Moving to Hawaii – Prohibited Animals and Pets that are Illegal to Own

Beth Robinson R(B)

January 1, 2011

Thanks for the informative information, Ron. By the way, I have information for anyone interested in shipping their horses to Hawaii!

Chandler Cameron

June 25, 2015

Is there a way to obtain a permit for a snake or a lizard? I am being stationed in Hawaii but want to keep my pets

Christopher

June 18, 2016

Aloha,

I’ve been in the processing of moving back to Hawaii – especially Honolulu. I’ve always wanted either a cute ringed-tail lempur or a cute ferret as a pet, but I understand that having a ferret as a pet in Hawaii is illegal. How about a ringed-lempur? Of course, it would need to stay indoor as required by me, so that he or she wouldn’t expose to the native animals, plants, and environment there. If illegally. why is that? The USA, including Hawaii is a free country which means I can have a ringed-tail lempur as a pet anywhere, including Hawaii. They only eat fruits and vegetables where I can buy them at a grocery store. I WON’T bring any animal shown above to Hawaii. A ringed-tail lempur is very cute and cuddly. Well, I hope I can have it there one day. Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Mahalo!

jd

September 12, 2017

Geckos are allowed to own here in hawaii, i currently live on the island of kauai and there are geckos everywhere, this information is fake such as not being able to own hamsters

Ryik

October 25, 2018

There is one snake species allowed in Hawaii – the Hawaiian snake, also known as the brahminy blind snake. It’s small, nonvenomous, and mostly eats termites or ant larvae. It’s pretty cute, though it might not make the best pet since it likes to go underground.

Ammon Stringham

January 21, 2020

Are frogs allowed? Could I bring my treefrog and pacman frog to hawaii?

Ed Lesperance

April 28, 2020

Can I have a lemur?

aubrey

September 15, 2021

are australian dumpy frogs allowed in hawaii

Hazel S.

January 16, 2024

For those people asking why certain animals are and aren’t allowed, it’s not a matter of whether or not the animal is domesticated. Hawaii has a very delicate ecosystem with almost 400 endangered animal species, many of which are endemic and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Escaped pets may overwhelm the local ecosystems via overpredation (for example, many reptiles can prey on native birds or insects that aren’t used to those predators), overpopulation (for example, many rodents reproduce extremely quickly), or spreading diseases (for example, any animal might introduce a virus that can devastate an unprepared ecosystem). Even common pets like dogs and cats are subject to extensive quarantine processes when coming to Hawaii. It’s great that you might be a very responsible pet owner who’d never let your animals out of your home, but there’s no way to vet every prospective pet owner for that level of responsibility, so it’s less complicated to blanket ban certain types of animals. Unlike areas in the continental US, it’s actually possible for Hawaii to limit the spread of new species into local ecosystems, and that’s incredibly good for conserving the wildlife in our islands.

As for specific animals mentioned in the comments: ferrets are mustelids, which are highly efficient predators. Geckos are already invasive in Hawaii, and keeping them might encourage breeding, which would mean more animals with the potential to be released. Lemurs, sloths, koalas, and the specific frogs mentioned – I’m unsure, but would definitely check. Even if your ideal pet isn’t technically on this list, I’d be careful about bringing exotics to Hawaii, if only because the type of veterinary care might be limited and vets here might not be as prepared to work with them. Your animals deserve all the care and comfort possible, and if keeping an animal means you’d have to limit their comfort in order to hide them from authorities, I’d consider whether they can achieve the best quality of life that you can provide them. Personally, I want a pet snake really really badly, but I understand that I wouldn’t be able to give it the care that it needs. Hawaii is my home, and I don’t want to put my home at risk over what a single animal can represent.