Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone educate me on AZ laws? Local and statewide as per owning hots in the state, please.

Go to the Arizona Fish and game webpage I believe it has them there. But the basics are as follows. Nothing exotic, and also some species that are off limits like willardi, lepidus, pricei, Heloderma. Huniting license is needed for possession of legal animals with limits on the license. You can get permits for other stuff like Heloderma with work though.

Chip

p.s. this is just the bare basics though. I'd check out fish and games site if I were you.

One does not need a permit to possess native (unprotected) venomous in Arizona as long as one is within bag limits....One does however need a valid license to collect them. I know it's a small point, and probably what you intended to say anyway, but I thought I'd write it down simply for clarification.

As far as general laws for Az venomous for your average Joe-blow private keeper, they are as follows:

1) No front fanged exotic venomous snakes (exotic as defined by Az Game and Fish is anything not originated within the states' political boundaries. Yes, this means that legally speaking if someone were to catch an atrox in Ca and keep it in Az, AzG&F would consider this animal exotic.)

2) As far as rear-fangs, no boomslangs, African twig snakes or Asian keelbacks. Stilletto vipers are also prohibited. All other rear-fangs are allowed as long as they were legally obtained.

3) No Heloderms. This includes Mex. beadeds, which is ironic as Ca allows them but Az does not.

4) As far as native species, there shall be no open season (i.e. you cannot possess, harrass, hold & caress, buy, sell, yada yada, yada....you get the picture) on Az ridgenose rattlesnakes, twinspot rattlesnakes, rock rattlesnakes, massassaugas and Gila mosters from either subspecies.

5) Bag limit for all native venomous is 4 in possession at any time. If you breed, you cannot sell, trade or barter the offspring. These animals must be given as a gift or otherwise disposed of per AzG&F direction after 12 months.

I think I've covered the major bases here....if you have any other questions, just ask...

-AzAtrox

So there is a COMPLETE and total ban on all exotic hots? that is to say there is no permit system in place neither so that I would be allowed a Bitis or Naja Spp.?
Thank you for explaining all this to me

Yes, AzG&F cn grant you a permit to keep anything that you wish. However, you'd stand a greater chance if you were a nice ball made of snow in a toasty place a little south of where we currently are.

I figure that the only people that would stand a chance of being granted such a request would be those that a) worked for a bona fide research/educational facility and b) could demonstrate that working with such animals porvided such benefits to conservation and research as could not be attained via some other method.

Put quite simply, if you're simply a responsible keeper, interested in observing and maintaining these animals simply for the pure joy and greater understanding that it brings you, AzG&F figures that you can derive the same joy and understanding from a book.

Do not fret though...we have plenty of fascinating crotalids here that are magnificent creatures...I hate the fact that I cannot keep many of the Old World Viperidae...but with the way that hot herp bans are spreading across the states, I figure pretty soon I'll consider my self lucky to be able to work with such a wide variety of animals while others are stuck with 2 or 3 species....I guess it's all in how you decide to look at it.

-AzAtrox

Good point and well written... I understand completely coming from a hot unfriendly state

Maybe someday if your interested, I'd look forward to herpin with you around Az to see the sights

Patrick...

If you're anything like the few guys that I like to go out herpin' with, then you're more than welcome to join in and go herpin'....We're just as excited to see an atrox as we are a willardi, just for the sake of seeing these magnificent creatures "do their thing"....just be sure to bring a camera!

-AzAtrox

I think one of the ideas behind all of this newly emergent hot ban legislation is the idea that dangerous exotic tropical hots could establish perminant breeding colonies in some of our warmer states when they either "escape" or are deliberatly set loose by some irresponsible idiot or are stolen and let loose by some PETA ideological/pantheistic religious idiot.

I say this because the most seemingly successful new anti hot legislation seems to be coming from southern States (Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama) while the COLDER northern hot friendly states seem better at resiting the total ban temptation for permit systems.