the same body of law as the entries above and nothing in it reaches them. Local ordinances and tenancy terms still apply and are not on this map.

Cite this page

Every entry here is quoted from the statute or regulation it comes from, with the date it was last read against the published text.

Before you rely on this

This page covers state law only. Cities and counties routinely prohibit what Missouri allows, and a lease or HOA agreement can bar an animal that every level of government permits. Check all three, and check them in that order, because the one most likely to stop you is the one closest to your front door.

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