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Explore the world of reptiles — cold-blooded, scaly vertebrates including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and the tuatara, found across deserts, rainforests, and oceans worldwide.
678 stories
A pet store turtle the size of a silver dollar, a snapping turtle basking on a pond log, and a box turtle crossing a backyard trail are all covered by different rules in Connecticut.
South Carolina has a reputation for being one of the more relaxed states in the country when it comes to exotic pets, and that reputation matters if you’re wondering whether you can own an iguana in South Carolina.
If you have ever wondered whether you can own an alligator in South Dakota, the honest answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.
Grabbing a shovel the moment you spot a snake in your yard could cost you far more than a few minutes of effort in Tennessee.
When a Waterloo resident bought a baby alligator off an online ad, he had no idea he was breaking the law.
If you’ve been eyeing a green iguana at a Chicagoland reptile expo, you might assume the same rules that ban tigers and wolves in Illinois also apply to lizards.
Nebraska has a reputation as one of the friendlier states for exotic pet keepers, and that reputation mostly holds true for pythons.
Finding a snake coiled near your porch or garage in North Dakota raises an immediate question: can you legally handle it yourself, or do state wildlife laws require something different?
If you’re wondering whether you can own a python in Washington, the short answer is yes for most species, but the full picture involves three separate layers of law working at once.
If you have ever wondered whether you can own a turtle in New Jersey, the short answer is yes for most species, but the details matter more than the headline.
Most people assume a snake in the yard is fair game to kill or move as they please.
South Carolina rewrote its rules on turtle ownership in 2020, and many pet owners and backyard collectors still don’t realize how much changed.
Here’s something that surprises a lot of new reptile owners: you can legally keep a green iguana in your Georgia living room, but you cannot legally keep the orphaned raccoon you rescued from your backyard.
Alligators show up in Mississippi backyards, drainage ditches, and golf course ponds often enough that plenty of residents wonder whether keeping one as a pet is actually an option.
Search online and you’ll find two completely different answers to whether you can own an alligator in Missouri.
If you’re thinking about bringing home a ball python or a Burmese python in the Mountain State, you’re in one of the more relaxed places in the country to do it.
Snake removal laws in Oklahoma catch a lot of homeowners off guard, because scooping a snake into a bucket and driving it down the road can technically put you on the wrong side of state wildlife code.
A backyard box turtle or a red-eared slider in a tank sounds like a harmless hobby, but California treats turtle ownership as a wildlife issue, not just a pet-store transaction.
If you have ever found a painted turtle crossing a dirt road in Concord or spotted a red-eared slider sunning itself in a local pond, you have probably wondered: can you own a turtle in New Hampshire? The short answer is yes, but the rules shift dramatically depending on which species you are talking about.
Most Maryland homeowners who spot a snake near the porch reach for a shovel before they think to check the law.
