UK Pet Forums Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

my gambian pouched rat

Jump to Latest
12K views 79 replies 31 participants last post by  momentofmadness  
#1 ·
well i have my gambian pouched rat Queenie.
she is 7 weeks old tomorrow and is currently the size of a 6 month old fancy rat.
she smells like cheesy feet::D not the usual male rat smell that i'm used to but then again they are completley different species of rat.

she is hand tame as the people that raised her from babies handled her from day one.

she is off a member of the ukpouchies web site and queenie's parents well one of them is related to lesley's poched rats.

i paid £200 for her then her cage which was £100 plus toys,hammocks,snuggle bed,java branch,ceramic dog litter bowl etc

so all in all i have paid about £400
she is worth every penny.

i will get photos later of her.

i was origionally getting a male from someone else but i decided to go with this girl instead knowing she had been handled and i had updates of her plus she has a good lineage.

bye for now.

amy
 
#9 ·
she will grow to 3 to 4ft in length thats tail included.and weight 2 kilo's.

they don't have to have company as there not like fancy rats although they can have a partner.
2 females will fight and fight to death same as two males,but it can be done although they would need neutering.

male and female together but would need neutering if not intending to breed.

in the wild of africa they either live together or on there own.
obviously on there own they will have a very strong bond with the person and they usually only take to one person and will attack anyone that they are not familiar with.

so both me and my fella are handling her as much as possible.
but i'm the main owner of her.

if i do get her a friend it would have to be a male and be neutered but sometimes it doesn't always go to plan and they can end up a close bond with each other and fall out with the person.

at the moment she is cuddled up in her snuggle bed with her heat mat under the outside of the cage as gambians can't maintain body heat.

they live to around 8-10 years i think.

they eat a mixture of fruits and veg and parrot mix but not hazel nuts as they are toxic to them.

they are not a rat to be taken on lightly and need so much more care and attention.
they can be destructive and need parrot cages or an all metal cage as they have been known to eat through plastic bases and bend ferplast bars.

i have wanted one for a couple of years and done quite a lot of research before i went ahead and got queenie.

amy
 
#16 ·
the little madam had caused chaos in her cage this morning.everything was tipped upside down and she sat at the bars looking all cheeky.

rosie your a member on the ukpouchies forum i've see some of your posts.
i read how you visited lesley.

i bet it made you really want one.

queenie is a babe and she is a lot cleaner than my fancy rats.the fancy rats pee everywhere on there ferplast shelfs and hammocks.

queenie only poo's and wee's in her ceramic bowl of litter.

i shall keep updating this thread with pics:thumbup1:

amy
 
#20 ·
She is beautiful.

The first time i ever heard of them was when i saw something about them being used to detect landmines.

Not sure id feel comfortable taking on such a commitment. One of those animals where you really need to know what you are doing. I'll leave it to people like yourself who put in the hard work and do the research :)
 
#21 ·
yeh i would say to anyone who wants one of these to really think about it and do a lot of research because they can be a handful and if not handled daily and given the right training can be aggressive animals.

males can be awful when going through puberty one of the ukpouchie members has 2 and she is going through hell with the older boy.

she had him neutered but he hasn't calmed down yet and attacks her husband and trys to bite every bit of bare skin.

yet he is fine with her.

gambian pouched rats are totally different to fancy rats so i suppose at this age they will be quite docile although saying that queenie's mum loves her cuddles and falls asleep in arms too.

they get such a close bond and can be taught the words "no" "come" "leave"
bit like a dog really.

but these animals have only just be domesticated.

amy
 
UK Pet Forums Forum
posts
7.3M
members
260K
Since
2007
A forum community dedicated to UK based pet owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, health, behaviour, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Dog Chat Off Topic Lounge Cat Chat Dog Health and Nutrition Cat Health and Nutrition