Which reptiles and amphibians are banned in Switzerland?
The Animal Welfare Ordinance bans no species. Two are listed as invasive organisms in the Release Ordinance, though: the red-eared slider and the American bullfrog. They must not get into the environment: no releasing, no garden pond, no keeping outdoors. The FOEN (Federal Office for the Environment) also considers acquisition and keeping impermissible.
- Species in this list
- 1
- out of
- 93
Annex 2.1 of the Release Ordinance lists exactly three species under “animals”: the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and the harlequin ladybird, which plays no part in the hobby. Article 15 paragraph 2 prohibits direct handling of them in the environment. The Federal Office for the Environment may grant a case-by-case exemption.
How far the ban reaches does not follow from the text. What is literally prohibited is handling in the environment; the Federal Office for the Environment also derives from this a ban on acquiring and keeping the animal as a pet. There is no trade ban in the legal text: annex 2.2, introduced in 2024, which prohibits placing on the market, lists only plants. Anyone who owns such an animal or is considering one should ask the Federal Office or their cantonal office first. Releasing the animal remains a criminal offence in every case, and that is the point: the red-eared slider eats the spawn of native amphibians.
This overview sorts the classifications held in the app’s data and replaces no official information. The cantonal veterinary office decides, and it decides case by case: By species, origin, size of the animal and the conditions on site.
More overviews
Which reptiles may be kept in Switzerland without a permit?
Most of them. Article 89 of the Animal Welfare Ordinance lists exhaustively which wild animals require a permit. Anything not listed there may be kept without one.
Which reptiles require a permit in Switzerland?
For venomous snakes unless the FSVO lists them as harmless, giant snakes over three metres (except the boa constrictor), all chameleons, crocodilians, beaded lizards, iguanas, tegus and monitors over one metre, a few other lizards, tortoises and turtles such as the African spurred tortoise, and the Goliath frog and giant salamanders. Article 89 of the Animal Welfare Ordinance lists them.
Which reptiles need CITES papers in Switzerland?
Every species listed in the appendices of the Washington Convention (CITES). That is considerably more than most people expect. Widely kept terrarium animals are among them.
The rules behind them (articles, responsibilities and what a certificate of competence is) are on Switzerland & law. The individual species pages are under Species.
