Roach legality?

[progeckos]

Is there a government web site that has what states it’s illegal to keep roaches in? I may be selling some roaches soon so I would like to know. I know there illegal in Florida but I’m not sure about the rest of the states. Thanks.

[robin d.]

i do not know however there is ONE thing i do know... the roaches that are smoked ARE illegal everywhere (cept for medicinal purposes)

[progeckos]

LOL. Now I know why you got roaches. :) You have an excuse though.

[Xavier]

Its illegal to own roaches in Florida? I fnd it hard to beleive roaches aren't used as feeders in that whole state.

[progeckos]

Roaches are illegal to keep in Florida. I think a lot of people probably have them without anyone knowing though.

[Xavier]

amazing I bet I can find stores selling them thereLOL

[cricket]

Just turn onto any side street, stop at the first mobile home and look under any rock.....

[progeckos]

Just turn onto any side street, stop at the first mobile home and look under any rock.....
LOL. That’s very true.

[Clay Davenport]

I've wondered about this myself, since I do raise roaches commercially, but to my knowledge there isn't any general clearinghouse of information that lists such things state by state.
As I understand it, hissing roaches are specifically banned in Florida, and other roaches are banned generally. There is a permit available from the state to keep them.
For this reason I simply do not ship roaches to Florida at all. You never know when someone may be trying to set you up to commit a violation.

As for the other states, I don't know what's illegal. It would probably be safe to assume that only the southern most states would be inclined to have such regulations, since none of the feeder roaches can possibly survive in the majority of the country.
I would almost guarantee they would be banned in HI, but anything that might eat them is already banned there as well, so customers from that state would be exceedingly rare.
The other state I wonder most about is California, but so far I haven't found anything about the legality there.
I was told by the manager of a local pet store that hissers were illegal here in NC, but I haven't been able to locate any regulations to substantiate that. The NC regs are confusingly written to say the least and getting specific information is not an easy task.

For the present, I ship roaches to any of the lower 48 states with the exception of Florida. I won't knowingly violate the law, and if I find them to be illegal in other states I will discontinue sales there as well, but until then I'll continue shipping to the rest of the country.

[progeckos]

Thanks for the info Clay. I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing. :)

[smallpenguinarm]

To find out, go to the website for the department of fish and game for your state. I live in california, and there are a lot of things you aren't supposed to have. Non-native roaches are one of them. The only ones you can have I think are american, german, and australian cockroaches. I suppose were you to infest California with another kind, however, it would someday become legal.

[smallpenguinarm]

I take what I said back about California, perhaps I had read a conficting webpage? here is a link to non-permit insects

http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=121863&advquery=roach&infobase=ccr&record={AABC}&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42&x=45&y=16&zz=

[Ken Harbart]

Are roaches illegal to import into FL? Yes and no.

Male Madagascar hissing roaches can be imported and used as feeders in the state.

[progeckos]

Thanks for the info. I guess we’ll have to check the laws with Game and Wildlife in each state.