At the time of an electrical house fire that gutted our home, I had over 40 assorted snakes. There were many corns, kings and rats (some breeding and/or gravid), ball pythons, GTPs, etc. I also had chameleons, beardies, a savannah monitor, and several frog species. FC animal control was called to the scene by the firefighters because of all the animals. The only reptile they seized was the monitor. The AC officer said these were illegal to possess in Fairfax County BUT it turned out later he was wrong. Savannahs are not in actuality illegal here (or were not at the time) but the statute apparently confuses even the AC officers. As far as the snakes, including several "native" species (all of them CB): AC had no problem whatsoever with me having these. I believe the laws pertain to the capture of wild indigenous species much more than to purchase of CB animals. And my understanding of that is that you can legally capture and keep a non-endangered, harmless species, but you can't sell it nor purchase a captured one from someone else. With particular respect to box turtles, people find and keep them all the time, and while I'm pretty sure this is still legal to do, from an ethical standpoint, why take them from the wild when their population is dwindling? But DO make it your business to read and understand the regulations for yourself; I learned the hard way that AC officers can't be relied upon to always know.
