African Pouched Rat behaviour

In many ways Pouched Rats' behaviour is similar to domestic rats' but in some significant ways it is very different.

Temperament

As Kali became used to living with us and stopped being frightened, her true personality emerged. She is very wilful and independent. She likes to get her own way and she shows her displeasure through grumbling and displays of aggression which can make her hard to deal with. She's is quite moody. One minute she can be very playful and working hard at enjoying herself and moments later she'll sit in a corner and want to be left alone or she'll sit there and want to be groomed.

Senses

Pouched rats seem to be virtually blind. They find their way about by smell and they find out what's happening around them by hearing. This is no doubt why they have such big ears and noses. Sight doesn't seem to be an important sense to them. Kali doesn't seem to notice when a light goes on and she isn't bothered by camera flashes. She can detect movement but it's hard to tell if she's seeing the movement or hearing it.

Pouched rats' ears are more mobile than the ears of domestic rats and are hardly ever still. They swivel about like radar dishes as they track what's going on around them. They follow sounds even when the rat appears to be asleep. When Kali is deeply asleep her ears twitch very rapidly in a way which reminds me of 'rapid eye movement' in sleeping people. There is very little fur just behind their ears and as the ears move and flick about these bare patches appear like white flashes.

Kali sniffs and smells her way about, especially if she's in a new environment. When I wake her up the first thing that appears is her nose, usually pointing straight upwards and sniffing the air to 'see' what's about. The more nervous or unsure she is the louder the sniffing is.

Nocturnal

Kali spends most of the day asleep and can be very difficult to wake up during the day. If she is disturbed she makes a lot of grumbling noises and is so reluctant to wake up that she can be out of her nest while still half asleep.

She has adjusted to our routine and is usually awake, or wakes up readily, for breakfast at 7:30 and she starts to become active from about 9:00 pm. The later it gets the more active she is. She is most active at around 3:00 am and often makes so much noise then that she wakes us up.

Grooming

Much of her waking time is spent either eating or grooming. A full tip of nose to tip of tail wash can take 15-20 minutes. Kali grooms herself in much the same way as domestic rats but there are differences.

Because of her large ears she is able to grab hold of the tip of an ear and pull it down to her mouth so it can be given a good licking.

She also has pouches to clean and will put a paw into her mouth to clean the insides. She also grabs hold of her pouches and pulls them down like jowls when she's cleaning the rest of her face.

She is very fastidious about cleaning her tail. She starts at the base and licks it all round down the whole length to the tip. She puts tip right inside her mouth and scrapes it with her teeth. None of my domestic rats ever did this.

Moving about

Kali loves to run. She seems to do it just for the sheer fun of it. When she's in an area she knows she'll race round it at full speed, dashing from one corner to the other. She sounds like a whole herd of rats when she doing this. She will often start the run with a little jump. She bounces once about six inches into the air, lands then sets off at full speed.

Strangely when she's exploring or just ambling about, even in an area she knows well, she seems to prefer to climb onto things even though she could easily jump onto them.

Kali pounces on things. If she hears something close to her, such as some food being dropped into her cage, she jumps onto it pinning it down with her front feet.

Playing

Kali plays like a cat. The games are usually quite energetic and involve fighting and biting things.

Her favourite games include; having a towel thrown over her which she wriggles out from under and then she fights the corner of the towel as I dangle it above her, fighting the end of a length of rope, with a bell on, which hangs from a door handle and pouncing on and biting a black furry ball which roll towards her. She'll repeat the games a couple of times then she seem to loose interest for a while before coming back for more.

She also likes to run. She'll race at full speed round the edge of a room, stop, turn round then race back again.

Pouches/eating

Pouched rats use their cheek pouched for carrying food and, occasionally, other items. This allows them to collect much more food on one foraging trip than a domestic rat. Domestic rats will trot back to their houses to store any food they find whereas Pouched rats simple tuck it into their pouches and carry on foraging. Kali can carry huge quantities of food in her pouches. They appear to be very elastic and, when full, they completely change the shape of her face. She can carry two whole walnuts - one in each pouch and still have room for a couple of monkey nuts in her mouth.

Kali usually keeps a few small food items in the pouches at all times - so she's never without a snack.

Potty training

Kali told me that she wanted a potty by constantly pooing in her water bowl. I got her a medium sized 'non-splash' pet bowl (imaging a bowl with a lid which has a hole in the middle) half filled it with water and she used it straightaway. I really didn't have to training her. I had to find a way of securing it in her house because she kept up-ending it and there was one occasion where she gnawed a hole in the bottom or the potty but generally its been a huge success. It makes keeping her house clean very easy.

She also uses the potty when she's out playing. I make sure its always in the same place so she knows where to find it and she uses it every time.

She's not nearly so good with where she wees. She only occasionally uses her potty for this. She likes to regularly taste her wee. This sounds disgusting but many animals do this and I've read that its to monitor their own health.

Vocalisation

Kali talks a lot. She hardly made a sound for the first couple of months we had her but as her confidence has grown she's become very vocal. She makes sounds like Gizmo from the Gremlins movie. She has quite a range of squeaks, chirrups and clicks and she is able to communicate her feeling quite well.

She is most vocal when she's disturbed. She makes a low level grumbling sound when there's some background noise, such as the TV, which is disturbing her. When she's suddenly woken up by a loud noise or because her cage has been opened she makes a scolding noise which can go on for several minutes. She also makes this noise if her breakfast is late.

She shows her displeasure at being picked up by making a rapid clicking/tutting sound but only when I'm trying to pick her up. As soon as I'm holding her she goes quiet again.

She also make delighted squeaking noises. These usually happen when I drop seeds or other treats into her cage and she forages about for them. Every time she finds one she lets out a squeak of pleasure and triumph.