permit to own a garter?

[Spankenstyne]

There ya go, reddeerexotics pretty well covered it. The native Alberta species you can keep (Red Sided, Plains & Wanderings) but not buy/sell/trade import or export. That includes any "morphs" & doesn't matter if they're WC or captive bred elsewhere, you need a special permit that are essentially only issued to Zoo's & research facilities. Hobbyists & breeders will not get these licences. Pretty much anything else Thamnophis we can keep & buy/sell trade etc in Alberta though (except Butler's Garters and Eastern Ribbon snakes). Just to clarify the Alberta act, "Non-License" and "Non-Game" refers to native wildlife species while the "Controlled" section refers to non-native species. More discussion on the Alberta regulations is in the thread above that kimbosaur linked to.

BC on the other hand you cannot keep/collect anything Thamnophis period without a permit which they also state outright the likelihood of getting as "very low". For anyone doubting the BC regulations here is a copy of the email I received last July from the BC government asking for interpretation of their regulations. I was hoping that their regulations were referencing only native Thamnophis species, but you can see it's unfortunately all Thamnophis:

"Hello Mr. Stinson,

Thank you for your email regarding Thamnophis sp. and the Wildlife Act. All species of the genus Thamnophis are considered wildlife (NOT Controlled Alien Species). However, a person who wants to possess any Thamnophis species (both dead or alive) would still need to have a permit from the Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Management Branch.

Please visit the Permit and Authorization Service Bureau at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/pasb/applicati ... dlife.html for more information on applying for permits to possess wildlife in BC. I should also mention that there is a very low likelihood of receiving a permit to possess wildlife as a pet in BC.

I hope this helps to answer your questions and provides more clarity regarding the legality of possessing Garter Snakes in BC.

Best regards,

Jen Smith
Human Dimensions Specialist
Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Management Branch
BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations"