Are Roof Rats Legal in Germany? Keeping, Breeding & Selling

Keeping / owning   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

Germany operates a negative-list system: any animal may be privately kept unless a specific law bans it, and no law bans R. rattus. The Bundesartenschutzverordnung (BArtSchV) Anlage 1 designates mammals (Mammalia spp. / Saeugetiere) as specially protected but lists an explicit exception block, and both ‘Rattus norvegicus’ (Wanderratte) and ‘Rattus rattus’ (Hausratte) appear by name in that ‘mit Ausnahme von’ exclusion, so the roof rat carries zero special protection despite wild populations being Red-Listed. Consequently no registration with the lower nature-conservation authority and no origin/CITES certificate is required. No EU bar applies either: neither Rattus species is on the EU list of invasive alien species of Union concern (Reg. 1143/2014). No Bundesland dangerous-animal ordinance (Gefahrtierverordnung) covers small rodents. The only keeping rule is §2 TierSchG: the keeper must provide species-appropriate and behaviour-appropriate feeding, care, and housing and have the necessary knowledge and skills; because R. rattus is arboreal, this implies tall climbing enclosures, enforced ex-post by the local Veterinaeramt only on complaint.

Sources: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de (federal statute portal), Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, European Commission, DG Environment

Breeding   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

Hobby breeding is unregulated: a private citizen may breed roof rats without a permit, registration, fee, or inspection. All breeders are still bound by §11b TierSchG (the Qualzucht / torture-breeding prohibition), but R. rattus is rarely bred for the extreme mutations (hairlessness, tailless, etc.) that trigger it. Breeding only becomes regulated when it is gewerbsmaessig (commercial): §11(1) sentence 1 No. 8(a) TierSchG requires a prior Erlaubnis from the local Veterinaeramt to commercially breed or keep vertebrates. The threshold is set in the AVV TierSchG (No. 12.2.1.5.1), which assumes commercial activity for rodents (Maeuse, Hamster, Ratten, Gerbils) at more than 300 young animals (Jungtiere) per year. A commercial breeder must pass a Sachkundenachweis (proof of competence), a Zuverlaessigkeitspruefung (reliability check), and an on-site facility inspection. This commercial layer applies identically to every vertebrate species, not just R. rattus.

Sources: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, Bundesregierung / verwaltungsvorschriften-im-internet.de, Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de

Selling or giving away   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

Private, occasional, non-business transfer (giving away a litter, an occasional small-scale sale) is unregulated: no health certificate, registration, bill of sale, or species-protection paperwork is required, because the BArtSchV exemption removes any CITES/origin-document duty for R. rattus. Regulation attaches only to commercial dealing: §11(1) sentence 1 No. 8(b) TierSchG requires an Erlaubnis from the local Veterinaeramt for anyone who commercially trades in vertebrates (gewerbsmaessiger Handel mit Wirbeltieren), defined by the AVV TierSchG by business-like intent (planmaessig, fortgesetzt und mit der Absicht der Gewinnerzielung) rather than a fixed volume. A commercial seller must also give the buyer written care information about the species. Because the predominant case for a hobbyist keeper is free or occasional private transfer, the headline status is legal, with the §11 permit applying only to a business-like dealer.

Sources: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, Bundesregierung / verwaltungsvorschriften-im-internet.de, Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de (federal statute portal)

Transport & import   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

Domestic transport within Germany (including between Bundeslaender) is entirely unregulated: there are no internal border checks for pets and no movement documents, the only condition being general §2 TierSchG welfare during transit (appropriate carrier with adequate space, ventilation, and protection from temperature extremes). Moving a roof rat into Germany from another EU country is also simple: rodents are explicitly outside the EU pet-travel rules (Reg. 576/2013, which target rabies in dogs, cats, and ferrets), so no EU pet passport or microchip is required, and R. rattus is not on the EU invasive-species Union list (Reg. 1143/2014), so no IAS transport ban applies. The single open point is import from a non-EU third country, handled at activity level here but flagged as unclear in notes and routed to Zoll/BMEL. Never release a roof rat into the wild (intentional release of a captive animal is an offence under animal-welfare and ecological law).

Sources: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, Generalzolldirektion (German Customs), European Commission, DG Environment

• Determine whether your activity is gewerbsmaessig: for breeding, more than 300 young/year (AVV TierSchG); for selling, regular business-like trading for profit.
• If commercial, apply for the §11 TierSchG Erlaubnis at your local Veterinaeramt BEFORE starting operations.
• Pass the Sachkundenachweis (proof of competence) via a vocational qualification or a Fachgespraech with the official state veterinarian (Amtstierarzt).
• Pass the Zuverlaessigkeitspruefung (reliability check) and an on-site facility inspection (lighting, ventilation, hygiene, enclosure sizes; check local Baurecht/zoning).
• Commercial sellers must additionally give each buyer written species-care information at the point of sale.

Where: Local Veterinaeramt (oertliches Veterinaeramt / Amtstierarzt) · Fees: No fixed national fee; permit processing scales with administrative effort and economic advantage, roughly 50 to 10,000 EUR plus travel costs of inspecting officials.

Source: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de, Bundesregierung / verwaltungsvorschriften-im-internet.de

• Provide a tall enclosure with vertical climbing space, multiple levels, secure bar spacing (commonly cited maxima around 1.5 cm, 1.0 cm for juveniles), ventilation, and social housing.
• Use the BMEL Saeugetiergutachten and TVT Merkblatt 160 as the practical interpretive standard for §2 TierSchG.
• Keep at least two rats together (rats are social); never single-house.

Where: Local Veterinaeramt (enforces §2 TierSchG; no filing required by a private keeper)

Source: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de

• Domestic / intra-EU: no passport, microchip, or permit for rodents; transport with §2 TierSchG welfare conditions only.
• Non-EU import: contact German Customs (Zoll) and/or BMEL in advance for the required Tiergesundheitsbescheinigung and any zoonosis-testing requirements for the genus Rattus at your intended border inspection post.
• Never release a roof rat into the wild.

Where: German Customs (Zoll) central information desk / BMEL; the Veterinaergrenzkontrollstelle at the port of entry.

Source: Generalzolldirektion (German Customs)

Source: Bundesministerium der Justiz / gesetze-im-internet.de