which of the 50 states in America sell pirranahas at their local pet store?

Question

What states allow pirranahas to be sold and bought by the public?

Answer 1

It is ILLEGAL to own piranha in these states:

AK, CA, HI, WA, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM, TX OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, KY, MA, NY, and ME.

In some states where it is not necessarily "illegal" a permit may be required. If your state is not on the illegal list above, you'll need to check your local ordinances to see what if any requirments there are for keeping these fish.

Piranha are freshwater fish and because of this many are dumped into local eco-systems which is the main reason they are banned. Most people purchase piranha because they think it's "cool" to have "vicious" fish. Piranha are very misunderstood. The are not aggressive by nature and do not attack like people think. These fish a community fish for the most part and do best kept in groups. Few varieties could or would eat a man and would then only do so where there are extremely large groups of piranha schooling and in the lack of other preferred food sources.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

sikeNt knighT's link to monsterfishkeepers just about said it all...legal, illegal and need a permit. I am not from the U.S.A., but if you will look at the map, you will notice that majority of the NORTHERN states consider piranha LEGAL while in most of the SOUTHERN states they are ILLEGAL. I think this is because of the weather condition in these areas. The northern states don't worry too much about piranha escaping and establishing themselves in local lakes and rivers because when winter sets in, the fish won't survive. Down south, piranhas have a good chance of surviving the weather so they don't take chances and ban them all together.

Answer 3

I am not sure about Piranhas, but I do know an easier, less aggressive cousin. The red belly Pacu is easy to find in petstores, and is a larger (can get HUGE) version of the pirranha. These come stock with very sharp teeth, but heres the catcher....these fish are usually vegetarian. I have seen a pacu eat a feeder fish or 2 but I always fed mine algae wafers so you could here them crunching their food. Pacus are a lot of fun, and fairly inexpensive although you would want a LARGE tank to house these. My 55 gallon was not large enough for 1.

Answer 4

The few states that do allow it require you to get a permit. It's unlikely an individual could get the permit. Some states will not even allow an exhibition of them for fear of escapees.

Answer 5

When I was still working, I sold piranha in my Knoxville, TN. store. That was over three years ago. I don't know if the legalities have changed.

Edit to add:
Silent Knight's link above is great. Good info to know. ;)

Answer 6

new jersey sells them. however you shouldnt buy just 1. the pirahana species is a "school" fish, they live, and hunt in groups or "schools." so i would suggest purchasing a minimum of 3-4.

Answer 7

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3118

sorry i dont known how to post a picture on here. i tried an html version using "img src=..." but it doesnt work. try the link. it has really good picture of the US where they are legal, illegal, and permit only.

Answer 8

Indiana sells them

Answer 9

im not exactly sure you be able to buy hat exact specy your looking for but might be able to look for something similar to that, try a tropical fish place.

Answer 10

No where legally they sell them. but in Philidelphia the have them in small mom and pop stores not big chain stores