Cane rats do not normally live in burrows, preferring to construct a sleeping platform from chopped-up vegetation when needed. Occasionally, though, they take over disused aardvark or porcupine burrows or seek refuge among a pile of boulders. In southern Africa, cane rats are known to mate from April to June and to give birth to litters of 2 to 4 young after a gestation of 2 months. The young cane rats are born with their eyes open and are able to run around soon after birth.