What is the Longest a Rat Can Live?

The length of a rat’s life depends on several factors including its diet, living conditions, and genetics. Most rats can live between two and three years in captivity. But, some species can live longer, even up to eight years, if they are kept in the right environment.

The longest living rat species is the Bosavi woolly rat, which was discovered in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea in 2009. It is about the size of a cat and weighs 1.5 kilograms. The second longest rat species is the Osgood’s Vietnamese rat, which is 5 to seven inches (12 to 17 centimeters) long.

Rats typically reach sexual maturity when they are around 37 to 75 days old. They can produce up to 2,000 offspring in a year, and females can have six to thirteen babies in one litter. Female rats usually reach sexual development at about a month and a half after birth, and male rats reach this age by about seven weeks.

In a safe environment, animals should develop traits that extend their lifespans and reproduce long. Naked mole rats, for example, have low extrinsic mortality since they live underground in thermally-buffer burrows. They are also protected from predators such as snakes by a cooperative defense system.