With sufficient nutrition, how large can rats grow?
The largest rats in the world are the African giant pouched rats. In general, they have a mass of 1 to 1.47 kg (2.2 to 3.23 lbs), and grow to a length of 65 to 91 cm (25.39 to 35.83 in). Most people are familiar with Norway rats; they generally weigh between 10 and 18 ounces and can grow up to 18 inches (a 2-ft. Norway rat, or domestic rat, would be a monster!). The biggest Norway rat ever caught in a city — or at least the biggest on record — was a 2.4 pound giant, caught by Brian Plummer in London.