Pouched rats

[Ratatouille]

Has anyone kept the two species of pouched rat together as companions? A Emin boy and a Gambian girl for instance?

[Ratatouille]

Well, I have heard on another forum that it has been done, but I am not going to try it, cause even if I had the boy neutered to prevent any matings, there is still their diet that I believe is different.

[Grumpymouth]

I don't think I'd recommend it...I've been absent so I haven't noticed if Pouchie's gone AWOL, but she's the one to ask! I don't think she's planning on keeping her new Gambians in with her Emins, essentially it's keeping two different species together isn't it?

Pouchie!!!!!! Advice?

[Pouchie]

Sorry guys I sent a pm and forgot to put some info here.

The two have been kept together, socially it makes no odds.

However, I have read that there is a high mortality rate in cross bred litters which of course we do NOT want to let come about anyway.
There is enough confusion with people thinking Emins are Gambians as it is and the two must be kept separate.

That said, Marie was not suggesting breeding the two, she wanted to know about keeping one of each as pets. The answer is yes it should certainly be possible to introduce them but the male would have to be neutered just incase it is possible for them to reproduce (I do not know for a fact they are able to but would presume they can but maybe offspring are not viable).

The problem with neutering is that I do not know anyone who has done this and I have had bad experiences with anaesthetic and pouched rats so personally would not take the risk until more is known.

Finally, loulou made a good point about diet. It may not be a huge problem but when we were chatting we discovered that Gambians take a lot of protein whereas my Emins will not eat chicken/insects etc so the differences in diet would also need to be considered.