# List of U.S. state reptiles
[U.S. state](https://www.edgepedia.org/u-s-state) reptiles are turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodilians that state legislatures have officially designated to represent a state's wildlife, in the same way states name birds, mammals, and flowers as symbols. Roughly half of the fifty states have named one; the first was Oklahoma's collared lizard in 1969, and the list continues to grow, with Maine's wood turtle among the most recent additions in 2025.[1](https://netstate.com/states/tables/state_reptiles_year.htm) • [2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Coverage | About half of U.S. states have an official state reptile; one compilation lists 31 of 50 states, and the list grows as more states act[2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles) |
| First designation | Oklahoma, collared lizard, 1969[1](https://netstate.com/states/tables/state_reptiles_year.htm) |
| Most recent | Maine, wood turtle, 2025[2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles) |
| Most common type | Turtles dominate the list, including painted turtles, box turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles[3](https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/reptile) |
| Venomous choices | Utah's Gila monster, one of only two venomous lizards native to North America; Arizona's ridge-nosed rattlesnake and West Virginia's timber rattlesnake are also venomous[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/) • [12](https://www.azgfd.com/species/ridge-nosed-rattlesnake/) • [13](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/41/00859.htm) |
| Largest | The American alligator, state reptile of Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi; adult males routinely exceed four meters[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/) |
## How a species becomes a state symbol
Nevada's designation is typical: the Nevada Revised Statutes state that "the reptile known as the Desert Tortoise (*Gopherus agassizii*) is hereby designated as the official state reptile of the State of Nevada," a status the legislature conferred in 1989.[5](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/assembly/visit/education/primary/nevadas-state-symbols/) Kansas likewise created an Article 19, "State Reptile," in its statutes in 1986 for the ornate box turtle.[6](https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2022/b2021_22/statute/073_000_0000_chapter/073_019_0000_article/073_019_0001_section/073_019_0001_k/)
**Schoolchildren often drive the choice.** Florida's American alligator was designated in 1987 after a campaign by a Gainesville fourth-grade class.[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/) [South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-carolina)'s loggerhead turtle was named the official state reptile by Act Number 588 of 1988 at the request of a fifth-grade class from Ninety-Six.[7](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/coolstuff/animals.shtml) New Jersey's endangered bog turtle, adopted in 2018, was championed for two years by fourth-grade students at Riverside Elementary School guided by their science teacher, who hoped the symbol would support habitat restoration.[8](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-place-event-or-item-type/symbol-official-item?page=2) In Virginia, 11-year-old Aiden Coleman promoted the eastern garter snake, which the state senate designated the official state snake in February 2016.[8](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-place-event-or-item-type/symbol-official-item?page=2)
## The list
The states and their reptiles, with adoption years where the sources give them, include:[1](https://netstate.com/states/tables/state_reptiles_year.htm) • [3](https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/reptile) • [2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles)
- Alabama: Alabama red-bellied turtle (1990)
- Arizona: Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake (1986)
- California: desert tortoise (1972); leatherback sea turtle as state marine reptile (2012)
- Colorado: western painted turtle
- Florida: [American alligator](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-alligator) (1987); gopher tortoise as state tortoise; loggerhead turtle as state saltwater reptile
- Georgia: gopher tortoise (1989)
- Illinois: painted turtle
- Kansas: ornate box turtle (1986)
- Louisiana: American alligator (1983)
- Maine: wood turtle (2025)
- Maryland: diamondback terrapin
- Massachusetts: garter snake
- Michigan: painted turtle
- Minnesota: [Blanding's turtle](https://www.edgepedia.org/blandings-turtle)
- [Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mississippi): American alligator
- Missouri: three-toed box turtle (June 21, 2007)[9](https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Publications/StateSymbols.pdf)
- Nevada: desert tortoise (1989)[5](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/assembly/visit/education/primary/nevadas-state-symbols/)
- New Jersey: bog turtle (2018)[2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles)
- New Mexico: New Mexico whiptail lizard[10](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/Visitors/StateLegislatureHandbook16.pdf)
- New York: common snapping turtle (1979)
- North Carolina: eastern box turtle (1979)
- Ohio: black racer snake[11](https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/state-symbols)
- Oklahoma: collared lizard (1969)
- South Carolina: loggerhead sea turtle (1988)[7](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/coolstuff/animals.shtml)
- Tennessee: eastern box turtle
- Texas: Texas horned lizard (1993); Kemp's ridley sea turtle as state sea turtle
- Utah: Gila monster
- Vermont: painted turtle
- Virginia: eastern garter snake (2016)
- West Virginia: timber rattlesnake
- Wyoming: horned toad
Counts differ among compilations because they are made at different times and treat multi-part designations differently: one source lists 28 states as of its writing, another 30 states with 34 species, and a 2026-updated list gives 31 of 50 states.[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/) • [2](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles)
## Patterns in the choices
**Turtles are the most represented group.** Painted turtles alone serve Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and Vermont, and the gopher tortoise genus *[Gopherus](https://www.edgepedia.org/gopherus)* appears twice, as *Gopherus polyphemus* in Georgia and Florida and *Gopherus agassizii* in California and Nevada.[3](https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/reptile) Snakes, lizards, and the alligator fill out the rest.
The Texas horned lizard, designated in 1993, is the "horny toad" of the Southwest, a flat, spiny lizard able to squirt a jet of foul-tasting blood from sinuses around its eyes at canid predators.[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/)
**Conservation status follows the species.** Nevada's desert tortoise is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and can live over 70 years.[5](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/assembly/visit/education/primary/nevadas-state-symbols/) The Alabama red-bellied turtle's decline has been driven by habitat loss, predation of nests by invasive fire ants, and vehicle collisions on the Mobile-Tensaw delta causeway.[4](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/)
## No national reptile
State reptiles remain a patchwork that reflects regional fauna: alligators in the Gulf states, tortoises in the deserts, box turtles and painted turtles across the interior and Northeast, and rattlesnakes and lizards in the arid West.[3](https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/reptile)
## References
1. [Official State Reptiles, Listed by Adoption Year, NETSTATE.COM](https://netstate.com/states/tables/state_reptiles_year.htm)
2. [State Reptiles | Official List, Map & Facts, USA Symbol](https://usasymbol.com/symbols/reptiles)
3. [List of State Reptiles, State Symbols USA](https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/reptile)
4. [State Reptiles of the USA: All 30 States & 34 Species, Animal Corner](https://animalcorner.org/state-reptiles-of-the-usa/)
5. [Nevada's State Symbols, Nevada State Assembly](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/assembly/visit/education/primary/nevadas-state-symbols/)
6. [Kansas Statutes, Article 19, State Reptile](https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2022/b2021_22/statute/073_000_0000_chapter/073_019_0000_article/073_019_0001_section/073_019_0001_k/)
7. [South Carolina State House, State Symbols](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/coolstuff/animals.shtml)
8. [Official State Reptile of New Jersey / Official State Snake of Virginia, State Symbols USA](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-place-event-or-item-type/symbol-official-item?page=2)
9. [Missouri State Symbols, Missouri Secretary of State](https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Publications/StateSymbols.pdf)
10. [Official State Symbols, New Mexico Legislature](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/Visitors/StateLegislatureHandbook16.pdf)
11. [State Symbols, Ohio Department of Natural Resources](https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/state-symbols)
12. [Ridge Nosed Rattlesnake, azgfd.com](https://www.azgfd.com/species/ridge-nosed-rattlesnake/)
13. [41-859 - State animals](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/41/00859.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Vertebrates › Reptiles and amphibians › Reptiles › Reptiles and people*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license