WORTH A TRY!! I know that a lady has previously put a thread on here-but just calling out to any other fellow owners who may be willing to share and swap advice etc on how to care for this exotic breed. i have a 10 week old rat. Stacey

He is a boy and is 11 weeks old- we were told he had been hand reared too.
Ive always kept fancy rats, and my other half was going to surprise me with another pair.my grandad came back from the local pet shop-pet aqua spectacular, high street, chatham-bragging that they have a rat that grows the size of a jack russell.
Intrigued we paid a visit and i was smitten. He had sold that one but 'ordered' us another one in -who arrived two days later. he charged £450

The first few days he was really biting our fingers and hands when we entered the cage, and playtime has been confined to our bed.
But each day we notice a difference. He now comes to door of cage when we call him-and instead of biting he will lick palms.
Yesterday he chirped for the first time-very vocal-i think becaue he was snuggled in his hammock and i disturbed him.
He is very active during the night!!
He loves rearranging all his bits in the cage and pushing out all of his litter onto my carpet!! (seems to get very upset when i tidy the cage in the morning and put everything back)

Research suggests that he marks by rubbing his face-he is doing this but also mimicking humping my other halfs hand by wrapping his two front legs around and doing the actions-i wonder if this is just play-like puppies do??

Found out today that they love eating live mealworms!
Whats your website address?
how much do you feed yours and how often?
Although he is getting better he can stand cuddles for about a minute most then wants to run and play!!

i now talk to chappers by my e.mail, we exchange idea's and storeys to eachother about our gambian rats, so if anyone else who owns a pouch rat would like to join us then private message me and ill give you my e.mail and we can also exchange idea's.

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Any chance for a picture? I dont think I ever seen a Gambian Pouched rat....

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"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer." --Bruce Graham
There are no rules, rules are only for people who fit inside a box, if you want to think out of the box there is no hope... Life has no Box. (Tony Howells)

sure, click on my link and he is on there :-)
not brill pics but i will get better ones for sure.

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hello there, my names rachelle and i have had a gambian pouched rat for about 3 months now, Frodo. he's 18months old and he's never been handled and the last owners couldn't cope with him since he sent his girl friend to hospital. he's very grumpy and i was woundering if anyone had any tips at all, i get him out nearly everyday and i have just got to the stage where i can stroke him, i know he should come out and love to be with humans i just feel so sad, can anyone please give me some advice thanks.

It does take time, alot of it aswell, They still have their wild traits in them.

i still have along way to go with mine i know that much, hand feeding them seems to help, thats how i have gained some trust from our pouchy, he is still abit jumpy once i have picked him up out the cage but i supose that will get better with time.

i kinda expected him to be like our domestic pet fancy rats, you know, after a few days or so everythings getting good, but obviously they are nothing like the domestic rat to me, as i said, he still needs alot of time and work put into him befor he gets anything like our domestic fancy rats, but like i said in another post, i dont give up just keep hand feeding him, stroking him, holding him when you can ect and im sure intime he will get alot better.

ild love to see a picture of him any chance of that?

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I live in the US and I have a 4 year old male Gambian (Gambit). When I first got him he wasnt very trusting but I managed to get him tame quickly through handfeeding.

Hi greatbeast

Would love to see pictures of your gambian?

Mine still has a long long way to go, he is still nervous and believe me im putting so much time into him, when i think im getting somewhere it take just one noise and hes back to square one

i can see a difference in him but its all very slow, ive had him a month or 2 now and there is some change but not much, he still jumps and if he had half a chance he would take of our finger but i dont give him that chance lol, but there is times he is so sweet, hes a lil jackel and hyde thats for sure.

He likes sitting up on my neck and i walk around with him to get him used to sites smells and noise, but it is the noise which makes him go mental, the slightest little rattle of a carrier bag or something silly like that sends him into a frenzie .

i can hold him in my hands ild say...2 minutes tops before he starts going mental and stuggling, i then stick him up on my neck or put him in the cage because he will bite and it blooming well hurts and its well deep as my daughter found out i cannot let him go once he does this coz he takes of and goes in the smallest of places to which it takes ages to get him out.

Again i don't and won't give up lol

Can i ask you what age your gambian was when you got your him?
mine was a handreared baby of 9 weeks, and to tell the truth if he was hand reared ild hate to think what a wild one would be like
Also how long did it take you to get him tame?

is he tame to the point you can pick him up and kiss him and hug him like we do our domestic rats or is he tame to the point you can kinda hold him gently?

look forward to hearing from you

I got him when he just turned 3 and didnt have much human interaction.

If you go here to my page and click pics you can see alot of photos I have posted of him.

MySpace.com - GreaterBeastXellas - 23 - Female - EXMORE, Virginia - www.myspace.com/greaterbeastxellas