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

Keeping / owning   Unregulated / unclear

Confidence: Medium · Last verified 2026-06-14

NAC 503.140(1) provides that ‘the following animals may be possessed, transported, imported and exported without a permit or license issued by the Department,’ and item (j) is ‘Domesticated races of rats and mice.’ A captive-bred, multi-generational, tame roof rat is the natural fit for a ‘domesticated race of rats,’ so no NDOW possession license applies. Two facts reinforce a no-ban reading: R. rattus is absent from the NAC 503.110 prohibited-species list (which names the African multimammate rat, genus Mastomys (=Praomys), but no Rattus), and NRS 501.097 defines ‘wildlife’ as a wild mammal ‘found naturally in a wild state … whether raised in captivity or not,’ language that does not comfortably capture a domesticated captive line. The gap is that the exemption names no species at all, and NDOW has published no determination confirming it reaches R. rattus specifically rather than just the universally recognized fancy rat (R. norvegicus). Officially untested, so unregulated/unclear; the honest confidence in that unclear status is medium. General anti-cruelty law (NRS 574) still applies.

Sources: Nevada Legislature, Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII)

Breeding   Unregulated / unclear

Confidence: Medium · Last verified 2026-06-14

Breeding is unregulated by NDOW on the same footing as possession: if a captive-bred roof rat is a ‘domesticated race of rats’ exempt under NAC 503.140, propagation needs no state wildlife permit, and Nevada imposes no rodent-breeder license, quota, or facility standard at the state level. The Nevada Department of Agriculture does not run a state pet-shop or breeder licensing program for small rodents, and the USDA Animal Welfare Act generally exempts small-scale pet/feeder rodent breeders (and excludes laboratory Rattus from the Act entirely), reaching only wholesale/sight-unseen dealers. The same unmapped-exemption gap as ‘keep’ applies: if NDOW were to read R. rattus outside the exemption, the NAC 504 possession-license framework would apply instead. Commercial-scale breeding still needs local (Clark County / Las Vegas / Henderson) business or kennel/pet-shop licensing and zoning approval regardless of species.

Sources: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), USDA APHIS

Selling or giving away   Unregulated / unclear

Confidence: Medium · Last verified 2026-06-14

NAC 503.140(3) provides that ‘Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, lawfully acquired species listed in this section may be sold in Nevada,’ so if a captive-bred roof rat is within the ‘domesticated races of rats and mice’ exemption, private sale or free adoption needs no NDOW wildlife dealer permit. NAC 503.140(4) preserves all other applicable federal/state law and county/city ordinances, so a commercial seller still needs the relevant local business license, but the rats themselves carry no state-level sale restriction (Las Vegas microchipping/point-of-sale rules cover only dogs and cats, not small rodents). The same interpretive gap applies: the exemption that authorizes the sale names no species, so the conclusion rides on NDOW reading R. rattus into ‘domesticated races of rats.’ Officially untested.

Sources: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII)

Transport & import   Unregulated / unclear

Confidence: Medium · Last verified 2026-06-14

NAC 503.140(1) lets exempt species be ‘transported, imported and exported without a permit or license issued by the Department,’ so if a captive-bred roof rat is a ‘domesticated race of rats,’ there is no NDOW importation permit and no port-of-entry declaration. If an officer instead treated a roof rat as regulated wildlife, the restricted-species rules of NAC 503.110 would apply: NAC 503.110(3) reserves importation/possession permits for institutions (zoos, universities, research, aquaculture, educational nonprofits), and NAC 503.110(4) lets a restricted species be shipped through Nevada only with proof of lawful possession from the origin state, a health certificate, under 48 hours, and not unloaded or released. On the agriculture side, the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s import rules (NAC 571) require CVIs/entry permits for listed livestock and certain companion animals (dogs/cats under NAC 571.080, rabbits, horses) and ban importing high-risk rabies vectors (NAC 571.075), but name no CVI or entry permit for small pet rodents; the NDA directs unlisted species to its permit office. So a pet roof rat reads as importable with no NDOW permit and no NDA CVI, subject to the same species-mapping gap. Never release a roof rat: NAC 503.140(2) bars releasing listed species into the wild, and the wild roof rat is a declared vertebrate pest under NRS 555.

Sources: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Industry, Nevada Legislature

• Keep roof rats strictly indoors in escape-proof caging; never release or abandon one.
• Rehome responsibly to another keeper rather than releasing.

Source: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Legislature

• If breeding or selling commercially, obtain the local city/county business license (and a kennel/pet-shop license where required).
• Confirm residential zoning allows the activity, or seek a home-occupation permit/variance.
• Private hobby keeping and free rehoming need no business license.

Where: Relevant city/county business-licensing office (e.g., City of Las Vegas, Clark County, City of Henderson, City of Elko). · Fees: Local business-license fees vary by jurisdiction; no NDOW fee applies to exempt species.

Source: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), City of Las Vegas

• For certainty, ask NDOW in writing to confirm the NAC 503.140 exemption includes captive-bred R. rattus (see contacts).
• Keep acquisition records (breeder/source) showing the animal is a captive-bred domesticated line rather than wild-trapped.

Where: Nevada Department of Wildlife (Wildlife Diversity / Law Enforcement).

Source: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII), Nevada Legislature, Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners / NDOW (via Cornell LII)