Exotic pet laws in South Carolina

§ 50-16-20(A)(1)

a furbearer, a member of the family Cervidae, a nondomestic member of the families Suidae (pigs), Tayassuidae (peccaries), Bovidae (bison, mountain goat, mountain sheep), coyote, bear, or turkey (genus Meleagris). Furbearer includes, but is not limited to, red and gray fox, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, mink, skunk, otter, bobcat, weasel, and beaver;

The furbearer list is open ended and names fox. Bringing one into South Carolina needs a Department of Natural Resources permit.

How this rule works: § 50-16-20 requires a permit to bring in certain groups of live wildlife, chiefly furbearers, cervids, pigs, bovids, coyote, bear and turkey. § 50-16-60 then exempts a named list of pet trade animals from even that.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.

S.C. Code Regs. 123-151.4(D); 123-151.3(A)

A person shall not possess more than 2 eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina).

This entry read legal on § 50-16-60, which clears reptiles as a class from the import permit. Regulation 123-151.4(I) says that section does not privilege a native reptile, and the eastern box turtle gets its own subsection. 123-151.4(D) caps possession at two, and anyone who held more on 28 September 2020 had ninety days to register them by species, wild-caught and captive-born alike, with no further turtles acquirable until the number drops below the cap. Registered turtles are assigned a unique identification number and must be shell notched with it, the keeper must file an affidavit confirming the notching, and permit holders file an annual report. On top of that 123-151.3(A) bars selling, buying or re-homing one at all. Two is also the aggregate cap for diamondback terrapins, against ten for native turtles generally.

How this rule works: The 2021 native reptile rules. 123-151.3(A) bars selling, purchasing, trading, exchanging, bartering, exporting, shipping, transferring or re-homing any native reptile or amphibian, with twelve exceptions that are mostly named snakes under a size limit. 123-151.4 adds possession caps for turtles, two for the eastern box turtle with shell notching and registration. 123-151.4(I) is the clause that matters most: the pet-trade exemption at S.C. Code § 50-16-60 does not privilege a native reptile.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

S.C. Code Regs. Ch. 123-150 to -153 (Act 177)

Corn snakes reproduced in captivity and under 20 inches in total length are allowed

South Carolina's 2021 native-reptile law (Act 177) generally bars sale/possession of native reptiles, but carves out captive-bred corn snakes under 20 inches total length as an allowed pet-trade exception. We could not confirm the exact regulation subsection number for this specific size cutoff beyond the Chapter 123-150s series; the substance is corroborated by SCDNR's own herp regulations page describing the general native-species possession scheme.

How this rule works: Official codified text implementing 2021 Act 177; §123-151.3 carves out captive-bred corn snakes under 20 inches and eastern milksnakes under 10 inches from the general native-reptile sale/possession ban.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

S.C. Code Regs. 123-150.3; § 50-16-60

That a scientific collecting permit under the terms of § 50-11-2190, 1976 Code of Laws, shall be required for the collecting of all nongame species or subspecies of the Classes Pices (Fish), Amphibia (Amphibians), Reptilia (Reptiles), Aves (Birds) and Mammalia (Mammals).

The southern flying squirrel is a South Carolina native and a nongame mammal, and the answer turns on where an individual animal came from. Regulation 123-150.3 requires a scientific collecting permit for collecting any nongame species of the class Mammalia, so taking one from the wild is out for a keeper. Possession of a lawfully acquired captive-bred animal is a different question and South Carolina does not answer it directly: § 50-16-20(A) requires a permit for furbearers, cervids, pigs, bovids, coyote, bear and turkey, and a flying squirrel is none of those, while the pet-trade exemption at § 50-16-60 names rats, mice, rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs and no squirrel. Recorded conditional on origin rather than as a permit, because there is no possession permit in the chapter to apply for.

How this rule works: The 2021 native reptile rules. 123-151.3(A) bars selling, purchasing, trading, exchanging, bartering, exporting, shipping, transferring or re-homing any native reptile or amphibian, with twelve exceptions that are mostly named snakes under a size limit. 123-151.4 adds possession caps for turtles, two for the eastern box turtle with shell notching and registration. 123-151.4(I) is the clause that matters most: the pet-trade exemption at S.C. Code § 50-16-60 does not privilege a native reptile.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

S.C. Code Regs. 123-151.3(A); 123-151.4(I)

No native reptile or amphibian, including parts, products, eggs, and derivatives may be sold, purchased, traded, exchanged, bartered, exported or shipped, transferred and/or re-homed, except:

The green anole is a South Carolina native, which is what takes it out of the pet-trade exemption. § 50-16-60 clears reptiles as a class from the import permit, and Regulation 123-151.4(I) then says that section "does not privilege" a native reptile: the 2021 rules control instead. 123-151.3(A) bars selling, purchasing, trading, exchanging, bartering, exporting, shipping, transferring and re-homing any native reptile, and its twelve exceptions do not reach a lizard. They are: transfers to the department, transfers authorised by other law, accredited zoos and research institutions, laboratory venom, non-native morphs of native snake species, three named snakes under 10 inches, three more under 20, the pine snake under 24, two named turtles from permitted sources, alligators, bullfrogs, and rehabilitators. So a green anole may be kept and may not change hands, and giving one away is expressly included in the bar.

How this rule works: The 2021 native reptile rules. 123-151.3(A) bars selling, purchasing, trading, exchanging, bartering, exporting, shipping, transferring or re-homing any native reptile or amphibian, with twelve exceptions that are mostly named snakes under a size limit. 123-151.4 adds possession caps for turtles, two for the eastern box turtle with shell notching and registration. 123-151.4(I) is the clause that matters most: the pet-trade exemption at S.C. Code § 50-16-60 does not privilege a native reptile.

Checked against the published text on 5 September 2026.

S.C. Code Regs. Ch. 123-150 to -153 (Act 177)

eastern milksnakes reproduced in captivity and under 10 inches in total length are also permitted

South Carolina's 2021 native-reptile law (Act 177) bars sale/possession of native reptiles generally, but carves out captive-bred eastern milksnakes under 10 inches total length as an allowed pet-trade exception. We could not confirm the exact regulation subsection for this size cutoff beyond the Chapter 123-150s series.

How this rule works: Official codified text implementing 2021 Act 177; §123-151.3 carves out captive-bred corn snakes under 20 inches and eastern milksnakes under 10 inches from the general native-reptile sale/possession ban.

Checked against the published text on 27 August 2026.

§ 50-16-20(A)(1)

Furbearer includes, but is not limited to, red and gray fox, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, mink, skunk, otter, bobcat, weasel, and beaver;

The domestic ferret is not named, but the list is expressly not exhaustive and it does name mink and weasel, the ferret's closest relatives. Ferrets are also absent from the § 50-16-60 pet trade exemption list, which names hamsters, guinea pigs and gerbils. Worth a call to DNR before importing one.

How this rule works: § 50-16-20 requires a permit to bring in certain groups of live wildlife, chiefly furbearers, cervids, pigs, bovids, coyote, bear and turkey. § 50-16-60 then exempts a named list of pet trade animals from even that.

Checked against the published text on 4 August 2026.