African Pygmy Mouse caresheet

[Charisma Love]

This is a rough caresheet I made for myself while researching the world's smallest rodent as a pet.

Common name: African Pygmy Mouse
Scientific Name: Mus Minutoides
Origin: African (South of the Sahara)
Lifespan: 2-3 years
Lifestyle: Colony


Housing

• Can jump out of a 12” high tank with ease.
• Minimum size: 5 gallon tank (5+ gallon tanks can house mice per no of gal).)
• Clean twice a month
• Tight fitting mesh cover a possibilty

Substrate

• chinchilla dust.
• Aspen shavings (do NOT use pine or cedar)
• Carefresh
• Compost
• Sand
• Pine Pellets

Food

• Provide food at all times.
• Staple diet of parakeet, canary or finch feed
• Occasional mealworm for protein
• Occasional piece of Iams cat food
• Lab blocks
• Dog kibble
• Dried garamus/gammarus?
• Linseed
• Millet spray
• Small cuttings of cucumber
• Apple/grape
• Wild bird mix ‘Insecta mix’
• EMP egg food/ Bird rearing food
• Prickly pear cactus fruit and stems
• Minced carrot

Water

• Water dish (if water level is above 1cm place rocks in it so they don’t drown)
• Reptile drinking bowl? (with steps)
• Tube type water bottle (glass with spout).
• 10ml plastic syringe
• ‘Wlico: Deluxe’ (Wilkinson’s Stores product)/Rotastak bottle with spout supported vertically downwards through wire mesh.

Breeding

• 2-8 in a litter
• gestation of 21 days
• 1.5” high nest homemade box (entrance hole should be no larger than 5/8” and placed low on the box)
• Give the male his own territory and introduce the females to it.
• Babies will grow fur within a week
• Eyes open at 14 days
• Weaned at 21 days (removed once they are seen eating solids)
• Sexually mature at 6 weeks

Conditions

• Temperature must always be above 60 degrees Fahrenheit (room temp should be fine).

Accessories

• Hamster houses
• Toilet rolls
• Very small wheels
• Corrugated cardboard used to make tunnels, hides etc
• Twisted hazel branches
• Cork bark
• Ceramic food bowl

[leila]

edited mistake post lol!

[snakelover]

pretty cool care sheet, love them, well cute aint they!

[Charisma_Love]

I'm still looking for these if anyone has got any or knows of where to get any

[stubeanz]

great caresheet just thought id add that, make sure there is a more females than males in the enclosure as they breed quickly and if there are too many males they will attack each other.
i ended up spliting them in to so many groups as mine used to always produce lots of males for some reason.
Also when cleaning them out be very careful they can jump very high and move very fast(i used to clean them out in the bathroom, that way any that escaped my grasp couldnt get very far), you also have to watch out for any pinkies when cleaning out as they are tiny and you deffinatly dont want to chuck them away with he substrate
i dont keep these anymore but they were 1 of the most amazing animals i have kept
stu

[Exotic Mad]

is this for african pymgy dormice?

[Exotic Mad]

sorry just checked latin name and realised its not

[kitschyduck]

It's Charisma Love here again. I don't go by that name anymore.

Just popping back to this old post to say I got hold of six pygmy mice a year or so ago and now have twelve, so they do multiply pretty fast. They seem to have litters of 2-3 for sure and should never be disturbed as I suspect they may eat their own young if they feel threatened.

I also discovered that they LOVE to chase and catch locusts and crickets (even the same size as themselves) and the presence of these insects makes them extremely excited, almost like catnip to a cat!

Their eyesight appears to be very, very bad so they don't mind being watched and only seem to be able to find crickets and locusts if they actually stumble into them.

I found the best way to pick them up to clean their tank is to make them walk into a glass and then block the exit with something like a coaster. This is a lot easier during the day when they're tired and sluggish and less likely to jump.