Anybody in CA can own two Sauromalus ater without a license.

The law "as written" could be interpreted to mean you need a license even to possess, even if they were purchased. I've seen discussions of other states' laws where the law is interpreted as meaning you have to have a license that was valid for the time the animals were acquired (e.g. if I were to catch two chucks on 20 Sep, I would need to hold on to my license for 20 Sep for as long as I owned the chucks. I have no idea as to how you could prove WHEN you actually caught the lizards!).

Of course, the enforcement of the "letter of the law" is lax in this scenario. I don't see LE following people home from the pet store to check if they have proper permits for Cal kings!

You don't need a license to keep chuckwallas you might have bought, so as long as you acquired the animals legally,

Always keep receipts for purchased natives.

The DFG agent I spoke to the other day went on to assure me that the limit was two animals per person, so there's no problem giving two to your wife, another two to your daughter, another two to your son, and keeping two yourself.

This exact scenario was brought up on another forum. It seems the law's "meaning" or "intent" is in the eyes of the individual warden/agent you talk to. Did you get the agent's name? There are a couple out there who tend to enforce the laws differently than others.

Warden Kyle Chang told me I couldn't take banded geckos I caught (with a valid license) out of state (untrue), but I honored that interpretation and had CA residents gift some to me (those folks were using them as feeders--another bizarre way to follow the letter of the law, if not the spirit: Possess two until they're eaten by your snakes, then go catch two more, repeat as necessary; yet I can't start a breeding colony!).
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

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