Care guides
African pygmy dormice (Graphiurus murinus)
my african pygmy dormice set up
These mice are also known as micro squirrels due to the way they look and move. They're body and tail measures approximately 15 cm when fully grown. They are normally a gun metal grey colourbut can be slightly lighter or darker. The under-parts are normally lighter than the rest of the mouse. Theyhave large dark eyestelling us that they are nocturnal creatures and have a bushy tail. In captivity these mice can live for 5-6 years. These animals dont like being kept singleually, they do better in pairs or groups. Although if you are wanting to keep a mixed sex group, it would be better to have 1 male with upto every15 females. This is becausemales can become very
aggressive towards each other during mating seasons. Single sex pairs/groups are fine. the females will get on and males will get on fine with no females around.
housing
Although these animals are small, they need alot of space. I currently keep a breeding trio (1 male and 2 females) in a 60x45x45cm exo terra tank. Due to these animals being so small and good at escaping they shouldbe kept in a glass tank with a fine wire mesh top for ventilation. These animals like to climb and so the encloser should be tall as well as wide. You will need to provide branches (if collected form woods or gardens, they should be cleaned well first), ladders, fake plants (retile fake plants are great) and hides. Nest boxes will also need to be provided for them to sleep in (be sure to provide 1 more than the amount of mice you have). These nests will need to be roughly filled with hay. Substrate should come in the form of dust free shavings. you will need to provide them with a 2-3" deep layer of this. You can also add things like a exercise wheel (enclosed only, so that they dont get their tails caught) and toilet roll tubes. Be sure to clean the tank out weekly, you will need to clean all the objects in the tank as well as change the substrate.
feeding
African pygmy dormice eat a large range of food. Mine are fed a dry food diet consisting of parrot mix (minus the chillis), niger seed, finch mix, peanuts and fruity hamster mix. They are fed 1 teaspoon of live (bio) yogurt and approx 20-30 live meal worms every other day. They get a fruit mix of apple, pear, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry (all cut up into small peices), blueberries and red currents (given hole). Lastly they have honey spead over the branches. The fruit, seed mix and honey is given every day. Please make sure that your african pygmy dormice have water avalible at all times and that it is changed daily. I use 4 seperate bowls in my tank, 1 for live food and yogurt, 1 for dry food, 1 for fruit and 1 for water.
handling
African pygmy dormiceare more of a visal only pet, due to their size and speed. It will how-ever help for them to be hand tamed incase they need any treatment. Some african pygmy dormice can be very nippy, others will be fine, it depends on the mouse its self. If you buy a young mouse aged between 4 weeks-3 months, i would suggest handling them for approx 5-10 minutes every other day for 2-3 weeks. This will give them time to understand that you will not hurt them. Try to make this a calm and unstressful as possible. Once you have done this try to only handle them a maximum of once a week. NEVER PICK UP YOUR AFRICAN PYGMY DORMICE BY THE TAIL, AFRICAN PYGMY DORMICE CAN SHED THEIR TAILS AND THEY WILL NEVER GROW BACK, THIS IS ALSO VERY PAINFUL FOR THE MOUSE
aggressive towards each other during mating seasons. Single sex pairs/groups are fine. the females will get on and males will get on fine with no females around.
housing
Although these animals are small, they need alot of space. I currently keep a breeding trio (1 male and 2 females) in a 60x45x45cm exo terra tank. Due to these animals being so small and good at escaping they shouldbe kept in a glass tank with a fine wire mesh top for ventilation. These animals like to climb and so the encloser should be tall as well as wide. You will need to provide branches (if collected form woods or gardens, they should be cleaned well first), ladders, fake plants (retile fake plants are great) and hides. Nest boxes will also need to be provided for them to sleep in (be sure to provide 1 more than the amount of mice you have). These nests will need to be roughly filled with hay. Substrate should come in the form of dust free shavings. you will need to provide them with a 2-3" deep layer of this. You can also add things like a exercise wheel (enclosed only, so that they dont get their tails caught) and toilet roll tubes. Be sure to clean the tank out weekly, you will need to clean all the objects in the tank as well as change the substrate.
feeding
African pygmy dormice eat a large range of food. Mine are fed a dry food diet consisting of parrot mix (minus the chillis), niger seed, finch mix, peanuts and fruity hamster mix. They are fed 1 teaspoon of live (bio) yogurt and approx 20-30 live meal worms every other day. They get a fruit mix of apple, pear, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry (all cut up into small peices), blueberries and red currents (given hole). Lastly they have honey spead over the branches. The fruit, seed mix and honey is given every day. Please make sure that your african pygmy dormice have water avalible at all times and that it is changed daily. I use 4 seperate bowls in my tank, 1 for live food and yogurt, 1 for dry food, 1 for fruit and 1 for water.
handling
African pygmy dormiceare more of a visal only pet, due to their size and speed. It will how-ever help for them to be hand tamed incase they need any treatment. Some african pygmy dormice can be very nippy, others will be fine, it depends on the mouse its self. If you buy a young mouse aged between 4 weeks-3 months, i would suggest handling them for approx 5-10 minutes every other day for 2-3 weeks. This will give them time to understand that you will not hurt them. Try to make this a calm and unstressful as possible. Once you have done this try to only handle them a maximum of once a week. NEVER PICK UP YOUR AFRICAN PYGMY DORMICE BY THE TAIL, AFRICAN PYGMY DORMICE CAN SHED THEIR TAILS AND THEY WILL NEVER GROW BACK, THIS IS ALSO VERY PAINFUL FOR THE MOUSE