Are Roof Rats Legal in New Hampshire? Keeping, Breeding & Selling

Keeping / owning   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

N.H. Admin. Code Fis 804.02(a) provides that ‘A permit to possess wildlife shall not be required for any person to possess wildlife designated as non-controlled,’ and Fis 804.02(b)(7)(f) lists ‘Rats, domesticated (Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus)’ among the non-controlled mammals. R. rattus is named by species alongside the fancy rat, and it is not on the Fis 804.03 prohibited list or the Fis 804.05 controlled list. So no state wildlife permit, registration, facility inspection, or fee applies to keeping one (the Fis 804.01 cage/enclosure standards bind only controlled/prohibited permit holders). RSA 207:1 defines ‘wild animals’ as all animals other than domestic, and although ‘wildlife’ reaches species ‘whether raised in captivity or not normally found in a wild state,’ the Fis 804.02 listing is the dispositive exemption that removes the regulatory burden from a captive-bred domesticated rat. General animal-cruelty law (RSA 644:8) still applies.

Sources: NH Fish and Game (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), NH Fish and Game Department, NH General Court, NH General Court

Breeding   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

Breeding is unregulated by Fish and Game. The Fis 806 propagation-permit regime (annual veterinary inspection, annual Propagation of Wildlife Report) applies only to species ‘designated as controlled for these purposes pursuant to Fis 804.05’ (Fis 806.01(b)). Because R. rattus is non-controlled under Fis 804.02, it falls entirely outside Fis 806, so a hobbyist or small-scale breeder needs no Fish and Game propagation permit, inspection, or report. The act of breeding is distinct from the commercial act of distributing the offspring: transferring the resulting rats at volume can bring the Department of Agriculture pet-vendor license into play (see sell_give), but the breeding itself is not licensed by the state.

Sources: NH Fish and Game (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), NH Fish and Game Department

Selling or giving away   Legal with a permit

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-14

No Fish and Game sale permit applies to a non-controlled mammal. The one attached condition is a volume-triggered business license from the Department of Agriculture, not a species restriction. RSA 437:1(IV) defines a ‘Pet vendor’ to include any entity that transfers ‘small mammals customarily used as household pets to the public in quantities set in rules adopted by the department, with or without a fee or donation required, and whether or not a physical facility is owned by the licensee in New Hampshire… between January 1 and December 31 of each year,’ and ‘Transfer’ is the ‘transfer of ownership of live animals or birds… to a member of the public.’ The quantity is set by N.H. Admin. Code Agr 1701.02 at ‘Two hundred small mammals’ per year. Rats are small mammals, so transferring 200 or more roof rats to the public in a calendar year (free transfers count) requires a pet-vendor license; below 200, selling or giving is unregulated. Rodents sold strictly as feeders are excluded from the count if the seller keeps a signed buyer statement (Agr 1701.03), but without that documentation they count toward the threshold. General cruelty law (RSA 644:8) applies.

Sources: NH General Court, NH General Court, NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food (via MSU Animal Legal & Historical Center), NH Fish and Game (via Cornell Legal Information Institute)

Transport & import   Legal

Confidence: Medium · Last verified 2026-06-14

No Fish and Game import permit is required: Fis 803.03(a) provides that ‘A permit to import wildlife shall not be required for any person to import wildlife designated as non-controlled,’ and R. rattus is non-controlled. Fis 803.01(a) routes imported wildlife through any applicable Department of Agriculture, USDA, and USFWS requirements, but the agriculture import rules (N.H. Admin. Code Chapter Agr 2100) enumerate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection and entry-permit requirements species-by-species (bovines, sheep, goats, swine, dogs/cats/ferrets, equine, poultry, household birds, cervidae, camelidae, ratites, yaks) and do not mention rodents, small mammals, or pocket pets. USDA APHIS states it ‘does not have any animal health requirements related to bringing (importing) a pet rodent into the United States’ and defers domestic interstate movement to the receiving state (the CDC bars rodents of African origin, which does not reach the Asian-origin R. rattus). So no CVI is clearly required to bring a pet roof rat into New Hampshire. Confidence is medium, not high, because the agriculture rule is silent rather than expressly exemptive, and the State Veterinarian retains broad authority under RSA 436 to quarantine or test domestic animals suspected of carrying reportable disease; high-volume commercial importers should confirm with the Division of Animal Industry. Releasing R. rattus into the wild is prohibited (RSA 207:14; see restrictions).

Sources: NH Fish and Game Department, NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), USDA APHIS / CDC, NH General Court

• Track total small-mammal transfers to the public per calendar year (Jan 1 to Dec 31); free transfers count, documented feeder sales do not.
• If you reach 200 in a year, file the Pet Vendor License Application with the Division of Animal Industry with the $200 annual fee.
• Provide municipal zoning sign-off (RSA 437:3) certifying the facility conforms to local zoning, a veterinarian-signed disease-control program, and the required transfer records (source, dates, identifying marks).
• If selling rats strictly as feeders, keep a buyer-signed statement that they are for feeding so they are excluded from the threshold (Agr 1701.03).

Forms: Pet Vendor License Application (NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food) · Where: NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food, Division of Animal Industry (1 Granite Place South, Suite 211, Concord, NH 03301). · Fees: $200 non-refundable annual fee; license operates on a fiscal year expiring June 30. No fee applies below the 200-small-mammal threshold.

Source: NH General Court, NH General Court, NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food (via MSU Animal Legal & Historical Center), NH Dept of Agriculture, Markets & Food

• Do not release a roof rat outdoors under any circumstances; if you can no longer keep it, rehome it to another keeper.
• Check local town ordinances, which may add nuisance-rodent or animal-keeping rules.

Source: NH General Court, NH Fish and Game (via Cornell Legal Information Institute)