Can You Own a Python in Colorado? What the Law Actually Allows

If you’re picturing a ball python curled up in a terrarium, Colorado has no problem with that. But if you’re eyeing a ten-foot Burmese python, the answer to whether you can own a python in Colorado gets a lot more complicated, involving federal wildlife law, state licensing, and city ordinances that don’t always agree with each other.

Colorado doesn’t ban pythons outright, but it also doesn’t leave the question wide open. The state sorts wildlife into categories, the federal government restricts a handful of “injurious” species from crossing state lines, and cities like Denver and Colorado Springs add their own length limits on top. This guide walks through each layer so you know exactly where you stand before you bring a python home.

Is It Legal to Own a Python in Colorado

Colorado’s default position on wildlife is restrictive. Despite other states allowing various species of wildlife for private possession, Colorado does not allow private possession of exotic animals or wildlife unless specifically authorized by CPW regulation. That sounds like bad news for python owners, but there’s an important exception built into the system.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) splits animals into two practical buckets: domestic animals and what the state calls “unregulated wildlife.” While the public may think in terms of “pets” and “exotic pets,” the state’s actual classifications are “domestic animals” and “unregulated wildlife.” Most nonvenomous, non-native snakes fall into that second category, which is why pet stores across the state can legally sell them without a special license.

This is exactly where ball pythons come in. Snakes are a popular choice for exotic pet owners in Colorado, and there are many species that are legal to own, including ball pythons, corn snakes, and king snakes. The species you’re considering, its adult size, and where in Colorado you live all affect whether that ownership stays simple or requires paperwork. For a deeper dive into how this same classification system applies to a stricter category of reptile, see our guide to owning a venomous snake in Colorado.

Pro Tip: Before buying any python, confirm its adult length. A species that looks manageable as a hatchling can outgrow Colorado’s local size limits within a couple of years.

Federal Law: The Lacey Act and “Injurious” Python Species

Even if Colorado allows a python species, federal law can still restrict how that snake got into the state or where it can legally travel next. The relevant statute is the Lacey Act, which lets the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) label certain animals as “injurious wildlife” when they pose a risk to agriculture, native ecosystems, or human safety.

In 2012, USFWS used that authority to act on a request tied to Florida’s Everglades crisis. The petition, filed by the South Florida Water Management District, was driven by concern over the growing number of Burmese pythons found in Everglades National Park and surrounding areas. The final rule that followed added Python molurus (which includes the Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus), the Northern African python, and the Southern African python to the injurious species list, alongside the yellow anaconda.

Three years later, USFWS expanded that list again. The Burmese python had already established itself in South Florida by the time it was listed in 2012, but the agency used the opportunity to proactively add three more large constrictor species that year, and four more in 2015. That second wave added the reticulated python to the federal injurious list, though notably, the common boa constrictor was left off. Boa constrictors were not added to the rule despite being part of the original nine species reviewed.

Here’s the part that trips up a lot of pet owners: an injurious listing bans importation and interstate transport, not necessarily in-state possession. If state law permits, most existing owners of these species would be allowed to keep their animals, but they’d be prohibited from moving them across state lines. A 2017 federal court decision reinforced this narrower scope, ruling that the federal government cannot legally prevent the interstate trade of large snakes like Burmese pythons that are already within the country, even though the import and cross-border shipment restrictions remain intact.

Species	Federal Status	Year Listed
Burmese python	Injurious wildlife (import/interstate transport restricted)	2012
Northern African python	Injurious wildlife (import/interstate transport restricted)	2012
Southern African python	Injurious wildlife (import/interstate transport restricted)	2012
Reticulated python	Injurious wildlife (import/interstate transport restricted)	2015
Ball python	Not federally restricted	N/A

Which Python Species Are Restricted or Banned in Colorado

Colorado doesn’t maintain a python-specific blacklist the way some states do. Instead, the state’s approach layers CPW’s wildlife classifications on top of whatever federal restrictions already apply to a given species.

The ball python (Python regius) is the species you’ll see most often in Colorado homes and pet stores. It stays relatively small, usually three to five feet as an adult, isn’t federally restricted, and falls squarely into CPW’s unregulated wildlife category, which is why it’s such a common starter reptile.

The Burmese python is a different story. This species can reach well beyond ten feet, and its federal injurious listing means it can’t be imported from outside the country or shipped across state lines. You can read more about its biology, size, and native range in our full Burmese python profile. Reticulated pythons and the African rock pythons carry the same federal transport restrictions, which in practice limits where Colorado residents can legally source them.

Colorado’s own herpetofauna rules, revised by the Parks and Wildlife Commission in 2026, focus mainly on invasive species already established in state waterways and habitats rather than captive pet pythons. Those regulations identify invasive herpetofauna detrimental to Colorado wildlife and habitat and require that any such species taken from the wild be immediately killed rather than possessed or transported alive. That provision is aimed at species like red-eared sliders and certain amphibians already living wild in the state, not at pythons kept as pets, since Colorado’s climate doesn’t support python survival outdoors the way Florida’s does. If you’re curious how the state treats other cold-hardy native reptiles by comparison, our guide to salamanders in Colorado covers a species this chapter directly regulates.

Important Note: A federal injurious listing restricts how a python crosses state lines, not whether Colorado allows you to keep one you already legally own in state. Always check current CPW guidance before assuming either way.

Permit Requirements for Owning a Python in Colorado

Whether you need a permit for your python comes down almost entirely to which CPW list the species falls under. You’ll need a Commercial Wildlife Park License to possess any native wildlife or exotic animal not on the unregulated wildlife list, while animals on that unregulated wildlife list don’t require any special licensing. Most common pet pythons, including ball pythons, sit on the unregulated side of that line.

For species and situations that don’t qualify as unregulated, CPW issues Special Wildlife Licenses instead. These licenses authorize private possession of live wildlife for a limited number of specific purposes, such as rehabilitation, falconry, or scientific collection. A python kept purely as a companion animal typically won’t fit these narrow purpose categories, which is part of why size and species selection matter so much before you buy.

Even when the state doesn’t require a permit, your city might. Colorado Springs, for example, requires a permit for exotic animals generally, though its ordinance carves out an exception: the permit requirement doesn’t apply to birds, small rodents, or small nonpoisonous reptiles not exceeding six feet in length kept as pets or for educational purposes. A python under that six-foot mark can skip the city permit process entirely; one that grows past it can’t. This dual-layer system, state list plus local rule, is similar to what governs other regulated animals in Colorado, including the breed-specific restrictions on dogs that some Colorado cities still enforce.

Size and Length Restrictions in Colorado

Length is where a lot of python ownership plans run into trouble, because state law and city law don’t set the same limits. Colorado itself doesn’t impose a blanket statewide length cap on pet snakes, but several individual jurisdictions do, and they don’t always match each other.

Denver’s animal ordinance draws its own line. City ordinance basically says people can’t have venomous snakes, can’t have a snake larger than six feet in length, and can’t have crocodiles. Colorado Springs sets its exemption threshold at the same six-foot mark, meaning anything longer needs a permit under its exotic animal rule. Arapahoe County takes an even stricter approach on the sales side: potentially large constricting reptiles, meaning boas and pythons, that are larger than three feet in length are prohibited for sale to Arapahoe County residents, while boas and pythons three feet and smaller may be sold.

Jurisdiction	Python Length Rule
Denver	No snake may exceed six feet in length
Colorado Springs	Permit required for nonvenomous reptiles over six feet
Arapahoe County	Sale of boas/pythons over three feet to residents is prohibited

These numbers matter more than they might seem at first glance. A ball python typically stays within every one of these limits its whole life. A Burmese python does not; adult females regularly exceed ten feet, which puts full-grown specimens outside Denver’s and Colorado Springs’ allowances entirely, permit or no permit.

Local Ordinances That May Apply in Colorado

Colorado’s state wildlife rules set the floor, but cities and counties are free to build stricter walls on top of it. Even for the exotic pets the state does allow, owners need to make sure they’re also in good standing with their local governments. That means a python that’s perfectly legal under CPW rules can still be off-limits, or size-restricted, depending on your zip code.

This patchwork approach isn’t unique to reptiles. Colorado municipalities regulate all sorts of animal ownership at the local level, from the leash requirements that vary by city to outright species bans that exist in one county but not the next. The practical lesson is the same one we cover in our piece on venomous snake ownership in Colorado: a state-level allowance never automatically overrides a stricter city or county ordinance.

Enforcement isn’t purely theoretical, either. In one widely reported case, animal control officers in Longmont spent weeks searching for a loose five-foot python before recovering it. Animal control officers eventually rounded up the five-foot-long python, which police believe someone had abandoned. Escaped or abandoned exotic pets create exactly the kind of public safety and wildlife concerns that give cities justification for tighter local rules. For a broader look at how Colorado tracks and manages its wildlife topics generally, our Colorado wildlife hub rounds up related coverage.

Common Mistake: Assuming a state wildlife license or an unregulated-species designation satisfies every requirement. City and county ordinances operate independently of CPW regulations, so always confirm with your specific municipality before acquiring a python.

Penalties for Illegally Owning a Python in Colorado

Violating Colorado’s wildlife possession rules carries real consequences, not just a warning letter. Violations can result in fines, confiscation of the animal, and even criminal charges, with penalties varying based on the severity of the offense and whether it’s a repeat violation. For a python owner, that typically means the animal gets seized by animal control or CPW, and you’re left facing municipal or state charges depending on which rule you broke.

The reasoning behind strict enforcement isn’t arbitrary. CPW has documented biological justifications for tightly controlling live wildlife possession. An escaped exotic animal could potentially hybridize with a native species, cause habitat destruction, or compete for habitat space with native wildlife, and captive-raised wildlife also pose a potential threat for introducing disease into native populations. Those risks apply even to species, like most pet pythons, that couldn’t survive a Colorado winter outdoors; the concern is as much about disease transmission and public safety during the time an escaped animal is loose.

Federal violations add a separate layer of risk on top of state and local penalties. Because species like the Burmese python and reticulated python are listed as injurious wildlife, importing one or shipping it across state lines without authorization violates the Lacey Act itself, independent of whatever Colorado or your city decides. The safest path is straightforward: verify your python’s species, confirm its adult size against your city’s limits, and check with both CPW and your local animal control office before you bring one home. Doing that homework upfront costs far less than dealing with confiscation, fines, or a python that outgrows what your address legally allows.