Can Squirrels Be Pets? Legality, Reality and Why Not

Keeping a squirrel is illegal in most US states, and the ones raised by people usually end badly. What actually happens, and the lawful alternatives.

By Zakaria September 21, 2026 4 min read Save to Pinterest

A grey squirrel perched upright on a weathered fence post against green foliage — Photo: Sarah Ward, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Two separate answers, and both are no. Legally, most US states prohibit it. Practically, a squirrel is a wild rodent that chews through a house and bites hard by its second year.

The short answer

Keeping a squirrel as a pet is illegal in most US states, where native wildlife cannot be held without a permit, and the permits that exist are generally for rehabilitation rather than pet keeping — check your own state wildlife agency, and note that city ordinances, leases and HOA rules can prohibit it independently. Practically, squirrels chew continuously, destroy furniture and wiring, become territorial and bite hard as they mature, and need far more climbing space than a cage provides. Hand-raised squirrels released later usually die quickly, having no fear of dogs, cats, cars or people. Southern flying squirrels are the one species genuinely kept, and are strictly nocturnal.

Illegal in most US states. Check your own wildlife agency
They chew everything — furniture, wiring, skirting. Teeth never stop growing
They bite hard as adults, especially in breeding season
Hand-raised squirrels released later usually die
Flying squirrels are the one kept species — and strictly nocturnal

The legal position

Most US states prohibit keeping native wildlife without a permit, and those permits are for rehabilitation, education or research — not pet keeping. A small number allow it with a licence.

How to check properly:

Your state wildlife or natural resources agency is the authority. Not a forum, not a breeder’s website
City and county ordinances can prohibit it where the state allows it
A lease or HOA covenant binds you separately
Crossing state lines with one adds federal and state transport rules, and the Lacey Act makes moving an illegally taken animal a federal matter
The rules change. Check current, not what someone posted in 2019

A found baby is not a loophole

“I rescued it” is the route almost everyone takes into this, and it does not change the law in most states. Possession is possession.

Call a licensed rehabilitator. They are not there to prosecute you, and the animal’s chances drop every day it stays.

What actually living with one is like

The legal answer stops the conversation. This is the part that matters more.

They chew constantly. Rodent incisors grow continuously and must be worn down — furniture, skirting, books, electrical wiring, which is a fire risk
They cache. Food buried in sofas, in beds, in shoes, behind appliances
They bite, hard. A tame juvenile becomes a territorial adult, particularly in breeding season, and an adult squirrel’s bite goes to the bone of a finger
They are not house-trainable
They need height. A squirrel needs a tall aviary-scale enclosure, not a cage
They climb you. Claws designed for bark, on skin
Vet care is hard to find. Most small-animal vets will not treat wildlife, and an exotics vet may be hours away
They do not bond like a domesticated animal. Ten thousand years of dog domestication is doing work a squirrel has not had

The tame stage is the first year

Nearly every account of a squirrel being a wonderful pet describes a juvenile. The accounts of bites, destruction and rehoming come from the second year, when the animal matures.

Judging the commitment by the first year is the mistake.

Flying squirrels, the partial exception

Southern flying squirrels are the one species genuinely kept, legal in more states than grey squirrels though still not most, and captive-bred stock exists.

They suit it better: small, highly social, and capable of bonding with a keeper if hand-raised young.

They still ask a lot:

Strictly nocturnal. Active from about 10pm. In your bedroom, if that is where the cage is
A very tall cage, with branches, boxes and room to glide
A companion. A solitary flying squirrel does badly
10–15 years in captivity
A specialist diet, and an exotics vet

What happens on release

Hand-raised against rehabilitator-raised

	Hand-raised at home	Licensed rehabilitator
Fear of predators	None	Retained
Foraging and caching	Not learned	Learned in groups
Human contact	Approaches people	Minimised deliberately
Release	Turned loose	Staged soft release
Outcome	Usually dies quickly	Reasonable survival

A released hand-raised squirrel walks up to the first person it sees. That frequently ends in a bite report and euthanasia — the animal is tested for rabies, which means it is killed.

If you have already raised one: contact a rehabilitator honestly and soon. They can assess whether it is still releasable, run a proper soft release if it is, or sometimes place it in a sanctuary or as an educational animal if it is not.

Lawful alternatives

If the appeal is squirrels:

A feeder and a nest box. You get the animal every day, it stays wild, it costs almost nothing, and it is legal everywhere
A camera on the box. More of the animal’s actual life than a cage would ever show

If the appeal is a small rodent to keep:

Rats — genuinely intelligent and affectionate, and the most underrated pet on this list
Degus — diurnal, social, active
Chinchillas — long-lived, twenty years, low-handling
Gerbils and mice — undemanding

All domesticated, all legal, and all suited to captivity in a way that no wild squirrel is.

The one situation that genuinely arises is finding an orphaned kit, and that has its own answer — what to feed a newborn squirrel, and why getting it to a rehabilitator matters more than feeding it at all.

Common questions

Is it legal to keep a squirrel as a pet?

In most US states, no. Keeping native wildlife without a permit is prohibited in the great majority of them, and the permits that exist are generally for rehabilitation rather than pet keeping. A handful of states allow it with a permit or licence, and the rules change, so the only reliable check is your own state wildlife agency. Even where a state allows it, a city ordinance, a lease or an HOA covenant can prohibit it independently, and importing a squirrel across state lines adds federal and state transport rules.

Do squirrels make good pets?

No, and this is the more useful answer than the legal one. A squirrel is a wild rodent with teeth that grow continuously and an instinct to chew and cache, so it destroys furniture, wiring, skirting and anything it can reach. They become territorial and bite hard as they mature, especially in breeding season, and a bite from an adult squirrel goes to the bone of a finger. They need far more space and climbing height than a cage provides, and they do not bond in the way a domesticated animal does.

What about flying squirrels as pets?

Southern flying squirrels are the one species genuinely kept, and they are legal in more states than grey squirrels, though still not most. They are more suited to it than tree squirrels — small, social, and capable of bonding with a keeper if hand-raised young — but they are strictly nocturnal, so they are active exactly when you are asleep, they need a very tall cage and a companion, and they live ten to fifteen years in captivity. That is a long, noisy, night-shift commitment.

What happens to hand-raised squirrels released into the wild?

They usually die quickly. A squirrel raised by a person has no fear of dogs, cats, cars or people, has not learned to forage, cache or recognise predators, and often approaches the first human it meets — which frequently ends in a bite report and euthanasia. Licensed rehabilitators avoid this by raising kits in groups with minimal human contact and using a staged soft release, which is the difference between an animal that survives and one that does not.

I raised a baby squirrel — what should I do now?

Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, honestly and as soon as possible. They can assess whether the animal is still releasable, and if it is, run a proper soft release; if it is too habituated, they can sometimes place it in a sanctuary or as an educational animal. Rehabilitators are not there to prosecute you, and the animal's chances fall the longer it stays. If the squirrel is already fully habituated, releasing it yourself is the worst of the available options.

What can I keep instead?

If the appeal is watching squirrels, a feeder and a nest box give you the whole experience lawfully and cost almost nothing — a fed garden squirrel is visible daily and remains a wild animal. If the appeal is a small rodent to keep, rats are genuinely intelligent and affectionate, degus are diurnal and social, and chinchillas live twenty years. All are domesticated, legal, and suited to captivity in a way that no wild squirrel is.

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