Where is the veiled chameleon legal?

Chamaeleo calyptratus. Restricted in 3 of the 34 jurisdictions checked. Every entry quotes the rule it comes from.

Alabama: no restriction found for veiled chameleonAlaska: no restriction found for veiled chameleonArizona: no restriction found for veiled chameleonArkansas: no restriction found for veiled chameleonCalifornia: no restriction found for veiled chameleonColorado: no restriction found for veiled chameleonConnecticut: no restriction found for veiled chameleonDelaware: no restriction found for veiled chameleonFlorida: no restriction found for veiled chameleonGeorgia: no restriction found for veiled chameleonHawaii: banned for veiled chameleonIdaho: no restriction found for veiled chameleonIllinois: no restriction found for veiled chameleonIndiana: no restriction found for veiled chameleonIowa: no restriction found for veiled chameleonKansas: no restriction found for veiled chameleonKentucky: no restriction found for veiled chameleonLouisiana: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMaine: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMaryland: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMassachusetts: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMichigan: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMinnesota: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMississippi: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMissouri: no restriction found for veiled chameleonMontana: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNebraska: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNevada: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNew Hampshire: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNew Jersey: permit required for veiled chameleonNew Mexico: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNew York: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNorth Carolina: no restriction found for veiled chameleonNorth Dakota: no restriction found for veiled chameleonOhio: no restriction found for veiled chameleonOklahoma: no restriction found for veiled chameleonOregon: no restriction found for veiled chameleonPennsylvania: no restriction found for veiled chameleonRhode Island: no restriction found for veiled chameleonSouth Carolina: no restriction found for veiled chameleonSouth Dakota: no restriction found for veiled chameleonTennessee: no restriction found for veiled chameleonTexas: no restriction found for veiled chameleonUtah: no restriction found for veiled chameleonVermont: no restriction found for veiled chameleonVirginia: no restriction found for veiled chameleonWashington: no restriction found for veiled chameleonWest Virginia: no restriction found for veiled chameleonWisconsin: no restriction found for veiled chameleonWyoming: no restriction found for veiled chameleonDistrict of Columbia: banned for veiled chameleon

Select a state for the rule behind its colour. Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are drawn out of position so they can be clicked.

What the colours mean

  • Banned (2)No legal way to keep one, and no permit to apply for.
  • Permit required (1)Legal, but you need a permit or licence before the animal arrives.
  • Conditions applyLegal without a permit only if a stated condition is met, such as a generation, a size or an indoor-only rule.
  • UnclearThe rule genuinely does not resolve for this animal. Ask the agency before relying on it.
  • No restriction foundNothing in the body of law we read restricts this animal here.

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Every restriction on the veiled chameleon

3 of the 34 jurisdictions checked restrict this animal in some way. The rest had no rule we could find.

District of Columbia

Banned§ 8-1808(j)(1)(E)
Non-venomous snakes, fish, and turtles

Lizards are absent from the permitted list entirely.

How this rule works: Closed list. Seven permitted categories; everything else is barred as a household pet.

D.C. Code § 8-1808(j), Prohibited conduct →

Hawaii

Banned§ 4-71-6
The introduction into Hawaii of live animals or live non-domestic animals as defined in this chapter at any stage of development is prohibited except for those animals on the lists

Chamaeleo calyptratus appears on no Hawaii list. The only chameleons named anywhere are Chamaeleo chamaeleon and Furcifer oustaleti, both on the restricted list for research and exhibition only. Veiled chameleons are established in the wild on Maui and Oahu, which is exactly the outcome the default rule exists to prevent.

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

Hawaii Administrative Rules § 4-71-6, List of Prohibited Animals →

New Jersey

Permit requiredN.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4, 4.5
any other exotic species not exempted

New Jersey exempts a closed list of species from permitting and then requires a permit for anything else. The veiled chameleon is not exempted, so a personal possession permit from Fish and Wildlife applies before the animal arrives.

How this rule works: 4.4 is a closed exempt list; 4.5 requires a permit for 'any other' exotic species not exempted.

N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4 Exempted Species and 7:25-4.5 Additional Species →

For the full write-up, including the states that get reported wrongly, read the veiled chameleon legal guide.

Past the legal question? See the veiled chameleon profile.

How to read this

A state with no colour is one where nothing in the law we read restricts that animal. That is not the same as a guarantee: it means no restriction was found in the specific body of law checked for that state, which is recorded alongside each jurisdiction. Cities and counties regularly ban animals their state allows, and several states say so in their own rules.

Hatched grey means the rule genuinely does not resolve. Usually a definition arguably reaches the animal without naming it, and the honest answer is to ask the agency rather than to guess. Those entries are marked unclear on purpose rather than being rounded to a yes or a no.

Every entry links to the regulation it came from. None of this is legal advice, laws change without much notice, and the agency that issues the permit is always the last word. For the federal layer and how state schemes are structured, see the exotic pet legal hub.