I breed and sell a few offspring a year. Do I need a book?

That turns on whether those sales are commercial, which is a case-by-case question your authority answers. Commercial means planned, sustained and directed at profit; a single clutch passed on at cost typically is not, while regular breeding with sale listings can be. The report under § 7 (2) binds you either way, and your own offspring is an arrival there like any other.

Is a spreadsheet enough, or must it be paper?

The regulation prescribes the Annex 4 template and requires daily entry in durable form. Durable means not silently alterable afterwards. Electronic record-keeping is therefore not excluded, but a spreadsheet where a row can be overwritten meets that poorly. Ask your authority before committing to a form; it is one phone call and saves a migration.

I trade commercially and have kept no book so far.

Then start from today's holding and reconstruct what you can evidence. A missing book is an administrative offence, not a criminal one, and an authority is usually more interested in a clean holding from now on than in the past. Proof of origin under § 46 BNatSchG is the more urgent gap, because there the burden is on you.

Can more than one of the three apply to me?

Yes, and for a commercial keeper of specially protected vertebrates all three apply at once. They do not exclude one another, they simply have different addressees. So the question is never “which of the three” but, for each separately, whether it binds you.

My animal is in Annex 5. Am I done?

No, and this is the most expensive confusion on the page. Annex 5 is headed “Species exempted from the notification requirement of § 7 (2)”. It exempts from the report to the authority and from nothing else. The proof duty under § 46 BNatSchG remains, the marketing rules remain, and if you act commercially the book remains too.

My receipt names only the species, not the subspecies.

Then the question is open, because for the boa Annex 5 exempts exactly two subspecies, Boa constrictor constrictor and Boa constrictor imperator, and not the species. A keeper with an unbroken chain of proof can usually settle it through the breeder. A keeper without one should report in case of doubt: a superfluous report costs nothing, a missed one is an administrative offence.

Stock book

Three duties, routinely mistaken for one.

“You need a stock book” is the most common sentence on this subject and wrong for most keepers. The book under § 6 BArtSchV binds commercial holders only. What binds private keepers are two other duties, and they are regularly forgotten over it.

§ 6 BArtSchV

Only commercial acquisition, processing or placing on the market triggers the book.

§ 46 BNatSchG

Every possessor of a specially protected species must be able to prove its origin, in no prescribed form.

Where the confusion comes from

All three duties sit in one subject area, use similar words and are checked by the same authorities. So one guide merges them and the next copies it. The result is visible in any forum: private keepers diligently maintain books nobody asks of them while missing the report that is actually due. The three have different addressees, different forms and different deadlines. Knowing them apart is less work than getting them wrong together.

The three side by side

§ 46 BNatSchG

Proof of origin

Whom: Every possessor of a specially protected species
Form: No prescribed form

The broadest of the three and the least known. Someone possessing a specially protected animal can invoke an entitlement only by proving it on demand, which puts the burden on you rather than on the authority. The statute prescribes no form; a contract naming species, date and both parties satisfies it in practice. Annex 5 exempts from the report, not from this.

§ 7 Abs. 2 BArtSchV

Report to the authority

Whom: Keepers of specially protected vertebrates, except the species in Annex 5
Form: In writing, without delay

The holding at the start, then every arrival and departure, plus marking and any change of location. The regulation lists the required details verbatim: number, species, age, sex, origin, whereabouts, location, purpose and markings. Federal law names no deadline in days; that comes from the state, and the sixteen do not agree.

§ 6 BArtSchV

Acquisition and delivery book

Whom: Only those acting commercially
Form: Per the Annex 4 template, daily

The actual stock book, and the provision opens with the word commercially. Someone who does not commercially acquire, process or place specimens on the market is not covered. Someone who is keeps it daily, in durable form, and retains the books with their vouchers for five years. Whether occasional sales of your own offspring already count as commercial is decided case by case, and not by this page.

What applies to you

Three details are enough. The answer names the norm behind each duty, including the ones that do not bind you.

Protection status

Federal state

Pick a protection status and a state above and your answer appears here.

Common questions

I breed and sell a few offspring a year. Do I need a book?: That turns on whether those sales are commercial, which is a case-by-case question your authority answers. Commercial means planned, sustained and directed at profit; a single clutch passed on at cost typically is not, while regular breeding with sale listings can be. The report under § 7 (2) binds you either way, and your own offspring is an arrival there like any other.
Is a spreadsheet enough, or must it be paper?: The regulation prescribes the Annex 4 template and requires daily entry in durable form. Durable means not silently alterable afterwards. Electronic record-keeping is therefore not excluded, but a spreadsheet where a row can be overwritten meets that poorly. Ask your authority before committing to a form; it is one phone call and saves a migration.
I trade commercially and have kept no book so far.: Then start from today's holding and reconstruct what you can evidence. A missing book is an administrative offence, not a criminal one, and an authority is usually more interested in a clean holding from now on than in the past. Proof of origin under § 46 BNatSchG is the more urgent gap, because there the burden is on you.
Can more than one of the three apply to me?: Yes, and for a commercial keeper of specially protected vertebrates all three apply at once. They do not exclude one another, they simply have different addressees. So the question is never “which of the three” but, for each separately, whether it binds you.
My animal is in Annex 5. Am I done?: No, and this is the most expensive confusion on the page. Annex 5 is headed “Species exempted from the notification requirement of § 7 (2)”. It exempts from the report to the authority and from nothing else. The proof duty under § 46 BNatSchG remains, the marketing rules remain, and if you act commercially the book remains too.
My receipt names only the species, not the subspecies.: Then the question is open, because for the boa Annex 5 exempts exactly two subspecies, Boa constrictor constrictor and Boa constrictor imperator, and not the species. A keeper with an unbroken chain of proof can usually settle it through the breeder. A keeper without one should report in case of doubt: a superfluous report costs nothing, a missed one is an administrative offence.

These details come from the norms linked below. Whether your activity is commercial, and which list covers your species, is decided by your authority in case of doubt. KeeperLog records what you declare, keeps no book for you and verifies nothing.

Sources last verified on August 28, 2026

This is a reading of published sources and not legal advice. What applies to your animal is decided by your responsible authority.

What is in the record anyway should not have to be hunted for.

Species, origin, location, markings, and every arrival and departure with its date. Whether that becomes a report, a proof or a book is your call.

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