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

• Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Captive Wildlife Program (reply from its Coordinator), written reply June 2026: AGFC regulates all wildlife, whether captive-bred or not, including Rattus rattus. Code R1.03 prohibits rodents (Order Rodentia) captured in the wild from 13 plague-risk states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Wyoming). A captive-bred Rattus rattus from elsewhere is unlisted and therefore prohibited by default until AGFC evaluates the species. A keeper may submit a species-evaluation request to AGFC; after evaluation the species would be proposed as unrestricted, permit-required (a permit then needed to import, breed, or sell), or prohibited.

Keeping / owning   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-16

AGFC’s captive-wildlife framework (Code R1.00) classifies species as Unrestricted/Permit-Required/Prohibited and makes any UNLISTED species prohibited by default until evaluated. R. norvegicus is on the Unrestricted list (R1.01) and exempt from Code 09.02; Rattus rattus is on none of the lists, so a strict reading makes private possession prohibited-by-default pending an AGFC determination. (Genuine ambiguity: no enforcement names R. rattus and some sources treat ‘rats’ as unregulated pocket pets, but that rests on the R. norvegicus exemption.)

Sources: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Breeding   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-16

The Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit (Code 09.07) is available only for species on the Permit-Required list (R1.02); R. rattus isn’t on it, and unlisted species are prohibited by default, so there is currently no breeding-permit pathway for the roof rat under the AGFC framework (unless AGFC determines it’s outside their jurisdiction).

Sources: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Selling or giving away   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-16

Sale/transfer of captive wildlife runs through the same AGFC framework; R. norvegicus is exempt from Code 09.07/09.10 by name, R. rattus is not. As an unlisted (prohibited-by-default) species, commercial sale has no permit pathway; gifting falls under the same possession framework. Resolve the possession classification with AGFC first.

Sources: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Transport & import   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-16

Importing wildlife needs an AGFC Wildlife Importation Permit (Code 09.10) unless the species is Unrestricted (R1.01), R. rattus isn’t, creating a circular bar. Separately, the Dept of Agriculture (ALPC Rule 125.00) requires an entry permit + CVI for ‘zoo, wild, and/or exotic animals’ (rodents not explicitly named). In-state transport of a lawfully-held animal isn’t separately restricted, but the possession question controls. Never release a roof rat.

Sources: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Dept of Agriculture

• Email AGFC captivewildlife@agfc.ar.gov for a species determination / petition to add R. rattus to R1.01

Where: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Captive Wildlife Program

Source: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Arkansas regulates captive wildlife with a “positive list” system run by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC). Under AGFC Code R1.00, species are sorted into Unrestricted (R1.01), Permit-Required (R1.02), or Prohibited (R1.03), and any species on none of the lists is treated as prohibited-by-default until AGFC evaluates it. The common pet “fancy rat,” Rattus norvegicus, is listed by name on the Unrestricted list and is exempt from the possession, breeder/dealer, and importation permit rules. The roof rat, Rattus rattus, is not on any of the lists. Under a strict reading, the captive-bred pet roof rat is therefore prohibited-by-default, not because anyone judged it dangerous, but because it was never added to a list, while its near-identical cousin the fancy rat already is. This is a classification gap, not a deliberate ban.

The ask: Ask AGFC to add captive-bred Rattus rattus to the Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List (R1.01), the same status the fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus) already holds, or, if AGFC views multi-generational captive-bred pet rats as outside its captive-wildlife jurisdiction, to say so in writing. A captive-bred, tame, indoor-only pet roof rat poses no different ecological or public-safety risk than the already-exempt fancy rat. The fancy rat 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. The Commission is asked to weigh whether the same Unrestricted treatment is warranted. Send species-evaluation requests to the captive wildlife program inbox.

Where the lever really is: The lever is the agency (AGFC), not the legislature. This is a positive-list and species-evaluation gap, and AGFC is the body that maintains and amends those lists. AGFC’s framework (Code R1.00 plus addenda R1.01/R1.02/R1.03) is administrative regulation written and revised by the Commission through a science-based species-evaluation process. It already added Rattus norvegicus by name to the Unrestricted list and exempted it from Codes 09.02/09.07/09.10, and the same body can add Rattus rattus the same way. The problem is therefore (a): the rules under-apply to the roof rat only because it was never evaluated and listed, not because a statute names it as banned. The correct move is a written species-evaluation request or petition to AGFC’s captive wildlife program asking it to add captive-bred R. rattus to R1.01, or to confirm it is outside AGFC jurisdiction. The Arkansas General Assembly is not needed: the underlying statute (Ark. Code §15-43-201 et seq.) delegates captive-wildlife classification to the Commission, so AGFC can fix this by amending its own list. A legislative appeal would be the wrong door unless AGFC declines and points back to statute. Note that there is genuine ambiguity: some treat common pet rats as unregulated “pocket pets,” and no known enforcement has targeted R. rattus, but that informal tolerance rests on the R. norvegicus exemption. Getting R. rattus formally listed removes the risk rather than relying on non-enforcement.

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

• Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Captive Wildlife Program (executive / agency), captivewildlife@agfc.ar.gov
  This is the body that maintains the Unrestricted/Permit/Prohibited captive-wildlife lists and runs the science-based species-evaluation process. Its official captive-wildlife page directs species-evaluation requests for unlisted species to captivewildlife@agfc.ar.gov. This is exactly where to ask AGFC to add captive-bred Rattus rattus to the Unrestricted list (R1.01), the status the fancy rat already holds, or to confirm captive-bred pet rats are outside its jurisdiction. AGFC confirmed (June 2026) and pointed to its online species-evaluation form (linked here) as the way to submit the request.
• Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Headquarters (executive / agency), official contact page
  General AGFC headquarters touchpoint (phone 833-345-0325, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock) for routing or following up on a captive-wildlife species-evaluation request if the program inbox does not respond.

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: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Captive Wildlife Program
Subject: Species-evaluation request to add captive-bred roof rat (Rattus rattus) to the Unrestricted list

Dear Captive Wildlife Program,

I am writing about a gap in the captive-wildlife species lists under Code R1.00. The fancy rat, Rattus norvegicus, is on the Unrestricted list (R1.01) and exempt from Codes 09.02, 09.07, and 09.10. Its close cousin, the roof rat (Rattus rattus), is on none of the lists, so under a strict reading it is prohibited-by-default, only because it was never evaluated, not because anyone found it dangerous.

The animals I am describing are captive-bred and multi-generational tame, kept strictly indoors as pets, and never released to the wild. A captive-bred Rattus rattus poses no different ecological or public-safety risk than the already-exempt fancy rat.

Please evaluate captive-bred Rattus rattus and add it to the Unrestricted Captive Wildlife Species List (R1.01), giving it the same treatment as Rattus norvegicus. If AGFC considers captive-bred pet rats outside its captive-wildlife jurisdiction, please confirm that in writing. I am glad to provide further information.

Thank you for your consideration.
[Your name]
[Your city, Arkansas]
[Your email]

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