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We have recently added a sexed pair of Gambian Pouched Rats to our pets.
The Gambian Pouched Rat is native to Africa. It is not actually a rat and is part of the muroid part
of the rodent family. It is a very large rat that can weigh up to 4kg. They do have the potential to give a nasty bite
but if give time and commitment they make lovely animals to care for.
The eyesight is poor and they rely on smell and hearing. As the name suggest these rats have pouches in
their cheeks. They use these pouches to pick up and carry large amounts of food which they take back to their dwellings.
Above is a picture of Akanke our female GPR. The name Akanke means '' to know her is to love her ''.
Housing.
Our Gambian Pouched Rats live in a large metal cage. It is 4ft x 4ft x 2ft high. The enclosure has to be
metal as they will chew / gnaw their way out of anything else.
We have add a couple of shelves so as they can get up off the floor if they want. We have also placed a
small tyre in the enclosure, the tyre is hung from the roof and they spend many an hour playing on this. Interestingly though
they have never attempted to chew the tyre.
The substrate we use is hemp which they do attemt to kick out of cage. we also have a couple of large branches
in the enclosure which they tend to chew, a good way of keeping their teeth in check.
Pet quality paper bedding is used for nesting material. They drag this into the bedding area where they
shred it and make a nest. as it is pet quality it is safe for them.
Feeding.
Below is a selection of foods we feed to our GPR's.
FRUITS: Apples, bananas, cantaloupe, pears, plums, apricots, watermelon, honeydew, strawberries, cherries,
mangoes, papaya, peaches, nectarines
VEGETABLES: Broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, carrots, corn, potato, yam, squash, and bean sprouts
MISCELLANEOUS: Cooked chicken, hard boiled egg, scrambled egg, tuna in springwater, moreo worms, mealworms,
dried quality catfood, parrot mix with the whole peanuts and chilli's takenn out, rodent pellets, rabbit mix, gerbil mix,
hamster mix
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