MAMMALIA

OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY,

DOMESTICATION AND REPRODUCTIVE
PERFORMANCE OF THE AFRICAN GIANT RAT
CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS WATERHOUSE IN NIGERIA

by
S. S. AJAYI

Le rat ge*ant Cricetomys gambianus est un rongeur gibier couramment consomme^

au Nigeria. Ce travail fait otat des phases proliminaires du programme de domesti-
cation et d'olevage de ce rat qui est apprivoisable, facile ä nourrir et dont les carcasses
peuvent ßtre vendues sur le marche* au double de leur prix de revient. Des e"tudes
ultdrieures permettront probablement d'accroltre la production et de roduire le prix
d'entretien de ces rats.
Les males et les femelles atteignent la maturito sexuelle 4 Tage d'environ 5 mois.
Les femelles ont un cycle oestral de 5 ä 6 jours et en captivite elles se reproduisent toute
1'annoe, sans pic saisonnier. La dur£e de gestation est de 25 ä. 36 jours. La proportion
des sexes, etablie sur 84 jeunes de 27 porters, est de 1,2 M : l F. II y a 1 ä 5 petits par
portoe, les porte"es de 4 otant les plus fre'quentes. On constate une forte conflation
positive entre les poids moyens et la longueur ä la naissance et les poids et longueurs
au sevrage, ce qui permet de penser que la premiere phase de croissance est influencoe
par la taille a la naissance. Le plus grand nombre de portoes d'une mßme femelle a
^.to de 5 port^es en 9 mois.

INTRODUCTION

In Nigeria, wildlife is an important food item especially to the

people in rural areas. It accounts for about 20% of the mean annual
consumption of animal protein (Holsworth, 1970 ; Ajayi, 1972). In
recent years it has been evident that because of high population pres-
sure, meat production from domestic livestock is not sufficient to meet
demands. Consequently, wildlife is depleted in most places. In 1970,
the F.A.O. Indicative World Plan for Agricultural Production stated
that livestock production in developing countries has been increasing
at between 1.5-2% per annum while demand is expected to grow at
between 4 and 5%. The future demand for animal protein was forecast
from the present trend of population growth.

Mammalia, t. 39, n° 3, 1975.

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One way of increasing animal protein in Nigeria is by domesticating

some fast-breeding wild animals that would have a wide social accep-
tance as a source of meat. Domestication of wild animals is a field
of wildlife utilization which has received very little attention despite
the fact that it might provide a solution to the problem of protein
deficiency.
The results given in the present account of the preliminary phases
of a programme of research on the domestication of a wild rodent
species, Cricetomys gambianus, are only tentative in nature and are of
value only in relation to the future development of this and similar
projects.
This rodent is commonly eaten in Nigeria and could be domesti-
cated. It is omnivorous, and eats a very large variety of food items
including insects and molluscs. It starts breeding at about six months.
The giant rats, otherwise known as rabbit, bush rat or pouched rats
because of the pouch-like jaws in which they store food, may repro-
duce 5-6 times a year with a litter of 1-5.
Males have an average weight of about 1.5 kg while females weigh
up to 1 kg. There is an evidence that several generations of this animal
have been raised in captivity by households in southern Nigeria. It is
not easy to come by smoked rats as cooked specimens fetch a high
price in the markets.
Reproductive performance is an important criterion in assessing
the productivity of mammals (Talbot, Payne, Ledger, Vadcourt and
Talbot, 1965 ; Moule, 1968; and Sadleir, 1969). Aspects of reproduction
which are normally studied in the assessment of reproductive per-
formance include age at sexual maturity, oestrus cycle, and gestation
period, all of which increase with the size of the species (Talbot et α/.,
1965). Rosevear (1969) found the information relating to the details of
breeding performance of wild rats and mice in West Africa to be
scanty, but nevertheless, in general, he described these rodents as very
prolific, breeding at about 2-3 months of age, with a gestation period
of about three weeks, with females bearing on the average, six litters
a year. On the other hand, small ungulates such as dikdik Madoqua
spp., duiker Cephalophus spp., and steinbok Raphiceros campestris, in
East Africa become sexually mature at about six months of age while
females produce their first young at about one year old, thereafter
reproducing about twice a year (Kellas, 1954 ; Dasmann and Mossman
19626 ; Chalmers 1963). Larger mammals such as warthog Phacochoerus
aethiopicus, impala Aepyceros melampus, wildebeest Connochaeies
taurinus, and waterbuck Kobus spp. become sexually nature at about
one year, produce their first progeny at about two years, thereafter
producing one young per year (Dasmann and Mossman, 1962α ; Talbot
and Talbot, 1963). Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis produces its first

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 345

young at about three years (Dasmann and Mossman, 1962c), rhinoceros

Rhinoceros bicornis at over six years (Bourliere, 1955), while elephants
reach sexual maturity at ten to twelve years with a gestation period of
about two years and a ealving interval of three to four years (Buss and
Brooks, 1963). This trend, from the point of view of reproduction,
indicates that turnover rate of mammals decreases with the increasing
size of the species. Since the domestication of the giant rat is being
undertaken at University of Ibadan in southern Nigeria, which is
aimed at meat production, it is considered pertinent that similar
information on reproductive parameters should be obtained that would
enable an assessment of its potential as a producer of meat. However,
as far as is known such detailed information as is envisaged for this
domestication programme does not exist. Rosevear (1969) who esti-
mated the gestation period of giant rat to be 42 deys seemed to be the
only reference on this subject. This study therefore examines the
reproductive performance of the giant rat and related it to some small
laboratory mammals.

BIOLOGY AND DOMESTICATION

DISTRIBUTION IN NATURE OF C. gambianus

In Western Nigeria, giant rats are found in degraded forests, forest

clearings, forest margines, riverine areas and occasionally near human
habitations where they live in pits or large holes under garages, piles
of stones or bricks and in food stores. In uncultivated areas, the
burrows are often found near the root systems of large trees, especially
the oil palm trees, and dead tree stumps. They also favour termite
mounds probably because these remain dry and cool during the rainy
season. The distribution of the 45 giant rat burrows which were
excavated at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture farm-
land, Ibadan, is shown on Table 1.

FOOD HABITS

Food remains in the excavated burrows on an abandoned farmland

south east of the University of Ibadan farm showed that in the wild,
the rodent feeds mainly on the following crops : Cassava (Manihot
utilissima Pohl.), white yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.), Chinese yam
(Dioscorea esculenta Lour.), water yam (Dioscorea alata (Bourkill.)
Linn.), sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas (Linn) Lam.). They also feed

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TABLE 1. — Distribution of burrows of giant rats on an abandoned farmland

at the International Institute of Agriculture, Ibadan (Nigeria)

Foot of Foot of Foot of On Other

Termite Other palm other dead Level areas
Site of burrows mounds mounds trees live trees ground
trees

No. of burrows 15

% of total
number of 33,3 13.3 14.4 13.3 4.4 13.3 11.7
burrows (n = 45)

on maize (Zea mays Linn.), groundnuts (Arachis hypogea), pawpaw

(Carica papaya Linn), banana (Musa spp.), cow peas (Vigna ungui-
culata (Linn). Walp.). However, they favour mainly palm fruits and
palm kernels (Elaeis guineensis Benth.) the remains of which are
always found in their sleeping chambers and are therefore indicative
of the giant rat burrows. Stomach content analysis also showed that
apart from the above food items, the giant rats eat insects, crabs and
snails such as Limicolaria and Lanistes spp. Giant rats are completely
omnivorous and therefore it has not been possible to make a complete
list of their food.

DESIGN OF CAGES FOR RAISING RATS IN CAPTIVITY

The giant rats are vicious burrowing animals. They prefer cool dry
places to locate their burrows as they are very sensitive to heat. The
facts as well as those obtained from the study of the dimensions of
45 giant rat burrows from an abandoned farmland at the Inter-
national Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, have been used to
design cages for rats. So far, three kinds of cages have been designed
to house rats at different stages of their development: (1) The "rehabili-
tation" cage which housed rats temporarily for two weeks when they
were newly trapped ; (2) The breeding cage in which rats were paired
for breeding purposes ; and (3) The nutrition cage which were designed
to house rats that were under observations for digestibility of various
foodstuffs and their growth rates.
All cages had in common a lighted playroom and a dark nesting
box in order to satisfy the nocturnal behaviour of the rats. Daily

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 347

cleaning was possible by an underlying removable aluminium metal

sheet. Nest boxes were made of plywood (10 mm thick) which were
thick enough to prevent the rats bitting through. Playwooms were
made of welded wesh 5 cm mesh, and 0.31 cm thick to prevent rats
from escaping and bound outside by chicken wire 1.25 cm mesh to
prevent snakes from entering the cages. Cobras (Naja spp.) are the
main predators of the African giant rats.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

The African giant rats are clean animals. They deposit their faeces
at one corner of the nesting box while food is stored at the other. Daily
cleaning is very important to keep the rats healthy. Experience has
shown that where cages were not cleaned regularly, rats showed lack
of vitality, and later refused to eat. If they fail to bite their ways
through the cage, they die in about one week.
Daily cleaning is done by washing with soap, the removable
aluminium sheet on the floors of the playrooms and nest boxes which
are used to collect urine and faeces.
Food and water are placed in plastic and aluminium containers
respectively in the playrooms. During the day, rats feed by collecting
food from the playrooms, and storing it temporarily in their pouched
jaws and then depositing it at one corner of the nesting box where it is
gradually eaten. The pouched jaws are capable of holding an average
of five fruits of the oil palm, each fruit being about 10 cc in volume.
The breeding colony of rats is fed on balanced commercial rabbit
pellets, supplemented daily with fruits and kernels of the oil palm
(one of their most favoured food item in nature), leaves of Centrocema
pubiscens and weekly pawpaw to provide rats with minerals and
vitamins.
In nature, rats prefer cool, dry and dark places to hide during the
day, and their burrows provide these requirements. However, in
captivity rats where kept in wooden cages at ambiant temperature and
during the hot, dry months November 1972 to March 1973, nine rats
(six males, three females) died. Temperatures during this period ranged
between 33 °C-41 °C. It is clear that cooler environments must be
provided for the animals during the dry season. Later investigations
must therefore be directed to finding the right temperature, relative
humidity and light intensity at which the giant rats can be raised
successfully in captivity. Wild giant rats are vicious animals, but when
they are handled from birth, usually before their eyes opened, and up
to maturity, they become accustomed to humans and are easily tamed.

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The only bites sustained so far from rats were those which were cap-
tured from the wild. Laboratory-bred rats are not vicious.
Rats are usually paired one male to one female in the breeding
cages. They were kept together until the females showed obvious signs
of pregnancy. If males were present with females during delivery, the
young were usually killed and eaten by the male.
Nursing mothers are fed on commercial poultry ration with 24%
protein level to ensure that they produce a lot of milk for their young.
When rats are weaned at about 26-28 days they were separated from
their mother and placed on solid diets.

BEHAVIOUR

In Ghana, Ewer (1967) studied the behaviour of C. gambianus in

captivity while Majer (1973) investigated the daily activity patterns
of C. emini (the true forest zone species of the giant rats) in the wild.
Both authors have recorded a bimodal nocturnal activity pattern for
both sexes. Both species also have a diurnal synchrony of activities.
The present studies however concerns those aspects of behaviour which
might be important to the productivity of C. gambianus as a domestic
animal :

1. Cannibalism among captive rats.

Several cases of cannibalism which has been witnessed among rats
in captivity can be summarized as follows :
(a) Hostility of father to its own young. When male and female rats
were kept together in a breeding cage, and female allowed to deliver its
young in the presence of the male, the male became hostile and usually
killed and ate some of them. This phenomenon has been observed on
three occasions among the breeding colony.
(b) Cannibalism among rats of the same litter. A litter of four rats
was placed in a cage (43 cm long, 30 cm wide and 38 cm high) for three
months, after which one died. The viscera of the dead rat was eaten by
others.
(c) Cannibalism among mother and its young. A female and its litter
of four young (its second litter) were placed in a breeding cage (with
a resting box 42.5 χ 37.5 χ 35 cm) for 42 days after birth i.e. 14 days
after the weaning period. The mother was observed eating off the tail
of one of its young, starting from the tip to the anus. The mother did
not show any aggressive behaviour, and was rubbing the back of the
young while knawing its tail. The same female ate all the three young

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in its third litter. Its fourth litter of four is now being nursed by the
mother to date without ill effects.

2. Raising of young by foster mother.

A rat died one week after it delivered its second litter of five (the
highest number so far recorded in captivity). During this period,
another female was nursing its twins thus offering a possibility of foster
care for the motherless litter young rats. The female was thus trans-
ferred during the day to the foster youngs and returned to its own
twins at night. Both litters were successfully raised to weaning age with
considerable care from the mother — a phenomenon which could be
an advantage in domestication.

PARASITES

1. Ectoparasites.
Hemimerus talpoides Walter (Insecta : Dermaptera) are always
associated with newly trapped animals. Ashford (1970) believes that
although they are termed parasites, they do not harm the host. The
Hemimerus spent little of their time feeding, and when they do so, they
chew pieces of dry skin, but never disturbed the living skin. Most of
the food was taken from the eyes, ears and mouth of the rat and a
little from the anus. Liquid was taken from the corners of the eyes, by
the insect standing on any part of the face. When feeding in the ears,
they would enter deep into the tube so that they were half hidden, and
they commonly remained in this position for approximately 30 seconds.
Similarly when feeding in the rat's mouth, the insects entered beneath
the upper lip from below and remained half hidden for approximately
30 seconds. Hemimerus is believed to be specific to Cricetomys, as an
attempt to infect other rodents proved unsuccessful (Ashford, 1970).

2. Disease and veterinary problems of domestication.

Dead rats from the breeding colony were taken for post mortem
examination at the Department of Veterinary Pathology, University
of Ibadan. Disease and management problems associated with captive
rats are heavy taeniasis (infection by tapeworms) and strongyloidiasis
(infection by roundworms). During the dry season October 1972-April
1973, two rats died of cystolithiasis i.e. stone in the bladder which
blocked the urethra. This suggested that the rats probably did not
have enough water to drink during this hot, dry period. Another rat
died of inflammation of the peritoneum secondary to infection of the

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uterus i.e. peritonitis secondary to metritis. Small skin ulcers in back,

tail, and limbs were found on two rats. About 50% of mortality during
the last dry season was due to heat prostration which led to acute
pulmonary congestion and oedema. These rats died at temperatures
about 32 °C. One young rat had extensive sub-cutaneous and internal
haemorhages suggesting it might have died of vitamin C deficiency.
Two young rats which immediately after weaning were introduced to
commercial poultry ration with high level of grain constituent died
after two days with abdominal distension due to accumulation of gas
and ingesta in caecum with acute pulmonary congestion. Since there
were no other pathological abnormalities on these young rats, it was
suggested that death might be due over-feeding and constipation on
the new diet.

CARCASS ANALYSIS

The carcass weights i.e. live weights less skin, head, tail, feet and
the viscera had a range of 49.4-58.4% for males (n = 4) and 50-56.07%
for females (n = 2). When a sharp knife was used to scrape off all the
meat that was available from the carcass, the edible meat less bones
was 44.8% of the live weight for males (n = 4) and 35% for females
(n = 2).

REPRODUCTION

AGE AT SEXUAL MATURITY

Females.
The age at sexual maturity or puberty of mammals was defined as
the age when the first oestrus cycle commenced (Best and Taylor, 1966),
and this has also been taken as the period of puberty in the giant rat.
In order to determine the age of puberty in the giant rat, four females
Wl, W2, W3 and W4 were examined for vaginal canalization (Best and
Taylor, 1966) and oestrus from the age of ten weeks upwards. Daily
observations were made, first by inserting a glass rod in the vaginae of
rats until canalization was ensured. As soon as there was complete
canalization, epithelium and vagina smears were taken daily and
stained in Giesma stain according to Shorr's (1941) method in order to
differentiate cells by their shape and colour. The attainment of puberty
and hence commencement of oestrus cycle was taken as when epithelial

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cells with their rounded, deep outline and purplish-pink cytoplasm (in
Giesma stain) underwent cornification (Best and Taylor, 1966). This is
because these changes in cell structure coincided with oestrus in
mammals (Best and Taylor, 1966 ; Shorr, 1941 ; Moule, 1968 ; Kirk-
patrick and Valentine, 1970 ; Allen, 1922).

Males.
Attainment of puberty in males was taken to begin when sperma-
togonesis was observed (Best and Taylor, 1966 ; Foote, 1969 ; Moule,
1968). This is usually determined by the histological sections of the
testis for the presence of spermatozoa (Moule, 1968 ; Foote, 1969 ;
Kirkpatrick and Valentine, 1970). However, in order to do this, it
would be necessary to slaughter several rats starting from the time
when the testicular growth began as indicated by the appearance of
the scrotum, until the testis are fully grown. This would then give
series of sections representing different ages of rats and hence stages of
testicular development from which it would be possible to pinpoint
the age when spermatogenesis began. However, because of the limita-
tion imposed by space in the domestication house, the number of rats
required for this experiment were not available, and hence, sexual
maturity was determined merely by the age when the final testicular
length was attained (Foote, 1969).

OESTRUS CYCLE

Two female rats W5, W6 were used to investigate the oestrus cycle.
\V5 was a virgin which had just been removed from the nutrition
experiments in the experimental feeding cage after it had attained
mature weight and sexual maturity. W6 had delivered its first litter
six weeks before the experiment began. The method used in determin-
ing the oestrus cycle was that described above for the determination
of first oestrus at sexual maturity. Vagina epithelium and smears were
differentiated into dioestrus, pro-oestrus, oestrus and metoestrus on
the basis of their shape, and colour with Giesma stains (Best and
Taylor, 1966).

GESTATION PERIOD

The method used to determine the gestation period of the giant rats
was by restricting their mating periods and recording the date of
parturition (Kirkpatrick and Valentine, 1970). Three females W7, W8

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and W9 were used in this experiment. W7 was trapped as a sub-adult

weighing 450 grams i.e. about f of the adult weight (Rosevear, 1969).
It was then reared to adult weight and mated with an adult rat which
was trapped in the wild. The same male was maintained throughout
the period of observation. W8 was born in captivity and was a virgin
before the experiment began. W9 wras trapped from the wild as an
adult. It first delivered twins in captivity, but observations on gesta-
tion periods were made on subsequent litters.

BlRTH AND WEANING RECORDS

The following birth records were kept in the animal house between
August, 1972 and March 1974. Dates of birth in order to find out if
breeding was seasonal or not, litter size, sex ratio for each litter, indi-
vidual birth weights and average weight of each litter to the nearest
one gram, standard length i.e. snout to anus, and the total lengthi .e.
from the anus to the tip of the tail. Weight measurements of young
rats whose eyes were not yet opened and which were not yet very
active were made by placing them directly on a flat-topped balance
which read to the nearest gram. Older rats were placed in a cloth bag
whose mouth was tightened with a rope before weighing. Length
measurements were made by stretching a thread to follow the curves
of the dorsal side of the body, and later determining the length on a rule
scaled in centimetres. Weight and length measurements of rats were
also determined when they were weaned.
U.F.A.W. (1972) have found that there was a marked effect of litter
size on birth weights, and also of birth weights on weaning weights of
rabbits. They found an inverse relationship between litter size and
individual birth weights. Larger birth weights were also found to give
rise to heavier weaning weights and vice versa. In order to find out
whether or not a similar relationship occurred among the giant rats,
statistical analysis was carried out for the correlation coefficients of
birth size and weaning size. Also the average birth weight for each
litter was compared with the subsequent litters e.g. Litter size 1 & 2,
1 & 3, 1 & 4, 1 & 5, 2 & 3, 2 & 4, 2 & 5 and so on, and the significance
of their differences determined statistically.

BlRTH RECORDS AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT

The giant rats are born naked, pink and blind. Hairs start to cover
the body at about five days and remain sparse for about 14 days. At
about 5 days, the black and white parts of the tail become well defined.

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Both lower and upper teeth errupt simultaneously at about seven days.
Eyes are opened at 20-23 days and then start to eat solid food (usually
pawpaw and fruits of the oil palm) at 26-28 days. Sex ratio at birth
(35 individus) was 1 male : 1.83 females thus showing a propensity of
females. Births were recorded every month from June to December
1972 thus showing that in captivity the giant rats may reproduce in
both dry and rainy seasons. One female which produced its first litter
in September 1972 has produced four litters with 14 young from
September 1972 to April 1973. It is thus possible that before Septem-
ber, 1973, it would produce a total of six litters with a total of 20 young.
Table 2 shows weights and dimensions of rats at birth.

TABLE 2. — Birth weight and dimensions of the African giant rats born in captivity

Date of Litter Α Ό, Wt. Range Average Range of Av. total Range of

births size at birth of wt. standard standard length of total
(9) (g) length length nose to length of
nose to nose to end of nose to
anus anus tail end of
tail
(cm) (cm) (cm) (cm)
18-08-72 3 26.7 26.5-27.0 7.7 11.1 11.0-11.3
3-09-72 3 23.3 21.7-25.2 8.3 8.0-8.5 11.7 11.2-12.0
20-09-72 2 35.0 33.7-36.4 10.0 — 13.5 13.4-13.7
1-10-72 4 25.6 23.9-27 9.7 9.5-10.0 14.1 13.5-14.8
3-10-72 2 25.3 24.5-26 9.6 8.9-10.4 13.1 12.4-13.8
13-10-72 2 25.6 23.7-27.5 9.1 8.7-9.5 12.9 12.3-13.6
23-10-72 3 27.8 27-28.5
24-11-72 4 25.4 21.5-27.5 9.1 8.8-9.3 12.3 —
12.0-12.7
16-12-72 3 26.5 22.5-28.0 8.6 8.5-8.7 11.4 11.0-11.7
one died
imme-
diately
24-12-72 5 26.2 20-32 9.7 9.5-10.0 12.9 12.6-13.5
27-12-72 2 29.0 28-30 9.3 8.8-9.7 12.2 11.5-12.9

GROWTH RATE AND COST OF FEEDING

The growth rate of an animal is an important factor of its produc-

tivity, and in a domestication programme such as this, it provides an
indication of the time when it is economical to crop it. The growth rate
of the giant rats therefore form an important part of this study. So far,
results are available for three female and three male rats placed on
commercial rabbit pellets. These commercial pellets contain groundnut
cake, fish meal, brewers grains, dried brewer's yeast, bone meal, oyster
shell ,wheat flour, trace minerals, vitamins, and salt. The protein level
is 17%, fibre 9%, and fat 3.5%.

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Three female rats of the same litter were fed from weaning to
mature weight on commercial rabbit pellet. Feeding was communal
and ad-lib. Their growth rates were measured weekly to the nearest
0.1 g using a flat top balance. Weighing was done at about 10.00 hrs
before feeding to avoid an exaggeration of results which might be due
to food intake. Record of the weight of food consumed was kept daily
for the male rats so that the cost of feeding rats to physical maturity
might be computed. Figure 1 show the average growth rate of the three
female rats. Record of the weight of food consumed was not kept for
these rats due to lack of facilities earlier in this study.
Three male rats belonging to different litters were placed on
commercial rabbit pellets and their average growth rate and weight of
food consumed during this period are shown on Table 3, Figure 2.
Although these results are statistically too few to allow a confirma-
tion of their growth rate on this particular diet, nevertheless, the
present finding provide an indication that under the condition of the
study, the giant rats, both males and females reach physical maturity
at about 5-6 months i.e. the age at which it might be economical to
crop them. The table also shows that the giant rats consumed about
5 kg of rabbit pellets to attain a growth of about 1 kg. The local price
for this weight of rabbit pellets is # 0.5 and the market price for this
relatively medium size giant rat as shown by respondants to ques-
tionnaires is about One Naira (Nl = $0.58 U.S.). It must be pointed
out however, that giant rats can be raised more cheaply than this if
local foodstuffs are substituted for commercial rabbit pellets. For
example, if farmers were to bread the giant rats they could feed them
on certain tubers, fruits of oil palms, and certain cereals which cost very
little. Future studies would therefore include breeding rats on local
foodstuffs which are cheap and nutritious. It is emphasized that the
above figures are not presented as a justification of this study which is
still in the experimental stage.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

RESULTS

1. — Table 4 shows the results of the experiments on the age at

sexual maturity of female giant rats. There was no significant difference
at 5 % probability level between the time of commencement of oestrus
cycle and vaginal canalization. Also, the age of males when testicular
growth was observed to be complete by their external appearance was
on the average, about 20 weeks. Male rats which were paired with

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1200
1100
1000
900
800
§,700
S 600
£ 500
400
300
200
100
Ο 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Age in Weeks

Fig. 1. — Growth rate of female C. gambianus when they were fed on commercial
rabbit pellets (n = 3).

1100-
1000-
900-
800 -

I 700 "
2 60
.?
|500-
400-
300-
200-
100
0
8 10 12 U 16 18 20 22 24
Age in Weeks

Fig. 2. — Growth rate of male C. gambianus when they were fed on commercial
rabbit pellets (n = 3).

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356 MAMMALIA

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 357

virgin females of about 20 weeks of age delivered at 6, 11 and 15 weeks

respectively, thus suggesting that spermatogenesis in the male of the
first pair might have taken place when it was paired.
2. — The results of the experiment on oestrus cycle are summarized
on table 5. Giant rats exhibit an oestrus cycle of about 5-6 days.
Table 6 shows the gestation periods in three rats used in the experi-
ment. W7 had five litters before it escaped from its cage. The range of
gestation period was 27-36 days. The rather wide range was however
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male and therefore gave a more precise gestation period of 31 days.
During the period of study, W9 had only one delivery of a litter size of

TABLE 5. — Determination of oestrus cycle in the African giant rat

Day Rats

W5 W6
1 Oestrus* Metoestrus
2 Dioestrus Dioestrus
3 Metoestrus Oestrus*
4 Dioestrus Metoestrus
5 Dioestrus* Dioestrus
6 Metoestrus Dioestrus
7 Proestrus Dioestrus/Proestrus*
8 Proestrus Dioestrus/Proestrus
9 Dioestrus/Oestrus* Dioestrus
10 Metoestrus Dioestrus
* Oestrus days.

TABLE 6. — Gestation periods in the African giant rats

No. of No. of Litter Dates of Date of Range of

rats births size pairing delivery gestation
with a male period (days)

W7 1 3 — 3/ 9/72 —
2 4 22-5/10/72 24/11/72 29-33
3 3 2-5/ 2/73 6/ 3/73 27-32
4 4 6-8/ 3/73 ll/ 4/73 34-36
5 4 15-17/ 7/73 18/ 8/73 31-33
WS 1 2 25-26/11/72 27/12/72 31-32
2 3 15/ 5/73 15/ 6/73 31
3 4 16/ 7/73 17/ 8/73 31

W9 1 5 22-24/11/72 24/12/73 30-32

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 359

TABLE 8. — Correlation coefficients of birth

and weaning measurements of giant rats

Birth and weaning weights 0.86

Birth and weaning body lengths 0.83
Birth and weaning total lengths 0.95
Weight gain and body length (0) 0.39
Weight gain and total length (b) 0.06
Increase in body and total length (c) 0.78
(a) Adjusted for total length.
(b) Adjusted for body length.
(c) Adjusted for weight.

five, the largest litter size so far recorded in captivity- The gestation
range was 30-32 days. W9 died of metritis (inflamation of the uterus)
when its five young were seven days old and the later had to be raised
by foster mother.
Thus except for W7 which was paired for a long period, the gesta-
tion range of the giant rats is about 30-32 days.
Table 7 summarizes the average birth and weaning weights and
lengths and the differences between the birth and weaning size. Table 8
presents the results of the correlation between birth and weaning
weights and lengths. There was a strong positive correlation between
the average weights and lengths at birth and the weaning weights and
lengths. Large birth size therefore gave rise to large weaning size and
vice versa. This suggested that the early development of rats were
influenced by their birth size. Tables 9 and 10 present a summary of
analysis of the relationship between litter size and birth weights and
lengths. When the average weights of the litter sizes 1-5 were compared
serially, only the difference between litter size 2 and 3, 2 and 4 were
significant at 5% probability level. Thus, from the results so far
obtained, a general conclusion cannot be drawn that birth size is
correlated negatively with litter size. Table 11 compare the reproduc-
tive performance of some small laboratory mammals with that of the
giant rat.

DISCUSSION

On the basis of the preliminary observation reported here, future

studies on the biology and domestication of the giant rats should
include the ecology and population dynamics of the species since the
findings from these may throw light on animal husbandry techniques.
More analysis of the carcass composition of rats should also be done,
and the results compared with domestic rabbits or guinea-pigs which is
bred under similar conditions.

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 361

TABLE 10. — A summary of statistical analysis of relationship

between litter size and birth weights and lengths

Difference Weight Body length Total length Df Tabulated t

between t t t at 5%
litter size

1 and 2 1.28 1.39 2.38* 8 2.21

1 and 3 0.88 0.99 0.97 8 2.31
1 and 4 1.27 0.68 0.25 12 2.18
1 and 5 0.54 0.71 0.77 4 2.78
2 and 3 2.35* 1.89 2.98* 10 2.23
2 and 4 3.36* 2.41* 1.94 14 2.15
2 and 5 1.45 1.47 2.24 6 2.45
3 and 4 0.02 1.15 1.39 14 2.15
3 and 5 0.01 0.19 0.06 6 2.45
4 and δ 0.02 0.64 0.97 10 2.23
* Statistically significant difference Ρ < 0.05).

TABLE 11. — A comparison of reproductives performance of the giant rat and

some small laboratory mammals

Mouse Albino rat Guinea African Domestic

Species Mus Rattus pig giant rat rabbit
musculus norvegicus Cavia spp. C. gambianus O. cuniculus

References Rowsell Rowsell Rowsell U.F.A.W.

(1968) (1968) (1968) (1972)
Crandall Rowsell
(1964) (1968)
Ave. adult wt. ; 25-40 250-3000 850-900 692122 1302-2732
male (gm)
Female breeding 7-8* 28 12-20 20-24 24-36
age (weeks)
Oestrus cycle 4-5 5 Question- Polyoestrus,
(days) able induced
ovulation
Gestation range 17-21 20-22 57-67 27-36 30-35
(days)
Weaning age 16-21 21 10 26 42-56
(days)
Litter size 1-23 8-12 1-6 1-5 2-10
Birth wt. U 5-6 100 14-36 30-70

Life span 2-3 4-4 i 6-7

(years) McCayetal Rosevear U.F.A.W.
(1939) (1969) (1972)

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362 MAMMALIA

Since nutrition and growth rates are such important aspects of

any domestication programme, it is intended in future studies to place
emphasis on the following areas : digestibility of various foodstuffs,
food and protein conversion efficiency, growth rates on different combi-
natione of local foodstuffs which are cheap and nutrious, and growth rates
of offsprings in relation to parents. Cost of feeding would be compared
with other small domestic animals.
The foregoing account of the reproduction of the giant rat has
shown that this rodent bred successfully in captivity. When compared
with some laboratory mammals of varying sizes, its reproductive
performance was found to be within the range which would normally
be expected of a mammal of its size. Thus, it confirms the assertion of
Talbot et al. (1965) that certain criteria used in the assessment of
reproductive performance such as age at sexual maturity, oestrus
cycle, and gestation period all increase with the size of the species.
So far, the highest number of litters observed per femals was five
in nine months (table 6). It is thus possible that a female can reproduce
six times in one year. With an average litter size of four (table 9), a
female can therefore be expected to produce about 24 young per year.
Apart from cannibalism, a phenomenon which did not appear to
follow any fixed pattern, juvenile mortality of giant rats were found
to be negligible.
The fact that giant rats reproduced throughout the year and did not
show any seasonal peak in breeding, with a relatively short oestrus
cycle of 5-6 days could be an advantage in domestication, since meat
production from this rodent could be ensured throughout the year. This
observation however differs from that of Rosevear (1969) who reported
that giant rats in the wild have a breeding season. Also, the gestation
range of 27-36 days was much lower than Rosevear's (1969) report of
42 days.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to the Senate, University of Ibadan, Federal Department of Forestry,
and Federal Department of Forest Research, Ibadan for their generous financial
assistance for this project. I am also indebted to Professor L. Roche, Head of the
Department of Forest Resources Management, and Professor J. K. Loosli (Rockefeller
Foundation) Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, for their guidance
and inspiration.
My special thanks also go to the carpenters Messrs Rufus Yhokeye and T. Aina, and
the entire Secretarial Staff of the Department of Forestry, University of Ibadan who
have assisted me in various ways to carry out this project.

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 DOMESTICATION OF CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS 363

SUMMARY

The African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse) is a rodent which is

commonly eaten in Nigeria. An account of the preliminary phases of domestication
programme and of the reproductive performance of this rat is given in this paper. The
species which has a wide social acceptance weighs up to 1.5 kg with a carcass composi-
tion of 49.4-58 % for males and 50-56.07 % for females. Three different cages have so far
been constructed to house rats at different stages of their development. The giant rats
are easily tamed and not very selective in feeding. So far, rats have been raised at half
the market price of their carcass. Future studies include finding methods of maximizing
production and raising them more cheaply on local foodstuffs.
Male and females are sexually mature at about 20 weeks of age. Females have an
an oestrous cycle of 5-6 days and reproduced throughout the year in captivity without
a seasonal poak. The gestation range was 27 to 36 days, and sex ratio from 27 births
which comprised of 84 young was 1.2 M : l F, thus suggesting a sex ratio in favour of
males. The litter size ranged-between one and five but four was most common. There
\vas a strong positive correlation between the average weights and lengths at birth and
weaning weights and lengths which suggested that the early development of rats was
influenced by their size at birth. So far the highest number of litters recorded from a
female was five in nine months.
Department of Forest Resources Management,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan (Nigeria).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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364 MAMMALIA

HOLSWORTH,*|\V. N., 1970. — Wildlife management. A report to the government of

Nigeria. F. O.: S. F. /NIR. 12 Technical report, F. A. O., Rome.
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