Exotic Rodents

[Alex]

Instead of posting loads of seperate threads i will stick a brief summary all in one thread to make it easier reading :p

African Pygmy Dormice

I currently have 2 female African Pygmy Dormice, i was initially going to search for a male but im not sure whether or not i will continue to breed this species as they are a pain in the backside for falling out. they are an excellent species to keep though!





And their Enclosure


Asian Garden Dormice

I currently Have a young Female Garden Dormouse,i was due to collect a male last thursday but it looks like it may be a longer wait ...






The Dormouse Enclosure... i constructed this myself its 4ftx2ftx2ft allowing them plenty of space to exercise.



Mouse-Like Hamsters


I have an unrelated pair of Mouse-like Hamsters, they were intially from the Tier park in Berlin germany, they are 3rd Generation wild caught stock. Mohan and Maya currently live in a 3ft "Desert" style enclosure.





Their Enclosure



Persian Jirds

I only Recently got these guys from London champs 2 weeks ago they are only 8 weeks old and still have alot of growing to do, they are currently living in oen of the large perfecto's but i am currently in the process of constructing their new enclosure which should be ready in a week or so, it will give them alot more space and climbing opportunities which they are going to need increasignly as they get older and grow more!

These 2 boys regularly come out to play on my desk and generally love exploring my room,

[Ness]

I really do love the Asian Garden Dormice with there eye rings

It looks like the Persian Jirds are having fun too

[Tammy - Oak Farm]

Great thread Alex!!!

I love all of them

Some great pics there

Tammy x

[BexPetz]

I love the African Pygmy Doormice, they are so beautiful. The persian jirds look quite similar to gerbils though.
Where do you buy exotic rodents from?

[Alex]

The Persian Jirds are very similar to Gerbils being from the same sub-family Gerbillinae ... Persian jirds grow to a much larger size than gerbils, these guys are just 8 weeks old and already bigger than you're average mongolian gerbil.

There are several specialist breeders around who you can generally contact via the internet, its also possible to meet breeders at various different shows such as the London Championships. The prices are alot more expensive than say hamsters or gerbils for example the Asian Garden Dromice can cost anything from £180-300 per pair.

[Nella]

Hi Alex, you have really special rodents! I really love them! Great enclosures by the way. Do you need to have a higher temperature in the room for them or not?

[Alex]

Erm its not essential for these species although can be preferable, due to me being on the top floor of our house my room tends to be baking... so is alot warmer than average room temp anyway.

Fortunately i have big windows that i can open to get a breeze through and cool it down in here!

[BexPetz]

Have you seen Simon's Rodents? http://www.simonsrodents.co.uk/ This is a company that stocks some Pet Shops, but sells exotic rodents and jirds. They claim to be the first in the UK to sell Tri-Coloured Mice (Does these mean anything?)
Bex.

[Alex]

Yeah simons rodents supply quite a large number of small pet shops, i have had several species from them before and have had a few problems and lost several animals in short spaces of time.

They might be the first "wholesaler" to sell them but i know of at least one breeder of mice in the UK who has them, and im pretty sure they are very common in europe so the chances are they have just imported them and started breeding them.

if i remember rightly they made similar claims about tri-coloured syrian hamsters.... despite them being bred in the UK for decades!

and the final issue i have with them is mis-labelling species, i know of several cases where they have sold something as something its not such as sundervals jirds which turned out to be shaws x sundervals cross's.

as with all companies there are good and bad experiences unfortunately anyone who buys from them more than just a one off tends to have the latter.

[BexPetz]

Ok. Sorry. My friend got a rabbit from there and I saw they did rodents so...