Pygmy Species: Mouse and Gerbil

Pygmy gerbils:

Unfortunately the species of pygmy gerbil I have is yet to be identified. I purchased them as Baluchistan (Gerbillus nanus) but have since been told otherwise! Here is a quote from Ed (strogg123) “I recognise that gerbil! They came into the UK in September last year along with 3 other unidentified species and I was asked to identify them if possible. The young stock did look superficially like Gerbillus nanus, but they quickly grow larger and look and behave quite different from nanus.

I personally think they may be a subspecies of Gerbillus campestris (rock gerbil), which can be very variable in description depending on where they were caught. They use their tails very similarly to previous campestris gerbils I’ve kept and the females get quite thick set and look much bigger than the males.”

So this is the closest we have to identification.

Currently I have 1:1:? Pygmy gerbils. The first thing you notice about the species is that it is relatively smaller than other gerbil species, about 2 inches body length and a thin sparsely furred tail of about 2.5 inches in length. The gerbil is sand coloured with a white underside and the occasional black guard hair running through the fur on the back. Their legs are reasonably long and furless. At present my pair have a litter in a nest that both parents made out of chewed toilet role tubes and hay, they seem not to like using a nest box, preferring to make an open nest. The male now sleeps in a separate area of the tank to the female and occasionally takes food to the nest for (I am assuming) the female. The male is a slim build and very fast moving, whilst the female is heavier and slower in movement, she spends her day in the nest nursing the young. This species is exclusively nocturnal, and I have rarely seen them in daylight. They are not particularly afraid of humans but any contact results in a severe bite. Being desert animals they have adapted so water isn’t an essential part of the diet, however when breeding they seem to get through quite a lot. Their diet consists of mainly seeds (budgie seed, millet ect) with a small amount of gerbil mix. Cuttle fish bone is eaten as a supplement and meal worms are also eaten. Although I provide fresh greed food and fruit, this is rarely eaten but the gerbils, and often consumed by stray mealworm larvae and beetles.
My pair are destructive and seem to chew anything, including wooden houses, plastic bowls and even a coconut shell (not the best sound to be woken up with). I have no idea what they are like in colonies but I am told they are volatile and best kept to pairs only.

African Pygmy mice:

I currently have 1:1:2 pygmy mice (Mus minutoides), and nothing prepares you for the size first time you see them. You can have it explained to you a thousand times that they can sit on a 2 pence piece with room to spare, but the first time you see them in real life you are utterly shocked at how small they really are (or at least that’s how I reacted). For the first three weeks I didn’t sleep, instead I stayed up watching these fascinating minuscule rodents, and their activities. First things first, they are easy to sex once mature, as with most animals in the Mus genus, the males are very obvious and once pregnant the females are easily identified (not that they are hard to tell from males as obviously they have no testis). Females are marginally bigger and heavier build than the more agile male who is slimmer than his female counterpart. They are dark reddish brown in colour with a white underside, approximately 3cm body length and a shorter tail. They don’t seem to be prolific breeders, having 2-8 in a litter, with a gestation of 21 days, young are weaned at 2-3 weeks of age, and removed as soon as they are seen to be eating solids. Food wise they have millet and any small bird seed such as canary seed, red millet ect, with very small mealworms to supplement the diet, normal rodent mix is ignored because of the large size of the grains. Water is supplied in a water dispenser commonly used for caged birds, water is a must these rodents dehydrate and die very quickly without it.
Because of the small size they are best left untouched as handling can result in internal damage, they are quite delicate, any handling should be done quickly and holding them by the tail is the best method (not for prolonged periods though). They are very lively and can jump out of a 12” high tank with ease, and being so small you don’t want an escapee so when catching the I use a tube. Beware they do bite and it is surprisingly painful although doesn’t break the skin. As a substrate I use chin dust as they will nest in shavings and the pups are small enough not to see and are easily thrown away by accident.