# African Pygmy Mice



## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

I have a 20 gallon tank and I have been trying to find the right sort of animal to keep in it. I don't want reptiles because I couldn't feed them mice or insects, so I was looking into rodents, but then there's not many that can be kept in a tank.

But then I came accross african pygmy mice, and they seem like they would be a good pet to have. They would be kept at my dads house and I only go there for half the week, so I was thinking that there might not be a pet that I could have as most need to be handled often, but african pygmy mice can't be handled so that would mean that I wouldn't feel guilty about not seeing them every day.

I'm not sure about other things though, like where can you get them from that would definately know the genders? I don't want to have them breeding, but I read that it is best to have them in groups so if a person can't tell the genders apart there would be a high chance of having males and females. 

I won't be getting any pets soon, August probably, but I just want to do some reseach.

Thanks


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## Crittery (May 2, 2011)

I have a colony of these, they are brilliant 

If you want guarenteed same sex the easiest option is to go for adult boys - unfortunately by the time you can tell the genders with a decent chance of success, the girls would likely be pregnant already. Either that or you'd need someone willing to keep a small group of girls separate for you, either from a new litter, or as adults, for long enough that they are clear of pregnancy watch and it is sure they are girls. I don't know if they can delay implantation like some other rodents though.

They are pretty easy to keep, the main issues you are probably already aware of - sexing them accurately, making sure their water bowl isn't deeper than 1cm or they can climb out so they don't drown (they need this checked frequently as well, since they tend to bury the bowls), and taking great care when cleaning them out so you don't lose any - they don't set off humane mouse traps so are a nightmare to recapture! for mixed colony protein levels are important as well.


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## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

Thanks for the advice.

Do any rescues have them? If not, would it be best to get them off someone who is rehoming their adult pygmy mice so that they would know that they are all the same gender?

Also, I take it that they are less smelly as mice?


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

I wouldn't recommend any animal if you aren't going to be around them every day. Pygmy mice may not want to be handled, but I would think that like all animals they would need fresh food and water every day and that you should be checking on them to make sure that they haven't hurt themselves or fallen ill. That's perhaps just me though, I know I wouldn't take any animal at all if I couldn't check on them at least once everyday.


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## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

My dad would feed and water them, they would still be cared for when I am not there. I have rats at his house and they are all well looked after and seen every day. 

It's just I don't think I can manage two different animals that need a lot of attention, I can let the rats out when I am with them (and I think my dad gets them out too sometimes, and he handles them every day), but I wouldn't be able to give that attention to another animal because I don't have the time, which is why I think pygmy mice would be a better choice than other rodents.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

That's fair enough if your dad is looking after them. As I said, I just know that I couldn't and wouldn't have any pets if I wasn't able to check on them myself every single day even if they weren't getting out for quality free ranging time. I'm sure that crittery will be able to help with the care on pygmy mice though, her website is worth a look too as she has a whole load of information on all the different rodents.


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## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

I do see what you are saying, and I would love to be with my animals every day but having divorced parents doesn't allow that 

I've been reseaching them and quite a lot of people end up breeding them, is this common or is it only the experienced people doing that? Surely you would end up with too many very quickly 

Also, it seems very difficult to find ones for rehoming, rescues don't have them and there aren't any on sites like preloved and gumtree.


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

As far as I was aware African Pygmy Mice are still quite a rare pet. You would probably struggle to find them in a rescue centre or being re-homed. I've been volunteering in a rescue for nearly 2 years now and the only mammals we've had handed in are a dog, cat, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, rats, mice, hamsters, chinchillas, hedgehogs and a ferret. We were going to have some sugars in but they were for boarding.

Not that I like saying it, but you might stand better chance of getting some by looking at breeders and if you are really desperate exotic pet shops. Personally I would only ever rescue but if you have your heart set on 1 thing in particular you might have to search elsewhere.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

Vergo97, you're on the fancy rats forum aren't you? If you are, there is someone on there that recently got Pygmy mice from a breeder. The thread is in the 'other pets' section on there.

As your tank isn't that big, I'd suggest not getting pygmy mice as they are so hard to sex. You'd probably end up with more mice then you could deal with. I'm fairly sure spiney mice and soft fur rats are able to live in tanks, and I think they are easier to sex.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

Harvest mice could live in this size tank easily. Very entertaining, and great if you don't want something to endlessly cuddle, just to watch. Bit more robust than pygmys too. There are harvests and pygmy mice in the domestic classifieds section of RFUK and on ExoticKeepersForum. You should be able to find some on either of these.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

Snippet said:


> Vergo97, you're on the fancy rats forum aren't you? If you are, there is someone on there that recently got Pygmy mice from a breeder. The thread is in the 'other pets' section on there.
> 
> As your tank isn't that big, I'd suggest not getting pygmy mice as they are so hard to sex. You'd probably end up with more mice then you could deal with. I'm fairly sure spiney mice and soft fur rats are able to live in tanks, and I think they are easier to sex.


Er... sorry to butt in like this, and I'm sure somebody will tell me off, but if you want to get involved in multis, be prepared. It's quite distressing, really.
I also feel they should have a big cage as they're so active. The soft furs were moved into much larger cages a while back and haven't chewed any more than hamster would since then. Because their behaviour has changed for the best since the move, I just feel that they shouldn't have been kept in their tanks in the first place.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

elmthesofties said:


> Er... sorry to butt in like this, and I'm sure somebody will tell me off, but if you want to get involved in multis, be prepared. It's quite distressing, really.
> I also feel they should have a big cage as they're so active. The soft furs were moved into much larger cages a while back and haven't chewed any more than hamster would since then. Because their behaviour has changed for the best since the move, I just feel that they shouldn't have been kept in their tanks in the first place.


I don't know how big a 20 gallon tank would be in comparison to a multi, I was just saying she might want to go for something easy to sex so she doesn't end up with hundreds of them. I've never really researched multis, but I've been told they are similar in their care to fancy mice.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

elmthesofties said:


> Er... sorry to butt in like this, and I'm sure somebody will tell me off, but if you want to get involved in multis, be prepared. It's quite distressing, really.
> I also feel they should have a big cage as they're so active. The soft furs were moved into much larger cages a while back and haven't chewed any more than hamster would since then. Because their behaviour has changed for the best since the move, I just feel that they shouldn't have been kept in their tanks in the first place.





Snippet said:


> I don't know how big a 20 gallon tank would be in comparison to a multi, I was just saying she might want to go for something easy to sex so she doesn't end up with hundreds of them. I've never really researched multis, but I've been told they are similar in their care to fancy mice.


Number of gallons isn't much use in determining size of a tank and suitability for a furry, the actual dimensions would help more. ASF/multi's are very easy to sex but require a minimum of a trio to be happy and although care is the same as it would be for a fancy mouse they aren't for people who don't know what they are doing or who haven't spend a good deal of time researching them. They are normally only bred as snake food so often have had minimal handling, which means they have a reputation of being "vicious" and "bitey" that you can only overcome with regular handling although I would say that I never had a bite from mine and they were bred as snake food as well (  ). Even with regular handling you should expect the odd nip or nibble (both of which could break the skin) whereas a bite would mean losing a chunk of your finger. Regular handling is a must in order to provide health checks as like mice they can develop respiratory infections so would require treatment (albeit they aren't quite as prone to them as fancy mice so they do cope reasonably well in a tank but they need the biggest one you can get)- they are also prone to stomach and liver tumours and warts which you need to monitor closely, something that can't be done without handling. They can be territorial. I've known a load of people to keep them in tanks, I kept mine in a cage and never had a bite - their automatic reaction to something they see as a predator is to bite so being approached from above as they would be in a tank might make them more inclined to bite. Although they are great fun to watch, they are highly intelligent so require a good deal of stimulation (more than any mouse or hamster I've owned) so perhaps not suitable for OP if they are wanting a pet that they don't need to handle much if at all on the few days that they are around.


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## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

Do you think it might be best if I go for a hamster, or do they need lots of handling too?

I don't know the dimentions of the tank as I'm not at my dad's at the moment to measure it, but I think the length of it is 70-something cm. 

Yep, I'm on the fancy rats forum  I've had a look at the thread and they seem great, but I've decided that I don't think I should get them.


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

Depends on the breed of hamster. Robos don't need a lot of handling, but they also need a tank with a large foot print and no levels so they don't get possesive. They also need one of every thing for each hamster, so for a pair you'd need 2 water bottles, 2 wheels and they need to be scatter fed.


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## vergo97 (Jun 26, 2010)

That would be fine, and I've been thinking that I might by a bigger tank, about 4 foot, and sell the one I have at the moment.

I have been trying to search for hamster rescues in nottinghamshire but I can't find any


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