Hognose legal in WA?

A friend online saw my Hognose and wants one but they have been told by local pet stores that they are illegal. I know they illegal in colorado and Iowa but I can only find that Hognose are a 'grey area' in WA.

Lauren,

To my knowledge they are only illegal in Colorado, Iowa and Illinois. To my knowledge they are legal in WA.

Hope this helps.

Joe Deavers
J & S Reptiles

Interesting. they only thing I could find was that they were a 'gray area' because of the 'Dangerous Pet Act' and they are technically venomous. But in my mind a hognose is about as dangerous as a peanut. Maybe even less so since it would seem far more people are allergic to peanuts than hognose (at least I assume that hognose allergy is rare).

Odd that all the pet stores would say they are illegal. The pet stores around me don't often have them, but that's only cause they sell out so fast.

They are not considered venomous. They are considered harmless and can be shipped via fedex. Venomous must be shipped airport to airport via airline carrier only such as delta dash or delta cargo. Yes hognoses are rear fanged venomous technically but they again are considered harmless.

I'm not sure where exactly in Washington your friend lives or what pet stores he frequents that inform him of the illegality of Western Hognose snakes are, but I've lived in Southern Washington for 13 years and have kept Western Hognose for 6+ years and see them for sale on occasion at our local pet store. I've also been to the Puyallup reptile expo and have seen Western Hognose for sale there as well. Nobody that I have known that keeps or breeds Western Hognose has ever raised any issue about their legality.

Here's also an interesting article that addresses this as well:

"6. You live in Federal Way and intend to buy a pet hognose snake (genus Heterodon)...

Hognose snakes are very mildly venomous and are a commonly kept species with no history of serious injury to keepers. They are native to the United States, stay fairly small and are widely accepted as safe to keep.
Like the mangrove snake, they are legal by state law and county/city code is ambiguous on their legality.
You are still in a legal grey area but you are less likely to encounter conflict and more likely to win a court dispute with little effort."