# Gambian pouched rat



## Jesi (Jun 10, 2013)

Has anyone ever owned a Gambian pouched rat, done a bit of research on them as I find them adorable. Possibly in the future, if I had space would definitely consider one or two. Are they just giant versions of the general rat?


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## Mball77 (Jul 3, 2013)

My main concern is they are have not been domesticated as long as fancy rats. They have been known to be unpredictable. Sadly one of the reasons fancy rats never bite is lots and lots of inbreeding when they where first popping up. Fancy rat comes form the term "rat fancy" like pigon fancy, both which showed up around the same time in England in the mid to late 1800's when rats were caught for blood sport, pitted against terriers, because old timey people were horrible to animals. They where a part of England's Mice Fancy circle. Rumor has it this was all started by a famous rat catcher, Jack Black who caught an albino and breed it when women kept offering him money to buy it from him when he would preform his shows. 

http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/roundtable/her-majestys-rat-catcher.php


Sorry when on a rant there. Later rat fancy was out of style but doctors had noticed these fancy rats where tamer and less likley to bite then captured wild rats. Labs started using them to practice medicine and noticed that inappropriate ammouts of inbreeding produced rats that rarely bit, even when you stuck needles into them. Rats have only recently become a popular pet again, while before the 80's people would be able to buy albinos from research facilites. We can probably trace MYCO back to these practices.

While dogs and cats have been domesticated for thousands of years (admittedly with lower turnover of new dogs rather then the rats lower life span but huge reproduction rates) and rats have done well with domestication but hedgehogs and other animals like racoons and skunks are very very unpredictable being they are still new to domestication. While some make great pets others will destroy your home, adorably so, but still. I'm sure stricter breeding regulations won't inbreed Gambian rats till the bite is out of them and that getting one is a bit of a gamble.


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## Mball77 (Jul 3, 2013)

on the other hand chances of them having genetic health issues is probably lower.


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