Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,
I just moved to Virginia(Newport News area) and let me tell you I have been having a difficult time trying to get any straight answers concerning the herp laws(Hot and not Hot, everyone seems to be giving me different answers). I called the fish and wildlife on two seperate days and spoke to two different people and got two different answers. At one pet sotore they told me that all snakes were illegal to own but not illegal to sell. Now I know that that is not correct. OThers have told me that they are legal and that hots are not restricted. Just curious if anyone lives near me or atleast in VA and could give me a little guidance on what is the laws for large constrictors as well as hots or atleast guide to a good source (Either phone or website) that would be able to give me the answers. Thank you for your time, Todd

These should help:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/nongame.asp

http://looserooexotics.com/venlaws.html

Hey Todd,
Welcome to the non-sense that is the Common Wealth of Virginia. I have lived in VA for about 10 years now and have given up trying to nail down "the law" here. Because the laws are more county driven, it seems that it makes it much more complicated to get a definitve answer on any particluar question. Your exaclty right though...it all depends on who at the VDGIF picks up the phone to answers your question as to what the answer from them will be. In general the pet store owners don't know anything either. I do know, though, that keeping venomous is illegal in most if not every county on VA. Very disappointing for me. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being no regulations and 10 being locked down tight)...I would say VA is about a 6. So, it could be worse. Talk to you later

I'm in York County and there are no venomous laws.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Oh yea...Sorry. I am 100% certain that there are no laws restricting large constrictors. However, your apartment rules or community assosiation bylaws may prohibit it.

Welcome to Va!
I understand your troubles. I contacted the DGIF about maybe getting a Timber sometime and wanted some assurance that it wouldnt be construed as a Canebrake, which is illegal to have in Va and get in trouble over it. I got a very foggy answer. "They are the same species but the canebrake is a protected population, so no Canebrakes allowed in captivity, CB or WC". This still didnt answer my Timber dilemma. I gave up. Timbers are too hot for me anyway.
Hots and large constrictors are not allowed in NN as I recall, I havent paid much attention since it doesnt apply to me. Do what I did on the York County website and go to the NN Gov. website and search for words like "Venomous, poisonous, dangerous animal, pets, snakes, reptiles" etc and see what you dig up.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

The only species outlawed by Va state law are canebrakes and brown tree snakes. Canebrakes because of the population's limited distribution within the state (restricted to remote localities in the Tide Water area) and Brown tree snakes because for some reason Va thinks they could escape and pose the same problem you see in Guam.

Everything else is ok by state law, at least as far as snakes go.

Of course there are many county laws that prohibit certain snakes or venomous. Check your county ordinance.

I can tell you for certain that any of the counties surrounding the immediate DC metro area are no no zones for hots. Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Prince William and Loudan.

Hope this helps,
Jeremy

I've lived in Newport News for more than 30 years. This is an exceptionally easy state to keep reptiles - including collecting them from the wild.

State law says that you may have in possession 'for personal use' (ie. pets, consumption, etc) no more than 5 of any 'non-listed' species of reptile native to Virginia (you may have as many non-native snakes as you want). That means, for example, you can have 5 Eastern Kings, and 5 Eastern Hognoses, 5 Rough Green Snakes, and 20 African Rock Pythons (you get the idea).

A 'listed species' is one that is listed either on a State list or Federal list of reptiles that are protected to some extent (ie. species of special concern, threatened, endangered). For instance, the Canebrake is 'listed' since it is state-endangered. There's only one or two snakes on that list.

This means that collection of reptiles from the wild is legal in Virginia. You may collect to the extent state law allows (see above). However, local rules may keep you from collecting in certain areas. Collection in Newport News parks is prohibited by city ordinance. However, collection on private property, or from roadways is perfectly legal. I herp private land near Newport News, and several of the state Wildlife Management Areas. Collection is perfectly legal in these areas. There is not even a permit requirement.

We do not encourage collecting from the wild. But I do have one wild caught Eastern King Snake that came from land that was about to be developed, and which had some skin maladies. I kept it and treated its skin, then kept it as a pet.

There are no special rules that I know of prohibiting the keeping of hots. And as far as I know, there is no prohibition in Newport news about keeping large boids. There are local and state laws prohibiting their release into the wild. And it's illegal to keep them in a manner that would allow them to escape.

Otherwise, welcome to herp-friendly Newport News, Virginia.