California — prohibited pet species (Fish & Game Code § 2118)
Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife — "Living with Wildlife" (wildlife.ca.gov/Living-with-Wildlife), extracted 2026-07-23. First-hand state-agency text; C1 substring-verified against pdf-raw/exotic-legality/ca_living_with_wildlife.txt.
California prohibits a range of exotic animals as pets. Per CDFW: "The most common examples are ferrets, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, gerbils, monkeys, and monk parakeets." These animals "pose a threat to California native fish and wildlife, agriculture, public health or safety pursuant" CA Fish & Game Code § 2118.
A restricted-species permit exists, but "Permits are not issued to import or possess any wild animal for pet purposes."
This covers the state-level "can I keep an exotic pet in California?" question for the most commonly asked species (ferret, hedgehog, sugar glider, gerbil, monkey, monk parakeet). CITES Appendix status of each species is a separate federal/trade layer and is not addressed here.
Verbatim C1 claims (each a substring of the source file + this body):
- "The most common examples are ferrets, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, gerbils, monkeys, and monk parakeets."
- "CA Fish & Game Code § 2118"
- "pose a threat to California native fish and wildlife, agriculture, public health or safety pursuant"
- "Permits are not issued to import or possess any wild animal for pet purposes."