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Gambian Pouched Rat Care · Gambian Pouched Rats are found in sub Saharan Africa. They are usually found in areas with shelters such as hollow trees, crevices and burrows made by other animals. They can however dig their own burrows if needed to, as they have very large and powerful back feet. · They are a time consuming pet, and owning on shouldn't be taken lightly. They need dedication and training, and are not really suitable for households with younger children as pouched rats are very strong and could easily hurt them without meaning to. · · They have cheek pouches which can transport huge quantities of food from place to place if needed.
· They are hoarders, and will often store their food rather than eat it straight away. They are nocturnal. Pouched rats have bad sight, so use their excellent sense of smell and hearing to make up for it.
· Gambian Pouched Rats have a very low fat content which makes them very vulnerable to the cold, but they are also vulnerable to extreme heat as well.
· They can weigh anything from 1 to 2 kg, with males tending to be on the slightly larger side.
· There are two species of pouched rat, one is called a Gambian, and the other an Emin’s. Emins tend to be sleeker than the Gambians, are better at climbing, and are browner in colour, whereas the Gambians are usually dark grey. Gambians also have a less obvious colour change from their backs to their white bellies. Their uses Pouched rats have a fantastic sense of smell, and because of this are now being trained to help an organisation called APOPO (www.apopo.org/) clear landmines in Tanzania and Mozambique. APOPO teaches the pouched rats to use their brilliant noses to detect the smell of TNT in the land mines under the ground, and then once they have found them scratch at the earth to signal to their handlers where it is. The pouched rat is then rewarded using a clicker and banana. Because they are lighter than dogs using pouched rats to find land mines is safer, as they do not detonate them when they step on the earth above. They will also work tirelessly for a piece of banana, whereas a dog may become distracted and bored of the task, so not working to the best of it’s ability. Pouched Rats are also being used to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples. The pouched rats are presented with a row of the samples and will work their way along that row sniffing at each one in turn until they come across one with turberculosis. They will then scratch at the sample to tell the handler which one contains it, and the handler will reward the pouched rat with banana.
Pouched rats can be kept singly or in pairs as long as they have lots of things to do in their cage and get taken out daily. Males that haven’t been together since birth are unlikely to get on, and may fight for dominance, cause serious injuries or even death, and although females tend to get on better together than males, if they haven’t lived together since birth, it may be difficult to introduce them at a later stage. Male and females can live together, but if you don’t want any surprise babies it is best to get the male neutered first before introducing the two. You also need to be aware that if you do decide to keep and male and female together, the male has to be large enough to defend himself, and the species is female dominant and she may end up hurting him if he is too small.
Male or female?
Both males and females make good pets, and as long as you get one that has been handled from birth you should end up with a fantastic friend and great companion. Saying this however, when some males matures they can go through an aggressive stage due to the increased levels of testosterone in their system. The best way to sort this problem out is to get him neutered and you should end up once more with a happy pouchie.
The most suitable enclosure is a large, multi level ferret/rat cage, or large parrot cage. The bigger the better! They must have a solid floor, not wire shelves, as Gambian pouched rat’s feet are extremely sensitive, and a deep cage base is also recommended as this will keep most of the bedding they push around in. Coated, powered wire is best, as the zinc in galvanized metal is poisonous to pouched rats if gnawed. The cage also needs to be all metal so that the Gambian pouched rat cannot chew through, as they have very strong teeth and will destroy almost anything they can get their teeth into. Once bought you may find that you have to make a couple of adjustments to your cage to ensure it is completely safe and secure for your pouchie. These are usually only minor though and shouldn’t cost a lot of money, if anything at all. However, if you have bought a plastic bottomed cage it is more than likely that your pouched rat will chew it and at some point you will have to invest in getting a metal one made for you, which will probably cost around £50 to do. The cage should be protected from draughts, direct sunlight or excess heat or coldness, with an ideal temperature of around 20C to 24C. It should be clean and dry at all times. Your pouched rat must only be housed indoors, as they are very susceptible to the cold due to lack of body fat. Examples of suitable cages are: The Savic royal suite, The abode, The Tower, The explorer, Midwest ferret nation, Midwest critter nation, and Ferplast duetto
Floor Covering
The best floor covering we have found is ecopetbed, found on this site (www.ecopet.co.uk). It is made of recycled cardboard that is very absorbent, has been dust extracted so it doesn’t affect the pouched rats health, doesn’t smell, and is very easy to clear up. It comes in large 20kg bales, is reasonably inexpensive and lasts a good few months.
Bedding/Nest Material
From trying a wide range of materials out ourselves and from getting information from other pouched rat breeders, the bedding we recommend you use for your pouched rat is either shredded kitchen towel, soft hay, hemp, shredded newspaper or safebed paper flakes. All of these have very little dust and don’t give off any harmful fumes when they come in contact with pouched rat urine. Wool shouldn’t be used under any circumstances as it can get wrapped around their toes and feet and cause injuries. Straw should also not be used as it is sharp and can cause damage to the eyes and mouth.
Biocat litter is the most widely recommended substrate to put in your litter tray. It is very absorbent and if you use a different floor covering to the one in your litter tray will help your pouched rats to distinguish the different types of bedding and urinate on only the one. However other paper based litter can be used such as smartcat, just ensure it isn’t too dusty.
Toys and furniture
Wooden parrot toys, pressed rawhide bones, natural hemp ropes, Java/fruit tree branches, igloos, savic sputniks, hammocks, teddies (no small parts), ladders, tubes, pigs ears and wheels are an excellent way to keep your pouched rat entertained. They also love tearing up cardboard boxes, but ensure you don't give them any plastic toys as they can cause choking if swallowed.
Cage cleaning
Food should be provided once a day for them in a heavy earthenware bowl, preferably at night time when they are most active. Below is a list of safe and unsafe/harmful foods for pouched rats, not all of the unsafe foods have been confirmed as harmful, but because some people have had problems which they think may have be caused by the foods I class them as unsafe just incase. All the safe food below is ok in small amounts, but they should have a varied diet to keep them happy and healthy. We will keep adding to this list as more is discovered about pouched rats nutritional needs.
Unsafe/Harmful foods – Asparagus, Alcoholic drinks/foods, Blue Cheese, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Caffeine, Carbonated drinks, Celery, Chillies, Citrus Fruits, Chocolate, Dairy foods, Fried food, Grapes, Hazelnuts, Liquorice, Onions, Pork, Rhubarb, Salty foods, Spicy foods, Sweets.
Water A large rabbit/rodent bottle is the best bottle to use for water, as they struggle to use the ball inside the smaller rodent ones. The smaller ones also do not provide them with enough water, and you will find that you have to keep filling it up. A bottle brush should be used once a week on the inside of the bottle to keep it clean, and their water should be changed daily so it’s fresh.
Gambian Pouched Rats Teeth
Gambian pouched rats need to wear their teeth down, so you should provide items for them to chew on in their cage at all times. Examples of chewables are wooden small animal/parrot toys, mineral blocks, gnaw sticks, fruit tree/Java branches, nylabones, pigs ears and pressed rawhide dog bones to help them do this.
Grooming You may find that their nails get too long, in which case your local vet should trim them for you as pouched rats are very wriggly and you could end up cutting the vein in their nails, resulting in serious blood loss and pain.
Handling
When you get your new pouched rat home, place it in its cage with some food and water, and leave it alone for a few hours. This will give it time to get used to its new surroundings without being disturbed. After it has had time alone, start introducing yourself to your new pet by placing your hands in their cage and letting your pouched rat sniff you. Take care not to make any sudden movements as this may frighten your pouched rat. Try to slowly stroke it and maybe offer it some treats. If it is really afraid and tries to bite you, wear a pair of thick gloves to protect your hands when handling your pouchie. The best time to try and cuddle your pouched rat is just after awakening them from a deep sleep. They will be less likely to resist and it will make your task easier. When you go to pick your new Gambian pouched rat up, place one hand under its stomach and the other under its bottom and carefully lift it into your arms. Make sure you press it gently against your chest, as they like to feel secure and will struggle if they are in mid air for example. If you do have to pick your pouched rat up from the tail at any time, make sure it is only for a short amount of time and always from the base of the tail nearest its body, not by anywhere else as it may break and cause your pet a great deal of pain. Always sit down when holding your pouched rat, just in case you drop it. Your pouched rat should be taken out at least once a day to prevent boredom. They take a lot of time and dedication to keep them tame and handleable, and training them must be a daily practice otherwise you may find that everything you and your pouchies breeder has achieved goes straight out the window. Pouched rats can be trained to wear a harness and lead so you can take them outside (please only take them outside if you are certain the harness is secure and your pouched rat isn’t going to slip out and bolt). The best time to start harness training is when they are young, and before you put it on your pouched rat you should let them see and smell what it is so you don’t spook him/her. Once your pouchie feels comfortable, maybe offer them a treat, then when he/she is eating it gently and slowly slip the harness around the head and stomach and clip it on. You should be able to put one finger between the harness and your pouchie, this ensures you aren’t choking them. If your pouched rat struggles, just take it off and try again the next day, there’s no point stressing them out and they should get used to it eventually. If he/she is fine, let them wear the harness without the lead once a day for a few weeks, then you can introduce the lead and get them used to being controlled. The most suitable harnesses we have found for our pouched rats are the small “boredom breakers options” ones.
Clicker training
Pouched rats are very clever animals and can easily be clicker trained to search for a certain smell. However, to begin with you need to start helping your pouched rat to associate a noise to a reward. Most pouched rat owners use a simple dog clicker. The best time to train you pouched rat is when it is young, as they pick up things a lot faster. To begin the training you will need to click your dog clicker every time you feed your pouched rat a treat (e.g banana). Keep doing this every day, and make sure that you gradually bring the treat closer and closer to you, so that if you ever have to catch your pouchie, he/she will come to you rather than you having you chase them round. Eventually they will associate the sound with a treat, so will come looking for it from you as soon as you click. If that’s as far as you want the training to go that’s fine. However, if you want to use your pouched rat to use its excellent nose to find something, you have to then associate the smell of your object to a reward. The best way we have found is to get a few heavy cups (so they can’t knock them over), put different smelly things under each one, and under one of them put the thing you want them to find. Let your pouched rat sniff each cup and when it comes to the one with the object you want it to find, click and give reward your pouchie with a treat. Next time, rearrange the cups so it is in a different place, and do the same thing. It may take a few weeks, but after a while your pouched rat will associate the smell with the click and reward, and will hopefully find the object whenever you want him/her to.
Breeding Sexual maturity is reached at 5 months of age, however breeding your pouched rat is not recommended until they are at least 8 months old, as they are still growing and developing. The gestation period for a female pouched rat is 30 to 32 days, however this may vary by a few days either side. She can have anything from 1 to 6 babies in a litter, and they are born naked, with closed ears and blind. Fur will start to grow within the first week of them being born, and the babies will begin to nibble at solid food once their eyes are open, at about 3 weeks of age. Their ears will open at around 14 days. Weaning occurs at 6 weeks, and they get their full coat of fur at approximately 10 weeks.
Basic Equipment list: Multi level ferret/rat cage or large parrot cage Very large wheel Large litter tray Large water bottle Bottle brush Large heavy earthenware food bowl Large nest box Soft bedding material Tubes, ropes and toys Ecopetbed Pet safe disinfectant Harness and lead Clicker Heat mat for the colder months Travel cage Chewable toys Rat nuggets and fresh fruit and vegetables
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