Exotic pet laws in New Hampshire

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

5 Eastern box turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

Permittee category 5 is an exhibitor, with no category 1 for an individual, so a private keeper cannot be permitted for one.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 5 August 2026.

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

5 Fox, Gray; Fenec

Exhibitor only, same as the serval. The table pairs the two common names under one row.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

Squirrel, Southern Flying Glaucomys volans

Requires Permittee Category 5, the same exhibitor-only category New Hampshire uses for the box turtle. There is no category 1 for an individual, so a private keeper cannot be permitted for one.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

Fis 804.04(b); Fis 802.05(c)

All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited.

This is the strictest invertebrate answer on the map and it comes out of four provisions rather than one. RSA 207:1, XXXV defines wildlife to include invertebrates by name, so an insect is inside Fis 800. Fis 804.02, the non-controlled possession list, contains no invertebrate. Table 800.2, the controlled table, runs amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds and mammals and stops. Fis 804.03(b)(1) does have an invertebrates heading, and it names five aquatic nuisance species, which shows the Department writes invertebrate entries when it means to. Fis 804.04(b) then makes everything unlisted prohibited, and Fis 804.03(a) says no permit shall be issued for anything prohibited under it. The waiver at Fis 802.05 that would otherwise cover an unlisted species is closed to private keepers by subsection (c), which withholds it from permittee categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 and leaves only exhibitors. So a Madagascar hissing cockroach, a tarantula and a pet millipede are all barred in New Hampshire with no route for an individual. Recorded banned rather than unclear because the closing clause is express and the waiver exclusion is express.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

5 Prairie Dog Cynamys, spp.

Exhibitor only. New Hampshire is one of the stricter states on prairie dogs.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

5 Serval, African

The permittee category is 5, exhibitor, with no category 1. A private individual cannot be issued a possession permit for one.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Fis 804.05, Table 800.2

1,5 Snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina

Category 1 is an individual, so unlike the serval this one is open to a private keeper who holds a permit to possess wildlife.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

Fis 804.02(b)(5) and Table 800.2; Fis 803.03(b)(4)a. and Table 800.1

Indigenous reptiles listed in Table 800.2 for category 1, for up to 2 specimens of each species

The eastern milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, is a New Hampshire native and appears in both controlled tables at "1,5", which means an individual as well as an exhibitor may hold a permit for it. Two specimens may be possessed with no permit at all under Fis 804.02(b)(5); above two, Fis 804.05 requires a permit to possess, available to a category 1 individual. Importation is the tighter half: Fis 803.03(b)(4)a. takes indigenous reptiles listed in Table 800.1 out of the exotic clearance, so bringing one in needs an importation permit. A milk snake of any non-indigenous form is simply an exotic reptile and free on both counts, which is the same species-versus-subspecies split Maine writes into its unrestricted list.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

Fis 804.02, Fis 804.05

On neither the non-controlled list nor the controlled table. The Patagonian cavy is listed but the capybara is not, so there is no category that authorises a permit and no exemption either. Ask Fish and Game rather than assuming the silence means yes.

How this rule works: Readopted in full by Document #14558, effective 21 April 2026. Four buckets and a closing rule. Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, Fis 804.03 the prohibited list, Fis 804.05 with Table 800.2 the controlled table, and Fis 804.04(b) then says "All species not specifically listed under the categories of non-controlled, prohibited, or controlled shall be designated as prohibited." Fis 803 runs the same three-way split for importation against Table 800.1. The number beside a species in either table is the permittee category from Fis 802.01: 1 is an individual, 5 an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be held privately. Fis 802.05 is the waiver for unlisted species and subsection (c) closes it to categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which leaves only exhibitors.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.