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The Multimammate Rat

Latin name:	Due to much discussion over their classification, the Multimammate rat may be seen under several Latin names including Praomy natalensis the most recent and currently correct name as well as Mastomys natalensis and Mus or Rattus natalensis.
Common names:	Similarly it has several common names including Multimammate mouse, Common African rat, Soft-Furred rat, African Soft furred rat and Natal rat.
Life Expectancy:	Between 2-3 years approx
Appearance:	As adults they are around the size of gerbils, with large expressive ears, lovely big black eyes, soft parting fur of medium length, relatively short tails and petite paws. It could be said they look quite a bit like a big domestic mouse but with slightly longer faces.
Habitat and Distribution:	Native to Africa, where it is found in varied habitats excluding deserts and tropical forests. It is often common around human habitations.
Use in captivity:	Its first use was as a laboratory animal and I believe it continues to be used mostly for studies in zoonosis. It is very rarely seen in pet shops and is mainly kept by exotic rodent enthusiasts.
Basic husbandry:	Adult Multimammate rats can be kept in cages with narrow bars or tanks. It is important to note the highly destructive nature of the Multimammate rat, wooden and thin plastic based cages can easily be chewed open. My cage looks like they have tried chewing everything in it, just encase! Multimammate rats are very social and should always be kept in groups, they need a relatively larger cage, over 65cm long. Substrate can be paper based cat litter suitable for small animals, hemp straw, dried grass etc Provide the cage with lots of enrichment etc mine like cardboard boxes and tubes which they chew readily, they also have some commercial houses and tubes too. I clean mine out once a week, which seems adequate. As there isn't a commercially made Multimammate food available I use Burgess supa rat as a base and mix in millet, wild bird seed, dried fruit, corn etc to try and recreate their natural fruit and grain diet. They get fresh fruit and vegetables to supplement this diet. I have also tried mine with live crickets but they completely ignored them. Finally I would like to point out that I personally wouldn't recommend this species for children or people who haven't hand much experience with rodents (To find out more about handling Multimammates please visit the Article page).
Varieties available:	There are few varieties available in comparison to the domestic rat and mouse. However colours that maybe seen include the wild Agouti, Cinnamon, Albino, Champagne and Argente. All of these colours may be variegated with white.
Other points of interest:	The name Multimammate literally means "many breasted" in Latin and that is because the female Multimammate rat has the most nipples of any rodent with 8-12 pairs. Some believe that the Multimammate rat is the connecting link between mice and rats, although intelligence wise it does seem to have a bit more going on then a mouse. Multimammate rats have little or no odour, which makes a pleasant change from many other rodents.

Last updates 29/12/08