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| Name: |
Dobby
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Age: |
Three months old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Capybara
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| Home: |
Pacific Northwest, USA
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Dobby
is just three months old and is a capybara living in the Pacific Northwest.
Capybaras are large aquatic herbivorous rodents from South America. He was
raised in Texas, but his Grandpa lives in Arkansas. His famous brother, Caplin
Rous, lives in Texas and has been featured on Animal Planet. Baby Dobby is
still drinking milk from a bottle, but he also eats grass, hay, corn on the
cob and sweet potatoes. At three months old he is lap-sized now, but will grow to
about 100 pounds. His favorite hobbies are watching tv, getting scratched
under the chin (which makes his fur get pouffy and stand straight out!),
playing toss-the-stuffed-rabbit-down-the-stairs, meeting new children, hanging
out by the heat register, eating grass, galloping around the kitchen, and
drinking his milk. He sleeps on the floor in a dog bed by his owner's bed.
In my state I do not need a permit to keep him as a pet, but I think other
states may have other rules. I think California and Georgia have rules, for
instance. Texas is wide open, and there are several breeders there. The
primary breeder is in Arkansas and she sells to zoos around the world.
I have always liked rodents and have a gerbil, a hamster, a chinchilla, and two
guinea pigs. I also have two rabbits. In the past I have had mice, rats, a
flying squirrel, and a field mouse (vole). It just seemed like time to go
right to the largest rodent possible!
Dobby is quite the little gentleman in the house. He has a "litter pool,"
which is a shallow pan of water. Capybaras are aquatic and naturally do their
"business" in the water. I have had him in the house since he was three weeks old
and he has not had an "accident" since he was a month old. His first week, if
he was frightened, he would "leak." The funniest time was when I carried him
outside to see snow and a huge snowflake hit him on the nose... and he let
loose on me! He is very fastidious, though, and I can't imagine him making a
mistake now that he is big. I have brought him to work twice since he was two
months old and he is very neat and tidy in his litter pool there.
Dobby is a very affectionate and playful animal. He climbs in my lap when I
get near the floor, or sit on the couch to watch tv. He is very smart and
knows his name, "outside", "kitchen", and I even have to spell "milk".
Most people keep their capybaras outside with their llamas, goats, pigs, etc.,
but there are only a couple of us with them in our homes. When Dobby gets big,
and summer comes, he will spend more and more time outside.
I have attached a photo of me with Dobby, and one of him playing at the top of
the stairs. There is one with his stuffed rabbit. They point their nose up
when they are trying to tell you something, and in this photo he is very proud
that he has subdued his rabbit for his audience.
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