However, they are all bulky, slow-moving rodents that live and forage in extensive burrow systems and rarely spend much time above ground.

The lesser bamboo rat is more variable in its habitat, living in grassy areas, forests, and sometimes gardens, and eats a wider variety of vegetation.

All bamboo rats are regarded as agricultural pests since they eat the roots of a range of crop plants such as tapioca, sugar cane, and tea bushes, but they are also recognised as valuable food animals.

The bamboo rats are the natural hosts for the disease-causing mold, Talaromyces marneffei, which is endemic in all species in Southeast Asia.

[1][2] In this area, talaromycosis due to the mold is the third most common opportunistic infection in HIV-positive individuals.