I have moved house. Do I have to report again?

Yes, a change of location is reportable. Moving across a state border adds a second problem: the new jurisdiction may sit at a different tier, since eight territorial states report to a state authority rather than the district. The table above names the office for both states.

I have not reported for years. What happens now?

Less than the topic's reputation suggests. A missed report is an administrative offence with a ceiling of ten thousand euros, not fifty thousand: the higher tier covers possession and marketing. And § 47 BNatSchG compels nothing, it permits. Animals without proof “can” be seized or confiscated, is what it says, and the statute names no window for producing that proof. How much time your authority allows is its own discretion. If you have the proof, you do not have the real problem.

Which reptiles are reportable at all?

The specially protected species, with the exemptions in Annex 5. It lists Python regius and Iguana iguana, but of the boa only Boa constrictor constrictor and Boa constrictor imperator. Any other subspecies is not exempt, whatever the shop label said. Bearded dragons, leopard geckos and corn snakes are not specially protected to begin with; tortoises almost always are. What decides is the scientific name down to the subspecies, and the current annex, which changed most recently on 29 June 2026.

Does my own offspring have the same deadline?

In three of the six states that name a figure, no. Bavaria gives fourteen days for an arrival and four weeks for your own offspring, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the same, and Baden-Württemberg one month and three months per the Karlsruhe leaflet. For a breeder that second figure is the one that matters, and most tables online omit it.

Do I have to report a death?

Yes. The regulation speaks of arrivals and departures, and a death is a departure like a handover or an escape. Hamburg says so explicitly. In practice: note the date, report it, keep the proof. The animal leaves the holding; it does not leave the paper trail.

Is there a nationwide form?

No. Five states run instances of the same software under the name MelBA, Berlin and Saxony have their own online routes, and Lower Saxony expressly rules out the electronic route and collects paper forms on two dates a year. The table shows whether your state has a portal.

Reporting duty

Federal law names no deadline. Your state does.

The federal species protection regulation says “without delay” and nothing more. What that means in days was decided by each of the sixteen states separately, and they do not agree. Here they are side by side, with the source in every row.

6/16

states name a deadline in days at all. The other ten name none.

territorial states where the report goes to a state authority rather than the district office.

Why there is no nationwide deadline

The regulation requires the holding and every change to be reported in writing “without delay”, and expressly leaves jurisdiction to state law. No figure appears in it. Every deadline you read online is therefore one state's reading, never federal law. It also explains the contradictions: fourteen days, one month, three months for your own offspring, and in Munich a single day. Anyone naming a number has to say which state it belongs to.

All sixteen side by side

Sources verified on August 28, 2026

Pick your state and your row is lifted to the top. The others stay, because the comparison is the point.

Reporting deadlines and responsible authorities under § 7 (2) BArtSchV, by federal state
State	Deadline	Where to
Baden-Württemberg	1 month, own offspring 3 monthsconflicting	Regierungspräsidien (Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Tübingen), Referat 55rp.baden-wuerttemberg.de
Bavaria	14 days, own offspring 28	Untere Naturschutzbehörden (Landratsämter, kreisfreie Städte)bayernportal.de
Berlin	8 days	Umwelt- und Naturschutzämter der zwölf Bezirkeberlin.de
Brandenburg	No figure published, only “without delay”	Landesamt für Umwelt (LfU), Referat N 4 CITESlfu.brandenburg.de
Bremen	No figure published, only “without delay”	Senatorin für Umwelt, Klima und Wissenschaft; Bremerhaven gesondertservice.bremen.de
Hamburg	28 days	BUKEA, Abteilung Naturschutzhamburg.de
Hesse	No figure published, only “without delay”	Obere Naturschutzbehörde beim Regierungspräsidium (Darmstadt, Gießen, Kassel)rp-kassel.hessen.de
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	14 days, own offspring 28	Landesamt für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Geologie (LUNG)lung.mv-regierung.de
Lower Saxony	Collected for 01.03. · 01.09.	NLWKN, Betriebsstelle Hannover-Hildesheimnlwkn.niedersachsen.de
North Rhine-Westphalia	No statewide figure; the districts differ	Kreise und kreisfreie Städte als Untere Naturschutzbehördenkreis-re.de
Rhineland-Palatinate	No figure published, only “without delay”	Untere Naturschutzbehörden bei Kreisverwaltungen und kreisfreien Städtensgdnord.rlp.de
Saarland	No figure published, only “without delay”	Landesamt für Umwelt- und Arbeitsschutz (LUA), Fachbereich 3.1saarland.de
Saxony	No figure published, only “without delay”	Untere Naturschutzbehörden der Landkreise und kreisfreien Städtelandkreis-mittelsachsen.de
Saxony-Anhalt	At least 2× a year	Landesamt für Umweltschutz (LAU), CITES-Büro Steckbylau.sachsen-anhalt.de
Schleswig-Holstein	28 days	Landesamt für Umwelt (LfU), Flintbekschleswig-holstein.de
Thuringia	No figure published, only “without delay”	Untere Naturschutzbehörden bei Landkreisen und kreisfreien Städtenbuerger.thueringen.de

Half the country does not report to the district office

Almost every guide sends you to the lower nature conservation authority. For eight territorial states that is wrong. Baden-Württemberg routes the report to one of four regional councils, Hesse to the upper authority at the regional council, and Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein each to a single state office covering the whole state. Moving house can change not merely which office you deal with but which tier of government. Five states now run the same reporting software under the name MelBA, each with its own instance.

What the report has to contain

The regulation lists it verbatim: number, species, age, sex, origin, whereabouts, location, purpose and markings. Reportable are the holding at the start and thereafter every arrival and every departure, plus the marking and any change of location. That is your authority's own vocabulary, and it is worth having the details ready in exactly that order.

Not every animal is covered

The duty covers specially protected species, and Annex 5 of the regulation expressly exempts several of the most commonly kept. Ball python and green iguana are on it. For the boa, however, only two subspecies are listed, Boa constrictor constrictor and Boa constrictor imperator, and a keeper of any other subspecies is not exempt. Bearded dragons, leopard geckos and corn snakes are not specially protected in the first place, while tortoises almost always are. It turns on the scientific name, down to the subspecies.

Where KeeperLog comes in

The details are already there when you need them

The regulation's own fields

Species, age, sex, origin, location and markings are in the animal's file anyway. Reporting means copying them out instead of hunting them down.

Arrivals and departures, dated

Every arrival, handover and loss gets a dated entry. That is exactly the list a change report is drawn from.

Out as a PDF

The animal file and the chain of origin can be exported and printed. You still fill in your authority's own form yourself.

Common questions

I have moved house. Do I have to report again?: Yes, a change of location is reportable. Moving across a state border adds a second problem: the new jurisdiction may sit at a different tier, since eight territorial states report to a state authority rather than the district. The table above names the office for both states.
I have not reported for years. What happens now?: Less than the topic's reputation suggests. A missed report is an administrative offence with a ceiling of ten thousand euros, not fifty thousand: the higher tier covers possession and marketing. And § 47 BNatSchG compels nothing, it permits. Animals without proof “can” be seized or confiscated, is what it says, and the statute names no window for producing that proof. How much time your authority allows is its own discretion. If you have the proof, you do not have the real problem.
Which reptiles are reportable at all?: The specially protected species, with the exemptions in Annex 5. It lists Python regius and Iguana iguana, but of the boa only Boa constrictor constrictor and Boa constrictor imperator. Any other subspecies is not exempt, whatever the shop label said. Bearded dragons, leopard geckos and corn snakes are not specially protected to begin with; tortoises almost always are. What decides is the scientific name down to the subspecies, and the current annex, which changed most recently on 29 June 2026.
Does my own offspring have the same deadline?: In three of the six states that name a figure, no. Bavaria gives fourteen days for an arrival and four weeks for your own offspring, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the same, and Baden-Württemberg one month and three months per the Karlsruhe leaflet. For a breeder that second figure is the one that matters, and most tables online omit it.
Do I have to report a death?: Yes. The regulation speaks of arrivals and departures, and a death is a departure like a handover or an escape. Hamburg says so explicitly. In practice: note the date, report it, keep the proof. The animal leaves the holding; it does not leave the paper trail.
Is there a nationwide form?: No. Five states run instances of the same software under the name MelBA, Berlin and Saxony have their own online routes, and Lower Saxony expressly rules out the electronic route and collects paper forms on two dates a year. The table shows whether your state has a portal.

Every row of the table names the office it came from, and what applies there is decided by the authority in that row. KeeperLog records what you declare, files nothing 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.

The details already exist. Just not in one place.

KeeperLog keeps species, origin, location and markings per animal in one place. What your authority wants from it you copy out instead of hunting it down.

Start for free Proof of origin