Keeping African Pouched Rats
African Pouched Rats are not domesticated animals. They require lots of love, attention, exercise, space, time and money if they are going to be kept as a successful pet. If you keep one of these animals the chances are that you will get bitten, they will destroy your furniture and they will keep you up at night. They will also delight and amaze you and, on balance, they are worth it.
The most critical part of caring for Pouched Rats is socialising them at an early age. Socialising them is very important because Pouched Rats are not domesticated animals. They have to learn to control their wild instincts and behaviours and get used to living with people.
Most Pouched Rats socialise well and form a strong bond of trust with their humans but this can take a lot of work, especially if the Pouched Rat is more than a few weeks old. Once the bond is made, it needs to be reinforced daily.
Everything my rats have taught me about how they need to be cared for is in these guides.