Subject: Legalities of sow and pill bugs in California.
August 8, 2015 2:54 pm
Is it legal to sell and buy sow and pill bugs in California.
Signature: Andrew smith
Dear Andrew,
To the best of our knowledge, there is no state law prohibiting the sale or purchase of Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs or Woodlice in the state of California, but there may be local laws. We cannot fathom why a person would want to buy or sell Pill Bugs in California or elsewhere. We have used an image of Pill Bugs from our archives to illustrate your query.
People have been using them for reptile food. But more importantly they’re being used in their terarriums to keep mold bacteria and such things under control. So kinda like a live in cage cleaner.
You are posting some strange inquiries lately. Have you always gotten strange requests and have filtered them out, or are people getting weirder?
We have always gotten a smattering of unusual requests, though we have gotten very little hate mail recently. Check out our Nasty Reader Awards, including the infamous comments on the mating Slugs. We haven’t had to award a new Nasty Reader Award since 2012.
Well now I can sleep soundly, thanks
Lol
I’m going to go out on a limb though and guess that they still discourage bringing bugs and fruit/plants/soil that might contain bugs or other organisms in over the state line, though.
You are correct that because of the agriculture industry, California has very strict importation laws and fruits, produce and plants. The inquiry seemed to imply buying and selling within the state and not the importation of Pill Bugs into the state.
Why the hell would u need to buy them..for what? lol
We are very curious ourselves.
Yes! Me too, curious. Maybe for a kid’s project. I collected them for years before the age of 10, never needed to purchase, always plenty in the garden.
We received a response and we updated the posting with information about how well they clean terrariums.