# It must be love...



## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

hee hee was just there with the camera and spotted these two doing a great impression of a giant ratty ying yang sign . . .


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## JPReptiles (Dec 2, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> hee hee was just there with the camera and spotted these two doing a great impression of a giant ratty ying yang sign . . .


They look very relaxed Pouchie..

John


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww bless em how sweet is that :flrt::flrt:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

:lol2: yes John that is all they do ALL day. Flop out and relax. 


Although.. at night... I have seen some 'mating' behaviour :whistling2:

Well not these two but Dingo & Kololi. Fingerz cwossed peeps :jump:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> :lol2: yes John that is all they do ALL day. Flop out and relax.
> 
> 
> Although.. at night... I have seen some 'mating' behaviour :whistling2:
> ...


Oooooooooooo yeah deffo fingers crossed for ya : victory:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

thanks matey x


oooo just think, the tiny pitter patter of .. well... huge ginormous hobbit feet :?



:2thumb:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

hee hee awwwwwwwww would be so cute 

what kinda care an housing do these guys need ?

do ya need to keep them in pairs or are they okies alone ?

how big do they get compared to somat like a cat or skunk lol

sorry im not interested or owt :whistling2::lol2:

ooo an price wise what ya looking at :lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

What a lush picture!!!!


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

What a gorgeous pair!!

Have to admit to being tempted by some myself!! But I have no room!!!


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

MrsP said:


> What a gorgeous pair!!
> 
> Have to admit to being tempted by some myself!! But I have no room!!!


LOL im sure you could make a lil bit of room :lol2:


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## farmercoope (Aug 19, 2008)

everyone can make room


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

They can live in one of those multi tiered ferret cages or my favourite setup is a giant dog crate which you can put shelves and stuff in. Carpet inner tubes are great. Rope bridge, tree trunk, hangy things etc.

They get to 5lbs max and 3ft long nose to tail. Emins are slightly smaller than Gambians. Mali was 2lbs and she was big! Pure muscle. My others are still growing.

Lou, myself and others are trying to keep the price at £200 each although I paid about £350 for Kololi. They are usually between £200 & £300 although they are now being imported cheaply which we hope will not lead to them being taken on a whim and dumped. They are a huge commitment so that is quite likely to happen.

They cost a lot to feed as they eat fresh fruit like pomegranate, mango, melon, sharon fruit, papaya, bananas, apple, pear plus a good range of nuts, veg and parrot mix. They are supposed to be omnivores but mine never take meat or insects.

Oh and yes they can be kept singularly but it is lovely to keep them in pairs. They are solitary in the wild, especially males although females do band together. 

Depends on the ratty really. They are all very different :flrt:


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## Grumpymouth (Jun 28, 2007)

Ah Pouchie, that is so sweet :flrt: It makes me want to get a girlfriend for Ben!! Then again he's a little boy still so he'd probably just bully her, pull her hair and knock the ice cream out of her hand...:whistling2:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Grumpymouth said:


> Ah Pouchie, that is so sweet :flrt: It makes me want to get a girlfriend for Ben!! Then again he's a little boy still so he'd probably just bully her, pull her hair and knock the ice cream out of her hand...:whistling2:


 
:rotfl:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Grumpymouth said:


> Ah Pouchie, that is so sweet :flrt: It makes me want to get a girlfriend for Ben!! Then again he's a little boy still so he'd probably just bully her, pull her hair and knock the ice cream out of her hand...:whistling2:


LOL it made me chuckle that :lol2:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

A pouched rat setup : victory: (...oh this is minus a nest box. They like a plastic box full of shredded newspaper to nest in)


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## Grumpymouth (Jun 28, 2007)

That's a great set up - I want to get one like that for Ben when he gets a bit bigger. I don't want to give him too much space right now, I want him to feel secure...but of course he's just a baby now, he won't fit in his cage when he's full grown!!


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> A pouched rat setup : victory: (...oh this is minus a nest box. They like a plastic box full of shredded newspaper to nest in)


thats fantastic 

i dont have space for another dog crate though 

gonna need 2 more when the skunkums get bigger an have six cattered bout already for the dogs :lol2:

my house is gonna be one giant dog crate soon :lol2:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Emmaj said:


> thats fantastic
> 
> i dont have space for another dog crate though
> 
> ...


 

:lol2: You could stack them all like a leaning tower of husky


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> :lol2: You could stack them all like a leaning tower of husky


 
LOL yeah i suppose i could do that with the skunks ones and the pouched rats 

only problem is im only 4ft 10 so would need a ladder to get into the top one :lol2::lol2::lol2:


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

Thats a great setup. I keep mine in the 3 tier ferret cages. The male at the moment is in a glass tank. I am in the middle of getting him a cage for when he's introduced to the girlies later this year :whistling2:

I do have a large dog crate, but the door is at 1 end and if I put the females in it and opened it up, I think they'd leg it! I've only just got them trained to sit still in the cage I've got!!

Pouchie - It may be Emins that aren't keen on inverts, as Gambians are devils when it comes to livefood!! Mine will eat locusts, crickets, mealies and moths when available  Mine also love cooked chicken, turkey and beef :mf_dribble:
They get those as a treat only. My old male Gambian was always eating. He'd stuff half a banana in each pouch, with a little avacado as pudding!:lol2: I may think about Emins in the future, but at the moment I'm saving for some 'specials' :2thumb:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

ooo 'specials' eh? do you have kangaroo rats?


Nope my Emins will definitely not take chicken or insects. Strange.

They would live on fruit and nuts if they could. Actually, I think each of them would quite happily live on 100% bananas . . .


Have you introduced pouched rats before? Lou and I have found it best to introduce the male to the females cage, unlike most animals. 

Makes sense being as it is thought the male visits the female's burrow in the wild : victory:


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## Grumpymouth (Jun 28, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> ooo 'specials' eh? do you have kangaroo rats?
> 
> 
> Nope my Emins will definitely not take chicken or insects. Strange.
> ...


So far, Ben hasn't taken any mealworms from me but he is still really shy. I agree with Pouchie, he'd live off banana and avocado if he could...although he was very partial to some mango last night too!


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Grumpymouth said:


> So far, Ben hasn't taken any mealworms from me but he is still really shy. I agree with Pouchie, he'd live off banana and avocado if he could...although he was very partial to some mango last night too!


 
aww. try him with papaya he will love that too!

mine love a huge range of nuts. their favourite seems to be macadamia, brazil and pecans.

i tend to buy a bag of mixed nuts but they are like £4 for a tiny bag!! 

oo oo and dried apricots! they love those.


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## Grumpymouth (Jun 28, 2007)

Pouchie said:


> aww. try him with papaya he will love that too!
> 
> mine love a huge range of nuts. their favourite seems to be macadamia, brazil and pecans.
> 
> ...


They just love sweet, fattening foods don't they? I'll have to try some macadamia nuts on Ben (very dear...dear food for a dear rat I guess :2thumb. He pouched his brazil nuts but hasn't taken any since then, I will try him with some papaya and other tropical fruits...bless him, he doesn't like junk food - I offered him one of Liam's chocolate drops (Liam's a fattie) but he turned his nose down at them. Little health freak!! Doesn't take after his mummy then :whistling2:


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Grumpymouth said:


> They just love sweet, fattening foods don't they? I'll have to try some macadamia nuts on Ben (very dear...dear food for a dear rat I guess :2thumb. He pouched his brazil nuts but hasn't taken any since then, I will try him with some papaya and other tropical fruits...bless him, he doesn't like junk food - I offered him one of Liam's chocolate drops (Liam's a fattie) but he turned his nose down at them. Little health freak!! Doesn't take after his mummy then :whistling2:


 
yeah probably best. chocolate is a bit dicey anyway and he must know it! LOL.

they have macadamias in the wild and i always giggle when mine have bananas because the ones i get from tesco are from the ivory coast. i wonder if they would be pinching these very bananas if they were in the wild. . .

bear in mind also that pouched rats go through phases. they seem to know what they need and although things like broccoli is supposed to be great for them, they will sometimes ignore it and sometimes eat it like their life depends upon it.


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

Pouchie said:


> ooo 'specials' eh? do you have kangaroo rats?


Yep, specials:2thumb: I do keep Kangaroo rats 




> Nope my Emins will definitely not take chicken or insects. Strange.
> 
> They would live on fruit and nuts if they could. Actually, I think each of them would quite happily live on 100% bananas . . .


Mine only get Bananas as a treat  They get a lot of other fruit in their diet as it is, but bananas and avacado seem to be favourites of my poucheys.




> Have you introduced pouched rats before? Lou and I have found it best to introduce the male to the females cage, unlike most animals.
> 
> Makes sense being as it is thought the male visits the female's burrow in the wild : victory:


Not yet. I have been told to introduce the male though, so this is what I'm going to do


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Have your bred your k.rats? I am looking for a male.

Can I ask, do you keep yours together? Our female is very solitary.


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

I have bred them. Non available yet though. How do you keep yours?

I keep mine in a 4' gerbilarium. They need the space for courtship as theres a lot of jumping and chasing! There are also other factors in breeding these  PM me for details 

I do keep mine together, but they can become aggressive out of season. They _can_ do serious damage to each other if not given the opportunity to escape.


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Matt Lusty said:


> I have bred them. Non available yet though. How do you keep yours?
> 
> I keep mine in a 4' gerbilarium. They need the space for courtship as theres a lot of jumping and chasing! There are also other factors in breeding these  PM me for details
> 
> I do keep mine together, but they can become aggressive out of season. They _can_ do serious damage to each other if not given the opportunity to escape.


Our setup is a zoozoneII full of sand and an exoterra cave buried in which they go in and block up the entrance all day. We scatter the seeds around for them to collect and offer the odd bit of fruit and live foods in small amounts. They have no standing water source. Neither do our Jerboas.

Please please can you remember me if you have a litter? Would definitely have a male off you and some advice re breeding:whistling2:. We had a lot of ninja kicking and severe aggression but no mating.


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## llama_girl (Jul 6, 2008)

awww...what cutie pies :flrt:


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