Santa Rosa County defers to Florida law. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) classifies captive wildlife as Class I, II, or III and requires permits to possess many exotic animals. The county animal ordinance covers only dogs and cats.
Exotic and wild animals are regulated by the state, not by Santa Rosa County's animal ordinance, which defines 'animal' as only canines and felines, excluding species classified by Florida wildlife authorities as wildlife. Florida's FWC sorts captive wildlife into Class I (most dangerous, e.g. big cats, great apes, largely barred as pets), Class II (e.g. certain primates, wolves), and Class III (all other wildlife, e.g. many reptiles, small mammals, exotic birds). Many species require an FWC permit or license to possess, and venomous reptiles and reptiles of concern require a separate license under FS 379.372. Verify a species' class and permit requirements with FWC before acquiring it.
Unpermitted possession of Class I/II wildlife or venomous reptiles violates state law and FWC rules (Ch. 68A-6, F.A.C.), enforced by FWC with fines and seizure.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Santa Rosa County, FL
Backyard composting of yard and food scraps is allowed in Santa Rosa County with no permit for home-scale piles. Keep compost contained and free of odor and ...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County has no ordinance banning residential artificial turf, and it is not counted as required landscaping. The county's landscape code favors nat...
Santa Rosa County, FL
New development in Santa Rosa County must use native, Florida-Friendly species and may not plant invasive exotics. Existing single-family and duplex homes ar...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Rain barrels and rainwater harvesting are legal and encouraged in Santa Rosa County. Florida places no state restriction on collecting rainwater for irrigati...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County lies in the Northwest Florida Water Management District, which imposes NO day-of-week landscape-irrigation limits. Everyday lawn watering i...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement does not investigate vegetative overgrowth — grass, limbs, or woods — on private property. There is no active county weed-...
See how Santa Rosa County's exotic pets rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.