Muskrats?

[Tleilaxu]

Anyone keep muskrats or have had then in the past? What are they like and what did you feed them?

 

[RoachGirlRen]

I wouldn't really suggest them as pets unless you have the money for quite an impressive enclosure... they are 4-5x the size of a Norway rat and demand a large water area + a land area large enough to burrow in. They are clever and would demand a great deal of behavioral enrichment to mimic their natural behaviors or would become neurotic and miserable. Plus, they live in complex family groups in the wild, and males become seasonally territorial to the point of killing one another. Really not a species very well suited for captivity.
Also, because they are native wildlife, it is almost definately illegal to keep one without the proper licensure; they are considered a fur-bearing game animal and can only be collected during the appropriate season. And "collected" implies culled, not taken into captivity as a pet. The majority of game animals are prohibited for pet ownership without DEC licensure and are basically considered property of the state.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Besides all the good reasons she just gave, they are also always doing the jitterbug, nibbling on bacon, and chewing on cheese. It's cute at first, but gets old in a hurry.

 

[atropos]

In the Netherlands we do our best to kill them all, it's an invasive species overhere which causes a lot of damage.

But why not Nutria's, even better looking.

 

[froggyman]

in the south my dad's family eats them they are tasty!

 

[OTwolfe]

I know they can give quite a nasty bite, like to chew on everything and require an extensive habitat. I would think twice about having one. Among many of my relatives they are considered quite tasty though.

 

[harveythefly]

In the Netherlands we do our best to kill them all, it's an invasive species overhere which causes a lot of damage.

But why not Nutria's, even better looking.

Nutria's make unbelievably good pets...no joke...i live in southern louisiana and we have millions of nutria here (8 million was the last census)...and i've known many many people who've gotten them as babies...they tame down like dogs

this one guy who i work with had one that used to follow him around and scratch at his legs because it wanted to be picked up and held...it just lived in his house like a house cat and used a litter pan...saddly she died in Katrina or she'd still be going strong

Harvey