Section 885.80  Herpetoculture Permit Requirements, Application and Fees

a)         A Herpetoculture Permit is required of any persons wishing to:

1)         be exempt from his or her possession limits for non-listed native herptile taxa, regardless of whether the permit holder only possesses, or also breeds or commercializes;

2)         commercialize any non-listed native herptile taxa that have not originated from the wild in Illinois;

3)         breed (either intentionally or unintentionally) any non-listed native herptile taxa.

b)         Residents seeking to obtain a Herpetoculture Permit must submit an application form, provided by the Department, along with a nonrefundable annual fee of $50.  Information items requested on application forms will include, but are not limited to:  name, address, phone number, list of herptile species to be requested for that permit.  These forms may be submitted via email at DNR.HerpPermit@

illinois.gov. The Department will review and act on these permit requests within 60 days after receipt of the request. Residents applying for renewal of their permit must submit an application, along with annual reports for the preceding year's activities and a nonrefundable fee of $50. Hardcopy applications may be mailed to IDNR, Herptile Permits, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield IL 62702.

c)         Nonresidents seeking to obtain a limited entry Herpetoculture Permit to sell or offer for sale any non-listed native herptile taxa that have not originated from the wild in Illinois must submit an application, provided by the Department, along with a nonrefundable fee of $25.  This permit shall be valid for a specified period that does not exceed 15 consecutive days.

d)         Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.  All portions of the permit application must be completed in full and accompanied by the nonrefundable fee.  Incomplete applications will be rejected.  All non-listed native herptile taxa the applicant wishes to work with or commercialize must be listed on the permit application form.

e)         No Herpetoculture Permit will be issued for any special use herptile taxa. Special use herptile taxa are subject to permitting requirements of Section 885.120.

f)         Indigenous herptile taxa collected from the wild in this State, or any resulting offspring, may not be bred or commercialized, including any lineages of wild-caught Illinois herptiles, unless otherwise authorized by the Department, in writing, for research or recovery purposes.

g)         Release of any propagated indigenous herptile is prohibited unless authorized by the Department in writing.

h)         Issuance, modification or denial of any and all permits shall be at the sole discretion of the Department. The Department's action shall be based on such considerations as completeness of the application, the applicant's history, if any, of violations of the Act or this Part, etc. Additionally, permits may be denied for previous herptile-related violations of aquatic life dealers licenses and aquaculture permits (see 515 ILCS 5/20-70, 20-90 and 20-105 and 17 Ill. Adm. Code 870 and 880).  Other grounds for denial of permits include, but are not limited to:  interfering with or obstructing an ongoing investigation, illegal activity involving any herptile-related violations, and misleading or false statements made to the Department or any of its employees.