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

Keeping / owning   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

CGS §26-55 requires a permit from the DEEP Commissioner to import or possess any ‘wild mammal,’ and Conn. Agencies Regs. §26-55-6 exempts rodents by species, naming Rattus norvegicus, guinea pig, gerbil, chinchilla, house mouse, hamster, dwarf hamster, Patagonia mara, and American beaver, but NOT Rattus rattus. The regulation expressly says a captive-bred animal that is ‘still wild by nature’ is not ‘domestic.’ So R. rattus is a regulated wild mammal that defaults to a ‘Category Four Wild Animal’; §26-55-6 bars possessing a Category Four animal without a Commissioner-issued permit, and those permits in practice reach only institutions (zoos, labs, USDA exhibitors, nature centers, museums) with no established private-pet pathway. Keeping one as a pet is therefore effectively prohibited, exposing the keeper to a Class A misdemeanor under §26-55 plus seizure and possible euthanasia of the animal.

Sources: Connecticut General Assembly, CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies)

Breeding   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

There is no standalone ‘wildlife breeding permit’ that bypasses the §26-55 possession requirement, captive propagation requires continuous lawful possession of the parent animals, which is unavailable to a private individual for a non-exempt wild mammal. So breeding R. rattus is equally restricted. Even authorized institutions must house regulated wild mammals in enclosures that ‘prevent the possibility of loss or breeding with other animals,’ and DEEP treats unmanaged breeding of non-native wild mammals as an environmental threat to suppress. The fur-breeder statute (CGS §22-12b, fox, mink, chinchilla, marten, fisher, nutria, muskrat) does NOT list R. rattus, so it is no loophole. Liberation of any wild mammal is separately barred under §26-55.

Sources: Connecticut General Assembly, CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies), CT Dept of Agriculture

Selling or giving away   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

Transferring a wild mammal to a person or entity that cannot lawfully possess it is itself barred under §26-55, so any retail, pet-shop, or private hobbyist sale or gift of R. rattus to the general public facilitates a violation and exposes both parties to liability. A DoAg pet-shop license (CGS §22-344) governs sanitation/welfare of commercial sales but does NOT override the DEEP wildlife bar, a licensed pet shop may sell R. norvegicus (an exempt domestic species) but placing an R. rattus for sale is illegal commercial distribution of an unpermitted wild mammal. Registered wild animals may be transferred only between named institutional entities (municipal park, zoo, aquarium, nature center, museum, exhibitor, laboratory, research facility) with DEEP approval, no consumer-facing or private-hobbyist channel exists.

Sources: Connecticut General Assembly, CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies), Connecticut General Assembly

Transport & import   Restricted

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-12

CGS §26-55 unequivocally bars importing or introducing any ‘wild mammal’ into the state without a Commissioner-issued permit, and R. rattus is non-exempt, so import by a private keeper is barred (only institutions have a viable import-permit path). In-state movement of an unlawfully possessed animal compounds the §26-55 violation. A DoAg Animal Importer registration (CGS §22-344, $200 biennial) and a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection cover domestic pets/livestock and do NOT cure a DEEP wildlife violation, an importer must first secure the DEEP wildlife import permit. Moving an illegally possessed roof rat across state lines can also trigger the federal Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§3371–3378).

Sources: Connecticut General Assembly, CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies), Connecticut General Assembly, CT Dept of Agriculture (Office of the State Veterinarian)

• Do NOT keep/breed/sell/import R. rattus as a private pet, it defaults to a Category Four wild animal with no private permit pathway (Class A misdemeanor; seizure/euthanasia risk)
• Ask DEEP Wildlife to confirm whether any discretionary Category Four pathway exists for a single companion R. rattus
• Consider a CGS §4-174 petition to amend §26-55-6 to add captive-bred R. rattus, and/or a §4-176 declaratory-ruling petition
• Never release a roof rat (liberation of a wild mammal is separately barred under §26-55)

Where: Connecticut DEEP, Wildlife Division (79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127)

Source: Connecticut General Assembly, CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies)

• (Institutions only) Apply to the DEEP Central Permit Processing Unit for a wild-mammal possession/importation permit specifying species, number, origin, and institutional purpose
• Provide an AWA-compliant facility, $1M+ liability insurance, escape recapture/destruction plan, disposition plan, and documented veterinary care

Where: Connecticut DEEP, Central Permit Processing Unit / Wildlife Division

Source: CT DEEP (Regulations of CT State Agencies), Connecticut General Assembly

In Connecticut, the domesticated pet roof rat (Rattus rattus) is caught by a species trap in a regulation. State law (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 26-55) requires a permit to import or possess any “wild mammal,” and the implementing regulation (Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6) treats the entire order Rodentia as a regulated wild animal except for a short hand-written list of domestic rodents. That list names the common fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus), the house mouse, guinea pig, gerbil, chinchilla, hamster, dwarf hamster, Patagonia mara, and American beaver. It does not name Rattus rattus. The regulation also states that an animal that is captive-bred “even over many generations” but “still wild by nature” is not “domestic.” Because the fancy rat was written onto the exemption list and the roof rat was left off, a captive-bred, tame pet roof rat defaults to a regulated “Category Four Wild Animal,” with no permit pathway available to an ordinary private pet owner (permits effectively reach only zoos, labs, USDA exhibitors, nature centers, and museums). Keeping, breeding, transferring, or importing a pet roof rat is therefore effectively off-limits and a willful violation is a Class A misdemeanor. The fancy rat already on the list is itself the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), domesticated in the 19th century, and a captive-bred roof rat is no more “wild” than it is.

The ask: Ask Connecticut DEEP to fix the omission by adding the captive-bred domestic roof rat (Rattus rattus) to the list of exempt domestic rodents in Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6, the same list that already names the fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus). This can be requested two ways under Connecticut’s Administrative Procedure Act: (1) a petition to amend the regulation (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 4-174), asking DEEP to add R. rattus to the exemption; and/or (2) a petition for a declaratory ruling (Sec. 4-176) asking DEEP to confirm whether a captive-bred, domesticated R. rattus kept as a pet falls inside the existing domestic-rodent exemption. A tame, indoor, captive-bred roof rat is a pet, not wildlife, and belongs alongside the fancy rat. The regulation’s concern is wild ancestry, but the relevant question is domestication, not wild origin: the dog descends from the wolf and the cat from a wild felid, yet both are recognized as domestic animals because of generations bred for tameness. The fancy rat already on the list is itself the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), domesticated in the 19th century (https://blonderoofrat.com/how-the-sewer-rat-became-the-fancy-rat/), and a captive-bred R. rattus is domesticated in that same sense, one species over. DEEP is asked to weigh whether a captive-bred R. rattus is domesticated in the same sense as the fancy rat already on the list, not to reach any predetermined result.

Where the lever really is: Lever = THE AGENCY (DEEP), not the legislature. The barrier is not a species written onto a statute that DEEP is merely enforcing; it is an omission from an exemption list inside a regulation that DEEP itself wrote and controls, Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6. The enabling statute (Sec. 26-55) tells DEEP to regulate “wild mammals” and to set exemptions by regulation; the decision of which rodents count as exempt domestic animals is made in DEEP’s own rule. DEEP already exercised that power to list Rattus norvegicus (the fancy rat), and can add Rattus rattus the same way, without any act of the legislature. Connecticut’s Uniform Administrative Procedure Act gives any person the right to (a) petition an agency to amend a regulation (Sec. 4-174; DEEP must, within 30 days, either start rulemaking or deny in writing with reasons), and (b) petition for a declaratory ruling on how an existing regulation applies (Sec. 4-176; DEEP must respond, generally within 60 days). Because the problem is the agency omitting from its own exemption list rather than a statute correctly applied, appealing to DEEP is the right move and can change the outcome. The legislature is a fallback only if DEEP denies the petition and refuses to act, at which point a bill amending Sec. 26-55, or contacting one’s own legislator, becomes the second-line lever. Lead with the agency.

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

• Connecticut DEEP, Wildlife Division (permits & wild-animal regulation) (executive / agency), deep.wildlife@ct.gov
  Primary lever. DEEP owns and can amend the exemption list in Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6, where the fancy rat is named but the roof rat is omitted. Start here with a written request to add captive-bred R. rattus to the domestic-rodent exemption, and/or to confirm whether a domesticated pet R. rattus already falls within it. Wildlife Division: deep.wildlife@ct.gov, (860) 424-3011; 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127.
• Connecticut DEEP, Declaratory Rulings / Adjudications process (executive / agency), official contact page
  Formal route for a Sec. 4-176 petition asking DEEP to rule on whether a captive-bred, domesticated, indoor-kept R. rattus is covered by the existing Sec. 26-55-6 domestic-rodent exemption. Useful if you want a binding determination rather than only an informal email answer.
• Connecticut General Assembly, Find Your Legislator (legislature), official contact page
  Second-line lever, only if DEEP declines to amend or rule favorably. Use this official lookup to contact your own state senator and representative about a bill amending Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 26-55 (or directing DEEP to update the exemption). Do not start here, the regulation, not the statute, is the actual barrier.

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: Connecticut DEEP, Wildlife Division

Subject: Petition to add the captive-bred domestic roof rat (Rattus rattus) to the domestic-rodent exemption in Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6

Dear Wildlife Division,

I am writing about a gap in Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 26-55-6. The regulation exempts the order Rodentia as domestic animals except for a named list, which includes the fancy rat, Rattus norvegicus, but does not name the domesticated roof rat, Rattus rattus. As written, that leaves a tame pet roof rat classified as a regulated wild mammal (a 'Category Four Wild Animal') under Sec. 26-55, with no permit pathway for an ordinary pet owner, and a willful violation is a Class A misdemeanor.

The issue is the species name on the list, not domestication. These are captive-bred, hand-tame animals, kept entirely indoors and never released to the wild, the same as the fancy rat already on your exemption list. They differ only by species label.

The regulation's 'wild by nature' exclusion turns on wild ancestry. The domestic dog descends from the wolf and the house cat from a wild felid, yet both are recognized as domestic animals because what makes an animal domestic is generations bred for tameness, not the wild origin of its species. The fancy rat already on the list is itself the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), domesticated in the 19th century. I ask the Department to weigh whether a captive-bred R. rattus is domesticated in that same sense as the fancy rat already on the list; I am not asking the Department to presume any particular answer.

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 4-174, I respectfully petition DEEP to amend Sec. 26-55-6 to add captive-bred Rattus rattus to the exempt domestic-rodent list. In the alternative, under Sec. 4-176, I request a declaratory ruling on whether a captive-bred, domesticated pet R. rattus already falls within the existing domestic-rodent exemption.

Thank you for your consideration. I am glad to provide any further information.

Respectfully,
[Your name]
[Town, Connecticut]
[Email / phone]

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