Underground Rats

underground tunnels. In order to mimic that, the enclosure will be made from clear PVC piping that will be connected by elbows and T’s to clear plastic boxes that will act as chambers or rooms. These chambers will be 20 cm in diameter and can either by square or round. They will have a fixed bottom with a removable top for easy access to the animals, to feed them and clean the enclosure. The mole rats will use these chambers as they would in the wild, for example, to store food or as a toilet. The tops of the pipes and chambers will be drilled with a series of 6 millimetre holes for ventilation.
The piping system will provide everything the colony needs. The mole-rats will chose one room to sleep in. Pinewood shavings, cornhusk, grasses and

Higher or lower temperatures for extended periods will affect the health of the colony. Naked mole-rats should be maintained in a humidity level of 30-50%, but humidity levels of 80% have been recorded in the wild. If the humidity level drops too low for a long period of time the mole rats will develop dry skin. To achieve this a caretaker will check the temperature and humidity twice daily. Naked mole-rats live nearly entirely underground therefore safety measures should be made to keep this species away from direct sunlight. Mole-rats show a little bit of irritation towards bright lights but don’t seem to be affected by fluorescent or incandescent lighting long term. To achieve this the enclosure will have fluorescent lighting because that doesn’t bother the mole-rats like bright or natural lights do. Mole-rats can be very sensitive to sound which will affect their normal behaviour and their offspring. Desensitizing the mole-rats to the sound of humans is important. To achieve this a radio will be playing 24 hours every day so they get used to the sound, the volume will be set to what they will be exposed to in the public