Finding & Changing Laws
For Short-Tailed Opossums
Get listed on this page! Please email any information you know about the laws in your area - are short-tailed opossums legal to own? Sell? Bring into the state? What are the exotic law statutes?
Learning About STO Laws
To find out if STO are legal in your area be prepared to make some phone calls and emails, or visit local agencies in person. When talking with agencies (USDA, APHIS, state, county, city, municipal, etc) it is good to be prepared beforehand with any information they might need or want.
Laws are confusing! There are different ways to tell if something is or isn't legal. In some states:
- Only animals on a list are legal, anything else is illegal (Alaska)
- Animals on a list are illegal, anything else is legal
- Specific genus/species, family, or orders are legal or illegal
Information To Know
Some states list specific taxonomy classes as being legal, illegal, restricted, etc.
STO are informally called "gray short-tailed opossum". Their Latin classification is:
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Marsupialia
- Family: Didelphidae
- Genus: Monodelphis
- Species: domestica
Tips For Locating The Right Laws
Laws aren't just confusing for us, they're often confusing for the agencies as well! So please be considerate of that, and polite to whoever you are speaking with. They will be more likely to help you if you're pleasant and patient with them. While you know that STO are cute, tiny little tropical creatures - most people have never heard of them. When they hear "opossum" they think of the large 12-pound opossum that lives in the wild.
- Asking for information about sugar gliders can sometimes help, because people are more familiar with sugar gliders. The statute applying to them might also cover STO (since they're both marsupials), or be very close to the section applying to STO.
- Be prepared to give their Latin name: "Monodelphis domestica". They are not the same genus or species as the North American opossum ("Didelphis virginiana"). If they mention Didelphis is illegal, you can state that STO are not Didelphis, they are Monodelphis.
- Try to find out what kind of animal the state considers STO - "exotic pet", "exotic wildlife", "regulated wildlife", "unregulated wildlife", "domestic wildlife", "restricted wildlife", "unrestricted wildlife", etc. This helps find the state statutes that specifically apply to STO.
- It can help to describe STO as a "small South American opossum" and mention it's the size of hamster if possible. Many people automatically think of the 12 pound North American opossum, which are found in the wild in many states and illegal to own as pets.
- Don't be afraid to mention other nearby states, counties or cities where STO are legal. STO are legal in Colorado! STO are legal in Florida! Etc. The concern about whether something is legal or illegal is often based on their ability to live in the wild, and if they're considered okay in states with similar weather then it can help. STO are likely to die in temperatures less than 60 degrees, that makes it hard or impossible for them to survive winters in much of the continental USA.
- Once you've established something is legal, check about whether any permits are required. Required to own? Required to sell? Required to bring a STO into this state? Should you check with any other agencies as well? Do they have the phone number to call?
- If you are told STO are illegal, don't give up! Ask for the specific state statutes or agency's policy, in writing. Ask how the agency can be petitioned to change the rules.
- Try to get any information in writing or email if possible.
- Once you've located rules for your state, go to your county and local lawmakers and check with their agencies as well.
Changing Laws
Changing laws relating to wildlife generally involves proving the animal isn't a disease vector or likely to cause damage if released inadvertently into the wild. Luckily for us, STO can't survive wild in areas where winters reach temperatures lower than 60 degrees and so are relatively easy to prove that they don't pose a threat.
Laws That Could Be Changed
This section will list information about how to change regulations.
Alaska
STO are currently illegal to own in Alaska.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Miscellaneous Game Regulations - Effective July 1, 2002
5 AAC 92.029. PERMIT FOR POSSESSING LIVE GAME.
(h) Upon application, the board will add a species to the list in (b) of this section if there is clear and convincing evidence that the species:
- is not capable of surviving in the wild of Alaska;
- is not capable of causing a genetic alteration of a species that is indigenous to Alaska;
- is not capable of causing a significant reduction in the population of a species that is indigenous to Alaska;
- is not capable of transmitting a disease to a species that is indigenous to Alaska; and
- does not otherwise present a threat to the health or population of a species that is indigenous to Alaska.
This probably won't be hard to prove, considering STO need temperatures over 60 degrees to survive.
Laws That Have Been Changed
Holly F. Davis, who helped STO become a non-controlled species in New Hampshire (Fish and Game Department) wrote a letter to the Fish and Game department for her state, asking that they consider adding STO to the non-controlled species listing. She explained what STO are like, and that they are easier to care for than sugar gliders (already legal in that state) and pointed out that needing temperatures of over 70 degrees and humidity of 50% means they would not survive in that state. She included information about the books available about STO and a document summarizing their life cycle, reproduction and habitat requirements.
People Who Have Helped
This section honors and thanks those who have helped legalize STO in parts of the United States, or helped contribute information about the legal status of STO.
- Ann - Helped provide New Jersey law information.
- Anne - Helped provide New York state law information.
- Bill - Helped provide Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Texas state law information.
- Holly Davis - Helped legalize STO in New Hampshire
- Ian Fuller - Helped provide Nevada law information.
- Shelly Atkinson - Helped provide Texas law information.
