re: Domesticated Nutria Rat? Update: She confessed! Xmas card pic in OP

I just read this to one of my coworkers and he said they used to have them as pets when they were little. He said if you catch them as babies it works. Catch them a tad older and not so much. He then proceeded to show me a scar of why you only catch the babies lol

This is hysterical! Truly a "cool story, bro". Your little sister sounds like a cool kid.

I don't know your parents, but when they find out, I'm guessing your mom is going to shite a brick and your dad is going to laugh his arse off. Please keep us updated!

I actually did have a pet nutria. It was a small baby who got lost in a Korean grocery store and the trapper was going to kill it for the $10 bounty so my fiance gave him about $20 just to give it to him. he brought it home to me and I raised it (with the purpose of being able to release him back when he was old enough).

I named him Boudreaux, fed him yams, let him swim in the tub, taught him to forage for food by hiding it and did not handle him a lot so that his attachment to a human would not be too strong. He was adorable. lovable and loved to sleep in the pink silky nightgown I put in his kennel as bedding.

He never bit, was sweet and snuggly, loved yams and was eventually released back to the wild where he came from. I would have had him neutered just so he would bit be about there breeding but no vet would do it.

If you can domesticate a tiger, why not a nutria? Back in the day a kid I knew had a small opossum that he was raising. He would walk around with it sitting on his shoulder. Sounds like a cool pet.

Definitely want to see pics!

Back in the 80's, my brother-in-law was walking around his pond and his foot caved in a hole that nutrias had cut into the bank. In the den were 3 nutria babies and he grabbed one to take and show my sister. The baby was very friendly and docile and my sister fell in love with it. She named it Fat Rat and kept it in a box in their house. Your sister is doing great, my sister fed the nutria the same thing and it grew naturally. Finally, Fat Rat outgrew the box and my brother built a cage for him. Fat Rat would be released on his own recognizance each day and would either stay in the yard playing with the family Labradors or would waddle to the pond but make it back by nighttime.

A year or so passes and Fat Rat did become more aggressive and ornery and finally began to spend his days and nights at the pond. We just assumed nutria testosterone and natural instincts took over and he became "wild". In reality, he was never domesticated but even as he grew older every now and then he would come back to the yard for a quick and easy meal but was never comfortable enough to allow us to get extremely close.

Similar events happened to a baby flying squirrel that my brother-in-law found in the bed of his truck and to a miniature rabbit that my nephew got for Easter one year. They got older and The Urge turned the animals into sex crazed teenagers.

Edit for Ginger Kittie's post, Fat Rat loved sweet potatoes. I had totally forgotten that until I read her post.

quote:

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He was adorable. lovable and loved to sleep in the pink silky

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pics?

That is fricking hilarious.

This is pretty entertaining.

When your parents find out and they eventually will.

Encourage them to allow her to raise the Nutria until it gets independent then let it go in the backyard pond.

An outside nutria could be a good pet. It will be able to swim and run and tear stuff up around the pond, and come to your sister when called and enjoy a treat and some human contact.

Oh my