Bamboo rats come in size from the greater bamboo rat, usually around 15 to 25 cm long (head and body).
The tail length is 6–8 cm, and rats can weigh between 500 and 750 g. The Sumatra bamboo rat can be as long as 50 cm, with its tail reaching lengths of 20 cm, and it may weigh up to 4 kg.
However, all bamboo rats are large rodents that are also naturally slow-moving.
Bamboo rats live and source food in extensive burrow systems and hardly ever spend enough time above ground.
These rodents are more comfortable under the soil because they feed on plants’ underground roots.
Bamboo rats live at altitudes of 1200 to 4000 m, feed mainly on bamboo, and live in dense bamboo forests or plantations (except for the lesser bamboo rat).
While the lesser bamboo rat is not much different from the other species, it is more variable in its habitat, residing in forests, grassy areas, and sometimes in people’s gardens. This species of bamboo rat eats a wider variety of vegetation.
All species of bamboo rats are seen as agricultural pests because they consume the roots of various crop plants such as sugar cane, tapioca, and tea bushes.
Still, these rodents are also recognized as healthy food animals. The Chinese bamboo rats are sold as meat in food markets in China.
Bamboo rats are natural hosts for Talaromyces marneffei, the disease-causing mold that is endemic in all species of this rodent in Southeast Asia.
The bamboo rats are classified as ‘least concern’ on the IUCN Red List.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Rodentia
- Family: Spalacidae
- Subfamily: Rhizomyinae
- Tribe: Rhizomyini
Species
- Genus Rhizomys
- Rhizomys Sinensis
- Rhizomys pruinosus
- Rhizomys sumatrensis
- Genus Cannomys
- Cannomys badius
The species of bamboo rats are;
- The Chinese bamboo rat ( Rhizomys sinensis) is found in central and southern China, Vietnam, and northern Burma.
- The hoary bamboo rat ( R. pruinosus): This species is found from Assam in India to southeastern China and the Malay Peninsula
- The Sumatra, Indomalayan, or large bamboo rat ( R. sumatrensis): This species is found in Indochina, Yunnan, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra.
- The lesser bamboo rat ( Cannomys badius): This species is found in Cambodia, Assam, Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Thailand, Burma, Laos, and northern Vietnam.
Diet
As the name of this rodent suggests, they primarily feed on bamboo roots and shoots. Bamboo rats can also eat fallen fruit, seeds, and leaves.
Because the Lesser Bamboo Rat is more variable in its habitat, it also consumes a wider variety of food.
Habitat
Bamboo rats inhabit forests with plenty of bamboo. They are a nocturnal species and spend their daytime inside the holes or burrows, only emerging at night in search of food.
Reproduction
The female bamboo rat is pregnant with its babies for about 22 days. Baby bamboo rats are born without fur and are blind.
The newborn rats require 24 days before they can finally open their eyes and another couple of weeks for their fur to be fullygrown. The mother bamboo rats her young for three months before they become independent of her.
Quick fact
Did you know that when you walk in the forest and hear the sound “boop…boop…boop” from under the ground, it is most likely a bamboo rat telling you you’re trespassing?