Waterbury, CT Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 92.03
- Poisonous reptiles
- Fully banned, no permit available
- Constrictors/pythons
- Permit required from Police Superintendent
- Exempt entities
- Licensed circuses, museums, labs (with limits)
- Residential museum limit
- No live-snake museum in residential areas
- Penalty
- Fine under § 92.99, per-day violation
Summary
Waterbury outright bans keeping, maintaining, or displaying any poisonous reptile within city limits for any purpose. City Code § 92.03 also bars constrictors, pythons, and other nonvenomous large reptiles unless the keeper first obtains a written permit from the Superintendent of Police, with narrow exceptions for licensed circuses, museums, and labs.
No person shall, within the limits of the city, keep, maintain, or display a poisonous reptile for any purpose whatsoever. (C) No person shall, within the limits of the city, keep, maintain, or display a constrictor without first obtaining a written permit from the Superintendent of Police. (D) The provisions of this section shall not apply to licensed circuses, exhibits, or to museums or laboratories maintained by scientific or educational institutions with the exception that no such museum having live snakes in its collection shall be maintained in any residential area of Waterbury.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-8: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through September 8, 2025).
Full Breakdown
03, Keeping Poisonous Reptiles or Constrictors, defines POISONOUS REPTILES to include, but not be limited to, any live venomous or poisonous snake, alligator, crocodile, or similar reptile, and CONSTRICTORS to include, but not be limited to, constrictors of any type, pythons, and other nonvenomous reptiles. Division (B) flatly bars any person from keeping, maintaining, or displaying a poisonous reptile within Waterbury, Connecticut for any purpose whatsoever, with no permit route at all. Division (C) treats constrictors differently: keeping, maintaining, or displaying one requires a written permit from the Superintendent of Police first.
Division (D) exempts licensed circuses, exhibits, museums, or labs run by scientific or educational institutions from the outright ban, except that no museum housing live snakes may operate in any residential area of Waterbury. Division (E) still requires those exempt institutions to obtain a written Police Superintendent permit before keeping, maintaining, or displaying any reptile otherwise prohibited by divisions (B) or (C). The ordinance traces to the 1967 Code § 13-14, adopted by ordinance on November 24, 1978, and the section cites the city's general regulatory authority over reptiles and constrictors under Conn. Gen. § 7-148(c)(7)(D)(ii).
Violations & Fines
A § 92.03 violation, keeping a poisonous reptile at all, or a constrictor without a police permit, is punishable under the Chapter 92 penalty at § 92.99: a fine set by the schedule of fees, charges, penalties, and rewards attached to the city's annual budget under § 41.11, with each day of continued possession treated as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Waterbury resident keep a venomous snake as a pet?
Is a pet python legal in Waterbury?
Do zoos or schools need a permit to keep these animals in Waterbury?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waterbury
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Exotic Pets in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle exotic pets.