Introduction

The following information was taken from the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management web site. For up-to-date information, have a look at that site.

Important Contacts

Department of Conservation and Land Management
Locked Bag 30
Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983

Fax: (08) 9334 0278

Useful Links

• Choosing the right species (with links to some care sheets)
• CALM - Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

Can I keep reptiles and/or frogs?
Yes. Legislation allowing private citizens to keep reptiles/frogs was introduced on March 7, 2003.

Do I need a licence?
Yes. Western Australia has no exempt species, so you must have a licence to keep pet reptiles in WA.

What species can I keep?
You're limited to a few Western Australian species. The species you can keep will depend on the type of licence you get.

Do I need to keep records?
Yes. You must maintain, in an approved form, records of your activities. You must also give to the Executive Director (probably not in person), in an approved form, reports of your activities.

Licence Types

Note: A higher licence Category can keep all lower Category species (e.g. a Category 4 licence covers animals from Categories 2, 3, and 4).

Category 2
$20 a year.
With this licence you can keep several species of skink, gecko, and frog.
Category 2 pet herpetofauna is fauna that meets all of these criteria:

• is not dangerous
• is not rare or endangered in the wild
• has no special feeding or housing requirements
• is resilient to handling
• is suitable to be kept by a person of any age with no prior experience in keeping pet herpetofauna

Category 3
$40 a year.
With this licence you can keep the following species Stimson's pythons, south-western carpet snakes, oblong turtles, western netted dragons, stripe-tailed pygmy monitors, plus some skinks, geckoes and frogs.
Category 3 pet herpetofauna is fauna that meets all of these criteria:

• is not dangerous
• is not rare or endangered in the wild
• requires only easily prepared and readily available food and simple housing
• is resilient to handling
• is suitable to be kept by a person over 18 years of age with no prior experience in keeping pet herpetofauna

Category 4
$100 a year.
With this licence you can keep black-headed and woma pythons, flat-shelled turtles, western spotted frogs, and several dragon and monitor species.
Category 4 pet herpetofauna is fauna that the Minister considers is not dangerous and meets any of these criteria:

• is not commonly kept as a pet
• is rare but not threatened or endangered in the wild
• has specialised feeding or housing requirements
• is not resilient to handling
• is otherwise suitable to be kept only by a person over 18 years of age with prior experience in keeping pet herpetofauna

Category 5
$300 a year.
With this licence you can keep olive Pythons, two monitors, and some dangerously venomous elapids.
Category 5 pet herpetofauna is fauna that meets any of these criteria:

• is dangerous
• is threatened or endangered in the wild
• has highly specialised feeding or housing requirements
• is very difficult to keep in captivity

Disclaimer
Do not rely on this information in a court of law. Not to be taken internally. The author is not to be held responsible for any personal discomfort experienced due to the reading of this page.

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