Exotic pet laws in Nebraska

166 NAC 8 § 001.08A; Neb. Rev. Stat. § 37-246

001.08A Importation: the following wildlife may be imported: Alpaca ... Chinchilla, Chinchilla spp. ... Coatimundi ... Degu, Octodon spp. ... Fox, Vulpes spp. ... Genet ... Gerbil, Gerbillus spp. ... Guinea pig, Cavia porcellus ... Eurasian Hedgehogs, Erinaceus spp. ... Jerboa, greater ... Sugar Glider(s), Petaurus spp. ... Wallabies ... All Ratites, All Waterfowl, All Peafowl, All Game Birds, All Cage and Aviary Birds

Nebraska answers an exotic mammal by importation rather than by possession, and it takes two steps to see why. §§ 37-245 and 37-246 define wild birds and wild mammals as species native to, migrating through, or established in Nebraska, so the capybara is not a wild mammal and the Captive Wildlife Permit scheme in § 001.01B never reaches it. That would look like a clean yes, except that § 001.08A is a closed importation list and this animal is not on it. There is no lawful way to bring one into the state, and § 001.08E forecloses reading anything else in the chapter as authority to. The list does carry several South American mammals, the alpaca, the guanaco, the vicuna, the llama, the chinchilla and the degu, so the omission is not about the continent.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 8 § 001.01B; Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 37-246, 37-477(1)

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to retain any wild birds or wild mammals (as defined in Nebraska revised statute 37-245 and 37-246) in captivity except the following species may be kept under authority of a Captive Wildlife Permit, a Controlled Shooting Area Permit, a Rehabilitation Permit or a Scientific Collectors Permit, issued by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission ... Badger ... Beaver ... Bobcat* ... Cottontail rabbit ... Squirrel - Fox, Gray, Flying (Glaucomys volans) ...

The black-tailed prairie dog is native to Nebraska, which makes it a wild mammal under § 37-246, which puts it inside the § 001.01B prohibition. What decides the answer is the list that follows: badger, beaver, bobcat, cottontail, crows, deer, ducks, foxes, geese, grouse, lynx, migratory birds, mink, muskrat, opossum, partridge, pheasant, quail, raccoon, river otter, bighorn sheep, fox and gray and flying squirrels, swans, turkey and long-tailed weasel. The prairie dog is not on it, and § 001.01B is written as a prohibition with the list as the only exception, so there is no permit to apply for. Nebraska is in the animal's core range and answers it with an omission.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 8, definitions; § 001.08A

Cage and Aviary Birds - Means those captive-reared birds, not native to Nebraska, such as parrots, exotic finches, and canaries, which are adapted to live and breed in a cage. For purposes of this regulation, the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is not a cage and aviary bird.

Nebraska bans this bird by writing it out of a definition, which is the only instance of that technique on this map. The importation list ends with "All Cage and Aviary Birds", and the chapter defines that term as captive-reared birds not native to Nebraska, such as parrots, exotic finches and canaries, and then adds one sentence: "For purposes of this regulation, the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is not a cage and aviary bird." So every other pet parrot is importable and this one is not. The reason is agricultural rather than about the pet trade, since the monk parakeet is the species that builds communal stick nests on power infrastructure, and Nebraska also keeps a separate Nuisance Birds chapter at 166 NAC 7.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 37-477(2)

(1) No person shall keep in captivity in this state any wild birds, any wild mammals, any nongame wildlife in need of conservation as determined by the commission under section 37-805, or any wildlife determined to be an endangered or threatened species ... without first having obtained a permit. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae. This subsection shall not apply to (a) the species Felis domesticus, (b) any zoo, park, refuge, wildlife area, or nature center owned or operated by a city, village, state, or federal agency or any zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or the Zoological Association of America, or (c) any person who holds a captive wildlife permit ... and who raises Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) or bobcats (Lynx rufus) solely for the purpose of producing furs.

Nebraska bans the whole of Felidae by statute, not by regulation, and there is no permit behind it. The three exceptions are Felis domesticus, public and accredited zoos, and a captive wildlife permit holder raising Canada lynx or bobcats for fur, which is the only commercial route and does not reach a serval. This is one of the shortest routes to a no on this map: no list to check, no species name, just the family.

Existing owners: A person legally holding such an animal on 1 March 1986 may keep it for its lifetime under § 37-477(3), and may not trade, sell or dispose of it without the commission's written permission.

How this rule works: The statute does two things the regulation does not. § 37-477(2) is a flat ban with no permit behind it: "no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae", excepting only Felis domesticus, accredited zoos and public facilities, and lynx or bobcat fur producers. And §§ 37-245 and 37-246 define wild birds and wild mammals by geography rather than by wildness, as species "native to, migrating to or through, or having established free-ranging populations in the State of Nebraska". That definition is the hinge of the whole state: a Nebraska native is caught by the captive wildlife scheme and an exotic is not, which sends the exotic question to the importation list instead. § 37-247 defines wildlife far more broadly, reaching every arthropod and invertebrate, and that breadth sits awkwardly with an importation list containing only mammals and birds.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

This one comes from an absence rather than a decision, and the mechanism is worth understanding because it will catch other native amphibians. 166 NAC 10 § 001.03 reaches every reptile and amphibian native to Nebraska that is not a game species, a nongame species in need of conservation, or threatened or endangered, and it makes it unlawful to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or ship any of them except as provided in § 001.03A. The exceptions are four closed lists: two bait frogs, sixteen species at ten each, seventeen at three each, and a scientific collectors permit. The tiger salamander is on none of them, and it is on none of the other three chapters either, so there is no exception available and no permit written for a pet. The out-of-state purchase route at § 001.03A2 does not help, because it is expressly limited to "the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4". One caveat on the species: Nebraska's animal is the barred tiger salamander, treated as a subspecies of Ambystoma tigrinum under the lumping this rule's vintage reflects and often split off as A. mavortium now, and an argument that A. tigrinum sensu stricto is not native to Nebraska is the only visible way out of this.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 8 § 001.01B, § 001.03A; Neb. Rev. Stat. § 37-479

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to retain any wild birds or wild mammals (as defined in Nebraska revised statute 37-245 and 37-246) in captivity except the following species may be kept under authority of a Captive Wildlife Permit, a Controlled Shooting Area Permit, a Rehabilitation Permit or a Scientific Collectors Permit, issued by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission ... Badger ... Beaver ... Bobcat* ... Cottontail rabbit ... Squirrel - Fox, Gray, Flying (Glaucomys volans) ...

The southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans, is named on the § 001.01B list, so unlike the prairie dog it has a route: a Captive Wildlife Permit, expiring 31 December of the year issued, with an annual report due by 15 January and a fee of not more than $30 under § 37-479. Two conditions bite harder than the fee. § 001.01D says a Captive Wildlife Permit shall not be issued for an animal taken or removed from the wild, and § 001.02A requires proof the animal came from a licensed nonresident breeder or another permittee, so the paperwork is about provenance rather than about the keeper.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 37-477(2)(a)

(1) No person shall keep in captivity in this state any wild birds, any wild mammals, any nongame wildlife in need of conservation as determined by the commission under section 37-805, or any wildlife determined to be an endangered or threatened species ... without first having obtained a permit. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae. This subsection shall not apply to (a) the species Felis domesticus, (b) any zoo, park, refuge, wildlife area, or nature center owned or operated by a city, village, state, or federal agency or any zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or the Zoological Association of America, or (c) any person who holds a captive wildlife permit ... and who raises Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) or bobcats (Lynx rufus) solely for the purpose of producing furs.

The eleventh Bengal answer on this map, and it turns on two words with no generation rule attached. Nebraska bans every member of Felidae and then excepts "the species Felis domesticus". A late-generation Bengal registered and sold as a domestic cat is Felis catus and clears it. An early-generation animal is a hybrid rather than a member of that species, and nothing in the statute or in 166 NAC 8 says where the line falls: the chapter defines a hybrid as "an animal produced by crossing species or subspecies" and then never uses the definition to answer this. So the condition is real and its threshold is not written down anywhere, which is a different problem from the states that pick a filial number and stick to it.

How this rule works: The statute does two things the regulation does not. § 37-477(2) is a flat ban with no permit behind it: "no person shall keep in captivity in this state any wolf, any skunk, or any member of the families Felidae and Ursidae", excepting only Felis domesticus, accredited zoos and public facilities, and lynx or bobcat fur producers. And §§ 37-245 and 37-246 define wild birds and wild mammals by geography rather than by wildness, as species "native to, migrating to or through, or having established free-ranging populations in the State of Nebraska". That definition is the hinge of the whole state: a Nebraska native is caught by the captive wildlife scheme and an exotic is not, which sends the exotic question to the importation list instead. § 37-247 defines wildlife far more broadly, reaching every arthropod and invertebrate, and that breadth sits awkwardly with an importation list containing only mammals and birds.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03, § 001.03A4

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

The ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata, is on the three-per-species list at § 001.03A4. It is the box turtle that occurs in Nebraska; the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, does not, which puts it outside 166 NAC 10 altogether since the chapter reaches only species native to Nebraska. So the answer depends on which box turtle, and for the one Nebraska has the number is three. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03, § 001.03A3

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

The common gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, is on the ten-per-species list at § 001.03A3, the more generous of Nebraska's two collecting tiers. Two other Nebraska garter snakes are not there: the plains gartersnake is on the same ten list, but the western terrestrial gartersnake and the western ribbon snake are nongame species in need of conservation at § 001.02, where possession is unlawful without a scientific collection permit. Three garter snakes, two very different answers. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03, § 001.03A4

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

Both Nebraska hognose species are on the three-per-species list at § 001.03A4, the plains hognose Heterodon nasicus and the eastern hognose H. platirhinos. That is unusually even-handed: most states on this map treat the two differently, because the eastern is the one that tends to be listed. Nebraska caps them identically. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03, § 001.03A4

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

The species named on the three-per-species list is the western milksnake, Lampropeltis gentilis, which is the Nebraska animal and which was split out of Lampropeltis triangulum in 2014. An eastern milksnake, L. triangulum proper, is not native to Nebraska and so falls outside 166 NAC 10 entirely. Which animal a keeper actually has therefore decides whether the cap applies at all, and a pet-trade "milk snake" can be either. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 10 § 001.03, § 001.03A4

001.03 Regulated Taking of Reptiles and Amphibians - The provisions of 001.03 apply to all species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians native to Nebraska except those legally designated as Game species, Nongame Species in Need of Conservation, and Threatened or Endangered species. It shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, or ship any reptile or amphibian species defined in this section except as provided in 001.03A. ... 001.03A2 For those individual specimens or parts thereof legally obtained by purchase or consignment from outside of Nebraska, sale, offer of sale and associated transport, possession or processing will be permitted without regard to limits or numbers for the species listed below in 001.03A3 and 001.03A4, provided that such authority shall be contingent upon a persons ability to provide proof of legal acquisition including bill of sale or consignment.

Trachemys scripta is on the three-per-species list at § 001.03A4, which is a mild answer by the standards of this row: several states ban the slider outright as an establishment risk, and Nebraska, where it is native, treats it as an ordinary collectible native. The route that matters for a pet is § 001.03A2: an animal legally bought or consigned from outside Nebraska may be possessed without regard to numbers, provided the keeper can produce proof of lawful acquisition, a bill of sale or a consignment record. So the cap is on collecting, and the receipt is what lifts it. The federal four-inch rule under 21 C.F.R. 1240.62 still applies to hatchlings and is untouched by any of this.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

164 NAC 6 § 003.01, § 003.05; 166 NAC 10 § 001.03

003.05 SNAPPING TURTLES: 003.05A It shall be unlawful to take snapping turtles except by hand, hand net, hook and line, bow and arrow or gaff. 003.05B It shall be unlawful to sell, offer for sale, trade or barter for any snapping turtle. ... 003.05E The take of any turtle(s) exceeding the daily bag limits shall be released immediately.

Nebraska answers this animal in its fishing regulations rather than its wildlife ones, which is why it is easy to miss. 166 NAC 10 excludes game species from its herp rules, and the snapping turtle is handled at 164 NAC 6 alongside fish, bullfrogs and mussels, with a daily bag limit and a possession limit set annually by the Commission, take restricted to hand, hand net, hook and line, bow or gaff, and a fishing permit behind all of it. The clause that matters most to a keeper is § 003.05B: it is unlawful to sell, offer for sale, trade or barter any snapping turtle, so there is no lawful in-state commerce in one at any number.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

166 NAC 8 § 001.08A

001.08A Importation: the following wildlife may be imported: Alpaca ... Chinchilla, Chinchilla spp. ... Coatimundi ... Degu, Octodon spp. ... Fox, Vulpes spp. ... Genet ... Gerbil, Gerbillus spp. ... Guinea pig, Cavia porcellus ... Eurasian Hedgehogs, Erinaceus spp. ... Jerboa, greater ... Sugar Glider(s), Petaurus spp. ... Wallabies ... All Ratites, All Waterfowl, All Peafowl, All Game Birds, All Cage and Aviary Birds

The importation list reads "Eurasian Hedgehogs, Erinaceus spp." and the pet is the African pygmy hedgehog, Atelerix albiventris, which is neither Eurasian nor an Erinaceus under current taxonomy. Read strictly, the pet hedgehog cannot be imported into Nebraska. There is a real argument the other way, and it is a drafting-vintage argument rather than a wishful one: this species was classified as Erinaceus albiventris for decades, and Massachusetts still writes it that way in its own exemption list, as "Four-toed (African pygmy) hedgehog (Erinaceus albiventris) (= Atelerix pruneri)". So a list written when Nebraska's was may well have meant the pet. Recorded unclear because the common name in the entry, "Eurasian", cuts against the reading that would save it, and nothing published by the Commission resolves it.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.