Blonde Roof Rat

Are Roof Rats Legal in Turkey (Türkiye)? Keeping, Breeding & Selling

10 min read · Updated August 2026

Roof Rat Laws › Turkey (Türkiye)

Summary. Turkey is permissive-by-omission for the roof rat: under continental ‘that which is not prohibited is permitted’ doctrine (zımni izin), a private citizen needs no permit to keep captive-bred Rattus rattus. R. rattus is on no protected or huntable wildlife list under Law No. 4915 (Kara Avcılığı Kanunu), it doesn’t appear in the Central Hunting Commission (Merkez Av Komisyonu) EK-1 (strictly protected) or EK-2 (huntable) annexes, and it’s not on CITES or the Bern Convention appendices; outside wildlife law, it’s treated by health authorities as a pest rodent (zararlı kemirgen) when wild, but the moment it is captive-bred and kept as a pet it falls inside the broad ‘ev ve süs hayvanı’ (pet/ornamental animal) category of Law No. 5199 (Animal Protection Law) and is fully protected by its anti-cruelty provisions. Turkish law does not distinguish R. rattus from the fancy rat (R. norvegicus), both are simply ‘kemirgenler’, and an open pet-rodent trade runs on platforms like petcim.com. Private keeping, hobby breeding, and peer-to-peer gifting are unregulated and permit-free; COMMERCIAL breeding/selling needs a licensed facility (provincial establishment/operating permit + responsible veterinarian) under Regulation No. 15374 plus Law No. 5996. The one real barrier is cross-border IMPORT: Customs Circular 2011/39 limits duty-free passenger pet entry to cats/dogs/birds/aquarium fish only, rodents are excluded, so personal/passenger import is effectively blocked, leaving only a burdensome commercial-freight import pathway through GKGM with an origin veterinary health certificate and border-post inspection. Not CITES-listed; never release.

Not confirmed by the regulator. This page is based on our own desk research; the sources we used are listed below. Last reviewed 2026-06-10.
legal note This is a research aid, not legal advice; rules change and are interpreted by local officials. Verify with the official source before acting.

Status by activity

Keeping / owning   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-10

Private keeping of captive-bred R. rattus requires no permit. Under Turkish administrative law a private citizen may do anything not expressly prohibited (zımni izin / permissive-by-omission), and no statute names or bans the keeping of unlisted small rodents. Law No. 4915 (Land Hunting Law) reaches only listed game/protected wild species, and R. rattus is on neither the EK-1 nor EK-2 annex of the annual Merkez Av Komisyonu decision (it is classified as a pest, outside wildlife law); it is also unlisted on CITES and the Bern Convention. Once captive-bred and kept in a domicile, the animal falls within the intent-based ‘ev ve süs hayvanı’ (pet/ornamental animal) definition of Law No. 5199 (Art. 3(i), am. Law No. 7527/2024) and is comprehensively protected from abuse, so it is affirmatively lawful to own, not merely unregulated. The only realistic local touchpoint is municipal Zabıta enforcement of generic hygiene/nuisance ordinances, which cannot reach a sanitary, properly kept animal.

Sources: Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry / DKMP, CITES Secretariat, Council of Europe

Breeding   Legal with a permit

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-10

Private, non-commercial (hobby) breeding of captive-bred R. rattus is unregulated, Turkish law sets no numerical or licensing threshold for an individual breeding unlisted rodents in a private domicile, so an accidental litter given to friends is permit-free. COMMERCIAL breeding (‘üretim’ of kemirgenler for gain) requires a licensed facility under Regulation No. 15374 (Ev ve Süs Hayvanlarının Üretim, Satış, Barınma ve Eğitim Yerleri Hakkında Yönetmelik), which explicitly covers rodents: the operator must obtain a provincial establishment permit (Kuruluş İzni) with zoning-compliant blueprints and then an operating permit (the EK-4 İş Yeri Çalışma İzin Belgesi) after a government-veterinarian inspection, maintain disinfectable facilities with a separate quarantine unit, contract a Responsible Veterinarian (Sorumlu Veteriner Hekim), keep origin/health/disposition records, and submit to (at least quarterly) inspections; Law No. 5996 reinforces Ministry approval for commercial pet-animal production. So: legal (hobby/private) and legal_with_permit at commercial scale. The exact hobby-to-commercial threshold (litter volume, recurring sales, public advertising on e-commerce) is enforcement-discretionary and the one residual ambiguity.

Sources: Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Selling or giving away   Legal with a permit

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-10

Private peer-to-peer transfer, gifting, or adoption of captive-bred R. rattus is unregulated, there is no registration, microchipping, or reporting requirement for unlisted rodents (governed only by the general Turkish Code of Obligations and Law No. 5199 welfare duties), and platforms like petcim.com openly host rodent sale/adoption listings (‘kemirgen’) without enforcement. COMMERCIAL sale requires a licensed physical facility (the same Regulation No. 15374 establishment/operating permit + Responsible Veterinarian) and the seller must complete a municipal animal-care training/certification program under Law No. 5199. Importantly, the 2021/2024 reform of Law No. 5199 (am. Law No. 7527) that BANNED pet-shop display/retail sale of cats and dogs DELIBERATELY EXEMPTED rodents (kemirgenler), along with birds and aquarium fish, so a licensed urban pet shop may still breed, display in glass enclosures, and sell R. rattus. So: legal (private give/adopt) and legal_with_permit (commercial). Trade in LISTED wild species is separately restricted under Law 4915’s wildlife-trade regulation, but that does not reach captive-bred, off-list R. rattus.

Sources: Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry / DKMP, petcim.com (secondary, market practice)

Transport & import   Legal with a permit

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-10

INTERNAL transport is effectively unregulated: no domestic movement permit, internal passport, or provincial check is required for pet rodents, only the general Law No. 5199 / Law No. 5996 welfare standard (secure, ventilated, temperature-protected enclosure) applies; commercial livestock-transport rules do not reach small numbers of pet rodents in a private vehicle. IMPORT is the real hurdle and is bifurcated. PASSENGER-accompanied import is effectively blocked: Customs Circular 2011/39 (Ministry of Trade), Annex 9, limits duty-free passenger pets to cats, dogs, birds and aquarium fish (‘kedi, köpek ve kuş ile sınırlı’), max 2 pets / 10 fish, rodents are unequivocally excluded, with NO discretionary clearance, so a passenger-carried R. rattus is denied entry regardless of paperwork. COMMERCIAL import remains a lawful pathway: the animal must enter as live commercial freight through a Veterinary Border Inspection Post with prior GKGM (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry) approval issued from Ankara, an origin-country official veterinary health certificate, documentary + physical border-vet inspection, a customs broker, and standard live-animal tariffs/VAT (Law No. 5996; Regulation No. 15541, drafted on EU 998/2003 lines). EXPORT uses a GKGM veterinary health certificate. So overall legal_with_permit. Never release (Law 5199 anti-abandonment).

Sources: Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, USDA APHIS (secondary)

Restrictions & responsibilities

Private keeping, hobby breeding, and peer-to-peer gifting/adoption of captive-bred R. rattus need NO permit (the species is outside wildlife law and inside the general pet-rodent/’ev ve süs hayvanı’ category). COMMERCIAL breeding or selling needs a licensed facility, a provincial establishment permit (Kuruluş İzni) plus the EK-4 operating permit (İş Yeri Çalışma İzin Belgesi) under Regulation No. 15374, with disinfectable premises, a quarantine unit, a contracted Responsible Veterinarian, record-keeping, and ≥quarterly inspections; commercial sellers must also hold a municipal animal-care training certificate (Law No. 5199). Personal/PASSENGER import is blocked (Customs Circular 2011/39 excludes rodents from duty-free passenger pets); the only lawful import is as commercial freight via GKGM (Ankara approval + origin veterinary health certificate + Veterinary Border Inspection Post). Export needs a GKGM veterinary health certificate. Never release a captive-bred rat (Law 5199 anti-abandonment).
  • Private owner: no permit, registration, or microchip required to keep, hobby-breed, or gift/adopt a captive-bred roof rat
  • Commercial breeding/sale: obtain the provincial Kuruluş İzni (establishment) + EK-4 Çalışma İzni (operating) permit for a rodent production/sale facility, with a contracted Responsible Veterinarian and a separate quarantine unit
  • Commercial seller: complete the municipal animal-care training and obtain the completion certificate (Law No. 5199)
  • Import (the only lawful route for a personal pet): secure prior GKGM (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry) import approval from Ankara, an origin-country official veterinary health certificate, and clear the animal as live commercial cargo through a Veterinary Border Inspection Post with a customs broker (passenger-accompanied import is NOT available for rodents)
  • Export: obtain a GKGM veterinary health certificate (e-Devlet)

Forms: EK-4 İş Yeri Çalışma İzin Belgesi (Annex-4 Workplace Operating Permit), commercial breeding/sale facility, issued by the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture & Forestry, Official veterinary health certificate (origin-country, endorsed), required for commercial import via GKGM · Where: Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry + municipality (facility licensing); GKGM / Ankara + Veterinary Border Inspection Post (import/export); DKMP (wildlife-status confirmation, if requested) · Fees: Facility permit fees set provincially/municipally; commercial import subject to standard live-animal customs duties + VAT (no duty-free passenger exemption for rodents). Private keeping/gifting: none.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Ministry of Trade (T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı), Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Releasing or abandoning a captive-bred roof rat is prohibited. Law No. 5199 bars abandoning pets or releasing them into environments where they cannot survive; owners must rehome the animal or surrender it to an animal shelter. Releasing a domesticated R. rattus also conflicts with pest/invasive-control law (the wild roof rat is a ‘zararlı kemirgen’ that municipalities are mandated to suppress). Rehome responsibly; never release.

Source: Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ministry of Health (T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı)

Thinking about keeping or breeding roof rats? Start with the care & husbandry guide, try the interactive games, or get in touch about joining as a colony keeper.

Official sources

Search terms: Rattus rattus, çatı sıçanı, ev sıçanı, siyah sıçan, kemirgen, roof rat, black rat.

About this page
Last reviewed 2026-06-10, which is when a person last read this page against its sources. Spotted an error, or know the law has changed? Email blonderoofrat@gmail.com. And if you write to the agency yourself and get an answer in writing, please forward it. Written agency replies are how 31 of these pages stopped being research and became confirmed.
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