African Pygmy Dormice

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Does anyone keep any of these super cute critters?

I'm hoping to get some in a few months time and I'm looking for all the information I can get - there's not alot out there. The lovely lady who bred my youngest has some that have had babies, so once they are old enough to be sexed hopefully some will be coming to live here.

I plan on getting an Exo Terra 60x45x60 vivarium for them with a heat mat as my house is too cold for them. I'm sooo excited.

 

[SactoChinMom]

I also love the exotic mice, including the zebra mice, none of which are allowed in California, where I live. Good luck.

I keep a large tank with 2 fancy female mice. I've had up to 5 but they pass from old age.

 

[LoveBug]

i don't, i do have 2 fancy mice though. they're in a 20 gallon tank.

those mice (african pygmy dormice) are so little and cute!

 

[menagerie]

There was an awesome UK based site for African pygmy dormice several years ago. I managed to find it on the WayBack Machine. http://web.archive.org/web/20091022122843/http://geocities.com/pygmydormouse/main.htm

This one also has some good info. http://www.thepetwiki.com/wiki/African_Pygmy_Dormice

There was a dormouse group on Yahoo. I'm not sure if that's still there. People in the US with dormice went underground in 2003 during the monkeypox ban when it became illegal to breed or transport African rodents. The ban was lifted in 2008.

I found the dormice preferred a slightly higher temp around 77F (25C) as a constant temp. If it got below 70F (21.1C) they tended to go into torpor (false hibernation) which can be fatal. It was easier to keep a constant temperature in a glass aquarium with a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat than using an under tank mat.

Their preferred food was Orlux Insect Patee (which should be easy to source in the UK). I would supplement a few times a week with frozen crickets, live meal worms, blueberries and grapes.

Some people claim that you can hold them, which may be true. But we found that they were not particularly happy being held. Their respiration would increase and you could see their little sides heaving in and out in a panic. So I didn't feel it was fair to them to put them through the stress.

They loved wheels, but used them from the outside rather than running on the inside. Think laying on their backs under the wheel and "running" on the outside. They are cute little things.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Thank you so much! That's very helpful Ill enjoy looking at the pictures. Thank you for the advice on heating. I had asked elsewhere but most people have central heating, so they don't have to heat them - my living room runs at about 16 degrees in the winter. General opinion was to use a heat mat as they said most of their Dormice liked to nest at floor level - I did think a heat emitted would be a more even way but worry a little about how to mount it so they can't get burned.

The babies I will be getting are being handled daily from 5 weeks old. So I am hoping they will be handsome but of course I will only do so if they aren't stressed. I want something a bit more exotic and fun to watch

Thanks again - you're superstar.

 

[morevile]

A little info on handling

I was reading this thread and just wanted to add a little info about handling these cute little guys. I used to have a pair of them..a female which i got at a very young age and handled every day, and an old male...he was a retired breeder and was not very tame but i felt i was "rescuing" him..i kept them together figuring my little male didnt have enough "umph" in him to breed anymore..i was very wrong...i ended up with half a dozen of them..one thing i noticed is that the mother and her babies were all very very tame and even seemed to enjoy being handled and cuddled..i dont know if i just got lucky or what..but i used to carry them around with me in several little socks hoping they would bond to me much like a sugar glider would and it seemed to work great..i would let them run around on me and hang out on my shoulder and not once did any of them try to run away or act scared..the male never took to me like this but i cant be sure what kind of life he had before me..he never bit me but was skiddish and seemed uninterested in being handled..anyhoo..it seems if you get them young enough and treat them like you would a sugar glider they will bond to you very well and quickly..like i said..i just used a sock for them to sleep in during the day and kept them with me..i managed a pet store so it was easier for me to give them that much of my time..hope this helps anybody wanting to know how to bond closely with your little ones