Matisse - Gambian Pouched Rat

Matisse is my baby.  I've waited 5 long years for a Gambian......... eagerly awaiting on lists, waiting until I was ready, reading and constantly researching them until finally I had lost all hope.  Suddenly an angel came to me and told me of some babies who were born, and were ready to go.  Well I jumped at the chance, realizing this was possibly my last hope of ever getting one, and now I have him, and I can say he is an absolute dream come true.  He curls up and falls asleep on my lap, or next to me on the bed, he grooms my fingers (including scraping his teeth against my skin.. TRUE grooming only one of my domestic rats ever does, and that's Mel).  He plays wrestles and bounces when he runs!  He's just the sweetest little boy I've ever known, and I"m very happy to have him in my life.

Gambians act a LOT like domestic rats.  They bounce when they're playful and running, they'll hand wrestle, play tug-o-war, they'll groom you and snuggle up to you, and they're EXTREMELY clean and neat-freaks just like the domestic variety.  Matisse is also quite destructive, just like an unwatched domestic rat can be.  So far he's shredded up one cord (unplugged) in the house.

They're called "pouched" because they have cheek pouches just like a hamster.  They're also little chow hounds and grab as much food as possible, dump it in their nesting area, and come back for more!  Matisse loves mango the most, and loves his nutro lite dog food.  He also goes for pineapple, strawberries, avocado, basically anything.  He didn't like pretzels, though (I had a bag out and he snubbed his nose at them, hehe).  Gambians live for about 7 years, and can get to be 5-7 pounds!  Matisse currently weighs only 2 lbs, at 3 months of age.  He apparently is already larger than his older sister, who's about 6-7 months old right now.

UPDATE: 3/4/04:  Matisse has grown a lot.. he's a bit over 3 lbs. and still a cuddly bundle of love!  He regularly falls asleep on my lap, and it's bonding time every day in the afternoon.  He'll groom my hands and fingers, cheeks and lips nonstop, and is just an absolute darling.