Arno Pouchie, The Story

Arno is a very cheeky gambian. He was rescued from a couple that didn’t realise what they had gotten into and were struggling. He had not been handled from birth (which is recommended for a breeder to do) and was absolutely petrified. I had researched gambian pouched rats for years and had decided that once my cage of fancy rats had passed onto the rainbow bridge that I would get a GPR. There were many reasons for me wanting one. Their lifespan being a major factor. Losing fancy rats every 2-3years was breaking my heart too much. I still have fancies but they live with my partner. I happened to stumble upon a listing on Preloved for a GPR. This was back in June of 2015. “Young gambian pouched rat available for good home asap”. My cage was empty and had been deep cleaned. This was my chance to get a pouchie! I messaged the advertiser and asked about him. They told me
he was ready now. I asked my mum if she would drive me to go pick him up. I messaged asking when I could go get him and they told me in a couple of days as they were really busy till then. I used the few days to buy a cage accessories and enrichment for his cage. The day came that I could go get him and we drove to a small town close to Worcester. He was sat
on his own in a tiny carrier waiting for me. I had brought my own carrier (a lot bigger and had a blanket and some food in) I picked him up and put him in the carrier. He was shaking. I
wanted to get him home straight away. We drive back and I spent the entire journey talking to this frightened little baby telling him how everything would be ok now and that I was going to love him till my last breath. I put him in the cage (after I had given him a gentle kiss on his back) and let him settle. He went straight to sleep. The next few days I spent

talking to him when he was awake and trying to think of a name for him. He loves climbing and immediately I thought of one of my favourite games. He then became known as Arno. The couple I got him from said they couldn’t remember when he was born but they thought he was about 4 months old. I decided that because I didn’t know the exact date of his birthday that I would use the day I got him as his birthday instead. We have had our struggles and he still won’t let me pick him up but we are getting there. Arno is very shy and can
be very grumpy first thing when he wakes up. He’s very gentle when taking food and will take from my mouth. He loves having behind his ears scritched and by his bum stroked. He can currently hold 15 monkey nuts in his pouches. He found his voice after he had been with me for a year. Now he doesn’t shut up unless he’s asleep. Arno makes some funny noises and he continues to make my heart melt (even though he’s chewed through my PlayStation power cable twice) but I won’t ever change him.