Exotic pet laws in North Dakota
North Dakota bans none of the 52 animals on this list outright, but 2 of them need a permit before the animal arrives.
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: NDCC chapter 36-01, the Board of Animal Health statute, and NDAC title 48.1, its current rules. NDCC title 20.1 chapter 02 was also read: its permit requirement is for transplanting or introducing animals into the state, meaning release, not pet keeping.
What North Dakota restricts
4 of 52, strictest first. Open one for the rule it comes from.
Prairie dogPermit required
NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)
Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes ... prairie dogs, and other ground squirrels
Named in category 2, so a licence from the state board of animal health is required, and 48.1-09-01-03(1) says the owner shall obtain it before acquiring the animal. The board also has to inspect and approve the premises first under 48.1-09-01-03(2)(b), and the annual fee under NDCC 36-01-08.1 is fifteen dollars for a non-bird species to a hundred dollar cap.
How this rule works: The nontraditional livestock category system is alive and sits here, not in the repealed title 48. 48.1-09-01-02 sorts every nondomestic species held in confinement into three categories, category 1 needing no licence and categories 2 and 3 needing one before the animal is acquired. Subsection 4 exempts arachnids and invertebrates from even the importation permit.
Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.
ServalPermit required
NDAC 48.1-09-01-02(2)(b); 48.1-09-01-03(1)
Category 2 species of nontraditional livestock includes ... nondomestic cats not listed in category 3
Category 3 names the big cats, mountain lion, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger and cheetah, and the serval is not one of them, so it falls to category 2 as a nondomestic cat and needs a licence before it is acquired, with a premises inspection first.
How this rule works: The nontraditional livestock category system is alive and sits here, not in the repealed title 48. 48.1-09-01-02 sorts every nondomestic species held in confinement into three categories, category 1 needing no licence and categories 2 and 3 needing one before the animal is acquired. Subsection 4 exempts arachnids and invertebrates from even the importation permit.
Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.
CapybaraUnclear
§ 36-01-08.1
"Nontraditional livestock" means any wildlife held in a cage, fence, enclosure, or other manmade means of confinement that limits its movement within definite boundaries
Inside the nontraditional livestock definition, with no rule currently attaching a licence.
How this rule works: The chapter names only three restrictions relevant to pets: skunks and raccoons may not be kept at all, mountain lions and wolves need a tattooed identification number, and the board is to make rules on primates. § 36-01-08.1 says the board may require a licence for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the licence, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.
Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.
Fennec foxUnclear
§ 36-01-08.1
The board of animal health may require a license for nontraditional livestock maintained within this state.
Same gap as the serval. Note that the statute bans skunks and raccoons outright and singles out wolves for tattooing, so foxes sit between the two and are named in neither.
How this rule works: The chapter names only three restrictions relevant to pets: skunks and raccoons may not be kept at all, mountain lions and wolves need a tattooed identification number, and the board is to make rules on primates. § 36-01-08.1 says the board may require a licence for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement. The wording is permissive but the board has used it: see NDAC article 48.1-09 for the three categories and the licence, and § 36-01-00.1(3) for a definition of domestic animal that runs only to dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, farmed elk, llamas, alpacas and swine.
Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.
No restriction found in North Dakota
48 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.
- Ackie monitor
- African grey parrot
- Argentine black and white tegu
- Axolotl
- Ball python
- Bearded dragon
- Bengal cat
- Blue-tongue skink
- Boa constrictor
- Box turtle
- Burmese python
- California kingsnake
- Chinchilla
- Cockatoo
- Corn snake
- Crested gecko
- Degu
- Emperor scorpion
- Ferret
- Flying squirrel
- Garter snake
- Gerbil
- Giant African millipede
- Green anole
- Green iguana
- Guinea pig
- Hamster
- Hedgehog
- Hognose snake
- Jackson's chameleon
- Leopard gecko
- Madagascar hissing cockroach
- Milk snake
- Nile monitor
- Quaker parakeet
- Rabbit
- Red-eared slider
- Red-footed tortoise
- Rosy boa
- Russian tortoise
- Savannah monitor
- Snapping turtle
- Sugar glider
- Sulcata tortoise
- Tarantula
- Tiger salamander
- Tokay gecko
- Veiled chameleon
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 North Dakota 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.