Anyone else watch the Amazing Race the other night?

[Shelby]

Holy smokes I want some of those rats they had on there.. they'd keep Harry my burm happy just as well as any rabbit.

For those that didn't see.. they were in Mozambique, and there were these trained mine sniffer rats.. and they were HUGE. Seemed 2-3x bigger than a normal domestic rat. They were really cute too.. their faces looked like kangaroo faces to me.

Wonder if you could get the species.. I don't even know what they were really.

[SatanicIntention]

Gambian Pouched rats? I know I sure wouldn't want one.. mean boogers and very territorial. Even if they are cute

[wildlifewarrior]

interesting idea, they just train an animal that is basically replaceable, since their reproductive rate is so high, whats the big deal if they lose one or 5 or 20, there'll be more.


~mike

[Flagg]

Unfortunately Gambian pouched rats are illegal to own, sell or import in the United States due to the monkeypox scare from several years back.

[Shelby]

The ones on the show seemed very docile.

Oh well, they're cool anyway.

[Flagg]

Actually, if you read the CDC and FDA rulings on the subject, there is a general ban on ALL rodents native to Africa.

I'm still wondering if African Soft Furred rats are even legal to own or sell. It's not that clear if you read the CDC paperwork.