# Lifespan of Gambian Pouched Rats



## Ratatouille (Sep 5, 2008)

Please could everyone who has owned one of these beautiful creatures please give me details of how old they are now or what age they died.

• View topic - Breeding Age, Lifespan

I was talking to a friend last night, and we were now wondering if GPRs have a shorter lifespan than Emins. All the ones I have heard of that have lived to over 5 years have been Emins. The longest lived was a female who belonged to a German breeder, who lived to 10 years old. 

When studies were done in the past, were the people writing about Emins when they put up a lifespan of 6-8 years? Most of the rats that are on youtube like Matisse and Gambit were, in fact Emins, and lived to 5 and 6 years old. Gambit was with a GPR female with his first owner, and they wondered why they never bred as they thought they were both Gambians, but the female, the GPR died at 3 years old I think. Also, a lot of the herorats look like Emins even thought they say they are all Gambians, so I wonder if some of theirs die earlier than we are led to believe.

Another point is that we have read that Gambians cannot build up their fat, but my Gambians have done. But the Emins remain sleek even when they are pregnant. 

Something to think about!









Wonder if this is where we are going wrong, and thinking we are doing something wrong with these rats when in fact they do die earlier? Gambians are not as active as Emins and are a lot bulkier, so is there something in this too.

Another thing we were led to believe is that they are not sexually mature until they are 5 -7 months old, and yet one of mine had babies at three months old, and another female had babies when she was four months old. Has anyone had any Gambians breed after the age of about 18 months old? 

Justus's (Emins) grandparents did not breed until over two years old, so does this also give us a clue. Are Gambians breeding early and having bigger litters as they are mature earlier, but do not live as long? We need more people to give us facts about their GPRs to find out if any of this is true. 

Ben and Justus are both 2 years old, Ben on 3rd and Justus on 19th November. Justus still looks like a young rat and plays like a young rat, whereas Ben has started to look old, and his sides are sunken in along the base. Is this a sign of ageing as in Fancy rats?

What is the greatest age a Gambian has been recorded as living? And we need to verify that it was a Gambian and not an Emins.


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## Ratatouille (Sep 5, 2008)

So no one is willing to help?:whip:


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## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

i have read and bin told they can live upto 8 years


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## Ratatouille (Sep 5, 2008)

Sarahhampson said:


> i have read and bin told they can live upto 8 years


 This is the whole point of the research, this is what we were all led to believe, but now we are wondering if the research was carried out on Emins and not GPRs. 

I have also started a Facebook page to try to get imformation of owners :notworthy:

Welcome to Facebook


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

:blush: Ok I feel terrible.. but I dont know exactly how old ''Millie rat'' is .. hmmmm.. Coming up for 3 I think.. What a bad Mum I am.. not knowing her date and year of birth  

Tattie/ aka Munchie, she was only 1.5 years when she sadly passed away


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

Sarahhampson said:


> i have read and bin told they can live upto 8 years


 
I have seen lots of bits of information on the web copied and repeated from when certain species were very first kept. 

If something is repeated often enough the reader takes it as red that it is true and it continues to be repeated.

Sometimes it comes out that certain snippets of info may be incorrect - hence, as Marie says, we are looking into whether the 8 years put on Gambians is true.

As more and more have been kept, it seems they are only living to more like 2 - 4 years.

We just want to know whether this is due to something wrong with them in captivity or whether they just don't live for 8 years.


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## Pouchie (Feb 9, 2008)

slimeysnail said:


> :blush: Ok I feel terrible.. but I dont know exactly how old ''Millie rat'' is .. hmmmm.. Coming up for 3 I think.. What a bad Mum I am.. not knowing her date and year of birth
> 
> Tattie/ aka Munchie, she was only 1.5 years when she sadly passed away


thank you for replying :notworthy:


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## Trekky (Feb 4, 2009)

slimeysnail said:


> :blush: Ok I feel terrible.. but I dont know exactly how old ''Millie rat'' is .. hmmmm.. Coming up for 3 I think.. What a bad Mum I am.. not knowing her date and year of birth


Hi Sarah 
I can help you with this info. 
Millie was born on the 8th November 2008 so she is now 2 years old. Hope that helps:2thumb:


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## Ratatouille (Sep 5, 2008)

Thank you Sarah and Lesley. Please could you give us the info on Zee too Lesley, or any others that you know about, we need to hear from as many keepers as possible. :2thumb:


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

:gasp:


Trekky said:


> Hi Sarah
> I can help you with this info.
> Millie was born on the 8th November 2008 so she is now 2 years old. Hope that helps:2thumb:


:gasp: Only two!!! Lol it feels as though she has been with me for so much longer than that !!! Hehe.. Two years of mischief.. lol seems like 5 !! :lol2:

Thankyou very much for that Lesley


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## Ratatouille (Sep 5, 2008)

slimeysnail said:


> :gasp:
> :gasp: Only two!!! Lol it feels as though she has been with me for so much longer than that !!! Hehe.. Two years of mischief.. lol seems like 5 !! :lol2:
> 
> Thankyou very much for that Lesley


This may be the reason that some are thought to be older than they are :bash::lol2:


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