- Joined
- Aug 17, 2008
- Messages
- 613
We picked up a prairie dog a few weeks back, he was 6 weeks old at the time, is going on 10 weeks old now. Captive bred, his testicles haven't dropped yet either, and CUTE as can be!
Basically I wanted a large rodent pet again. I used to have an emin's pouched rat (the smaller cousin of the gambian pouched rat) and he was by far the greatest pet I ever had, super intelligent, loyal, and craved affection and attention, and VERY easy to train. I've been keeping domestic rats for 15 years now and their short life expectancy lately has really gotten to me (especially after having a large group of siblings all at once pass away from the same genetic problems) so I wanted a pouched rat again. Unfortunately, despite the monkeypox ban being lifted by the FDA last year, the CDC still has the import ban in effect, so I can't bring over some captive bred babies from the UK breeders.
It'll probably be years before I get ahold of a gambian or emin's again, and since my last couple boy rats are realllllly old and on their way out, I figured it was time to move on to something else that was more long lived and super-social.
The day we got our PDawg:
and last night:
His name is Spud, because he smells like au gratin potatoes, lol. He's already very bonded, and follows us around the house making little jump-yahoo noises, wanting to be picked up. He will stretch up with his arms as high as he can trying to get us to pick him up and loves to fall asleep (and does frequently) curled up next to us on the couch. Definitely a love!
/edit- should probably mention that yes, I called my regular exotic animal vet and he's already said yes that he'll be Spud's vet and neuter him come 5 months. He's the same vet who neuters my rats for me, and various exotic rescues see him regularly.
Basically I wanted a large rodent pet again. I used to have an emin's pouched rat (the smaller cousin of the gambian pouched rat) and he was by far the greatest pet I ever had, super intelligent, loyal, and craved affection and attention, and VERY easy to train. I've been keeping domestic rats for 15 years now and their short life expectancy lately has really gotten to me (especially after having a large group of siblings all at once pass away from the same genetic problems) so I wanted a pouched rat again. Unfortunately, despite the monkeypox ban being lifted by the FDA last year, the CDC still has the import ban in effect, so I can't bring over some captive bred babies from the UK breeders.
It'll probably be years before I get ahold of a gambian or emin's again, and since my last couple boy rats are realllllly old and on their way out, I figured it was time to move on to something else that was more long lived and super-social.
The day we got our PDawg:
and last night:
His name is Spud, because he smells like au gratin potatoes, lol. He's already very bonded, and follows us around the house making little jump-yahoo noises, wanting to be picked up. He will stretch up with his arms as high as he can trying to get us to pick him up and loves to fall asleep (and does frequently) curled up next to us on the couch. Definitely a love!
/edit- should probably mention that yes, I called my regular exotic animal vet and he's already said yes that he'll be Spud's vet and neuter him come 5 months. He's the same vet who neuters my rats for me, and various exotic rescues see him regularly.
