• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Hognose legal in WA?

phoenix-cry

phoenix-cry

New member
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
1,797
Reaction score
45
Points
0
Location
Dover, NH, USA
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."
 
Back
Top