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

Keeping / owning   Prohibited

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

Alaska’s clean list (5 AAC 92.029) permits only listed species; the only rat on it is ‘White rat Rattus norvegicus Var. albinus.’ R. rattus is absent, and ADF&G is legally precluded from issuing a possession permit for an unlisted species. Independently, 5 AAC 92.141 prohibits harboring live Muridae rodents (defined to include true rats, 5 AAC 92.990(49)). ADF&G guidance states only albino rats are legal pets. Prohibited.

Sources: Alaska Board of Game / ADF&G (via Cornell LII), Alaska Dept of Fish & Game, Municipality of Anchorage / ADF&G

Breeding   Prohibited

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

Breeding presupposes lawful possession, which is barred; no permit pathway exists for unlisted species. The Municipality of Anchorage separately bans breeding any member of the genus Rattus without a Health Director research permit (AMC 16.90.030).

Sources: Alaska Board of Game / ADF&G (via Cornell LII), Municipality of Anchorage / ADF&G

Selling or giving away   Prohibited

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

The clean-list framework bars buying/selling/trading unlisted species, and giving one away facilitates unlawful possession by the recipient. Anchorage additionally bans import/buy/sell of any Rattus (AMC 16.90.030).

Sources: Alaska Board of Game / ADF&G (via Cornell LII), Municipality of Anchorage / ADF&G

Transport & import   Prohibited

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

5 AAC 92.141 makes it unlawful to enter Alaska (or operate any conveyance) while harboring live Muridae rodents, the roof rat is named in ADF&G guidance as covered. Import is also barred by the clean list (unlisted species can’t be imported; no permit can issue). Class A misdemeanor (up to 1 yr / $25,000). Never release.

Sources: Alaska Dept of Fish & Game, Alaska Board of Game / ADF&G (via Cornell LII)

Where: Alaska Dept of Fish & Game, Wildlife Permits

Source: Alaska Board of Game / ADF&G (via Cornell LII), Alaska Dept of Fish & Game

Alaska is the strictest state in the country for the pet roof rat (Rattus rattus). Alaska runs a “clean list” (a whitelist): under regulation 5 AAC 92.029, only the species on that list may be kept, and the only rat on it is the albino lab Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus var. albinus). The roof rat is not on the list. By law, the Department of Fish & Game is forbidden from issuing a possession permit for any species the list leaves off, so there is no permit to apply for. Separately, 5 AAC 92.141 bans harboring or transporting live Muridae rodents (which includes the roof rat), and the Municipality of Anchorage bans the entire genus Rattus. Keeping, breeding, selling, giving away, importing, or transporting a pet roof rat in Alaska is therefore prohibited and is a class A misdemeanor (up to one year and/or $25,000). This is not a case of the agency misreading the law. The agency is applying it as written. The list itself is the obstacle.

The ask: The fix is to add captive-bred Rattus rattus to the clean list (5 AAC 92.029), as the domesticated albino Norway rat already is. That is a regulation change, and the body with the power to make it is the Alaska Board of Game, through its public proposal-and-comment process. The realistic path is to file or support a Board of Game proposal in the next statewide cycle asking the Board to add the captive-bred, domesticated roof rat to the list as a permitted pet, documenting that it meets the same safety criteria the albino Norway rat already satisfies. The albino Norway rat on the list is itself the wild brown rat (R. norvegicus), domesticated only in the 19th century (see https://blonderoofrat.com/how-the-sewer-rat-became-the-fancy-rat/), so a captive-bred R. rattus is the same case one species over. Asking ADF&G directly will not work: by statute it cannot permit an unlisted species, so the request must go to the Board that controls the list.

Where the lever really is: This is branch (b): the obstacle is the law and list as written, not an agency misreading. The Department of Fish & Game is applying 5 AAC 92.029 correctly. The regulation states that if a species is not on the list, ADF&G is forbidden from issuing a possession permit for it, and the roof rat is not on the list. A letter, appeal, or permit request to ADF&G will go nowhere, because there is no discretion to grant: the agency is barred by the regulation itself. The only thing that changes this is amending the list, which is controlled by the Alaska Board of Game through its public rulemaking (proposal-and-comment) process. The precedent is that the domesticated albino Norway rat is on the list, which shows the mechanism already exists to list a tame, captive-bred true rat. The ask is to extend the same treatment to captive-bred Rattus rattus, not to carve out an exception. The lever is therefore the rulemaking channel (Board of Game proposal plus public comment), not an administrative appeal. Even if listed statewide, Anchorage’s separate genus-Rattus ban would still need a municipal fix, but the statewide list is the threshold issue and the right first target.

Where to send it (more than one channel helps):

• Alaska Board of Game, Proposal & Public Comment process (Boards Support Section) (public comment), official contact page
  The Board of Game controls the 5 AAC 92.029 clean list and is the ONLY body that can add the roof rat to it. Its public proposal-and-comment process is the correct lever. Submit a proposal (or comment) through the official Board of Game portal when the Call for Proposals opens; until then, ask the Boards Support Section to add you to the notification list so you catch the next window.
• Alaska Board of Game, regulatory proposal portal (boardofgame.adfg.alaska.gov) (public comment), official contact page
  This is where the official proposal forms and the online submission option are posted once a Call for Proposals is issued, and where proposal books are opened for public comment. This is the channel through which a clean-list amendment for captive-bred Rattus rattus would actually be filed and commented on.
• ADF&G Wildlife Permits / Possession program (executive / agency), dfg.dwc.permits@alaska.gov
  Use this ONLY to request a written confirmation of the current status and to be pointed to the Board process, not as a place to win the change. By regulation this office cannot permit an unlisted species, so it cannot grant possession; a note here is useful to get the official statement in writing and to confirm the listing route, which strengthens a future Board proposal.

A starting-point message, please put it in your own words; a short personal note carries far more weight than an identical form letter:

To the Alaska Board of Game / Boards Support Section,

I am writing about Alaska's clean list of animals that may be kept as pets, 5 AAC 92.029. I am asking the Board to add the captive-bred, domesticated roof rat (Rattus rattus) to that list as a permitted pet.

The domesticated albino Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus var. albinus) is already on the list. The pet roof rat is the same kind of animal: captive-bred for generations, hand-tame, kept entirely indoors as a companion, and never released to the wild. The distinction in the regulation is by species, not by whether the animal is domesticated. A tame, captive-bred roof rat poses no more risk than the listed lab rat.

Because the Department cannot issue a permit for a species the list leaves off, the only path is to amend the list, which is the Board's authority. I respectfully request that captive-bred Rattus rattus be added to 5 AAC 92.029, subject to the same indoor-only, no-release conditions, and I ask to be notified when the next Call for Proposals opens so I may submit a formal proposal.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Your name]
[Your city/region, Alaska]
[Your email / phone]

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