Hazel Dormouse

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I am thinking strongly of getting a hazel dormouse, but what should i feed it, and are they good pets to have? Are they aggressive? Please help


ANSWER: Dear Carlos,
thank you for your question.
I have no experience with hazel dormice, they are not kept as pets in Germany. But I can give you some general facts about them. They feed on a variety of seeds, fruits, flowers and insects as well as nuts, especially before hibernation. A very  varied diet is probably important to keep them health in captivty. Keep in mind what grows outside in the natural habitat and try to reproduce that.

Even though they are such small animals, I wouldn't keep them in a small enclosure. Most tanks just don't have the height the dormouse will need, they hate sitting or walking on the ground. It's possible and probably better and cheaper to build an enclosure yourself, from wood (OSB panels are regat) and very small spaced wire mesh. The size of the opening in the mesh should not be more than 6x6mm, to prevent the dormouse from squeezing between them. I think that a size of 40x40x50" long, wide and high would be the minimum, but if you can make an even bigger enclosure, that's always a good idea.

Dormice hibernate from the end of October until late spring, April or even May and they should be allowed to do so in captivity, too.

Actually, I don't think that they will make good pets, they are not at all domesticated and they have huge territories and their instinct will tell them to explore even when they are bred in captivity. It's possible that even a very large enclosure is still to small for them. I also cannot find any information on them being kept as pets, so you wil be very much on your own regarding care, diet and medical care. There are a lot of rodents that make better pets.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, i guess your right, but what rodent would make a good pet? Something small, and affectionate. What animal would that be?

ANSWER: I think that mongolian gerbils may be good pets for you. They are not as small as a dormouse or as fancy mice, but they tolerate being handled a lot better than those and can get very tame. They are very interesting to watch and not strictly nocturnal, they will come out during the day to see what you are doing when you are in the room. They should be kept in pair (of one sex, breeding is more complicated than it sounds and there are too many unwated gerbils out there anyway) since they are very social and single gerbils are lonely.
Look for a good breeder, then you always have someone knowledgeable to ask if any problems aoocur and you can make sure that your gerbils are healthy and properly socialized.
They are also easy to house, a tank make a very good home for them (at least a long 20g) since they love to dig and tanks can be filled with substrate almost to the top. Here are some pictures of good gerbil homes:
http://diebrain.de/re-unsergehege.html
http://diebrain.de/pix/re/heim2.jpg
http://diebrain.de/pix/re/groskafig.jpg
http://diebrain.de/re-gehegejulia.html

and here you can find some more general onfo on gerbil care:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriones_unguiculatus
http://www.rabbitsnrodents.com/gerbils.htm/

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank-you so much, but also i have two gerbils already and i got them from a pet store, but i guess that was a big mistake, where can i find a breeder that has good nicely tamed gerbils that are baby's or that are young, my gerbils like to be held but i want them to come to my hand and to stay there so i can carry them out. How could i do this? I already tried everything from hand feeding to softly talking to them, Now what else can i do? Thank-You!

Answer
Gerbils won't stay put, they want to explore. But that is true for all rodents, they don't like being petted too much and won't just sit around on your hand. Some rats enjoy going to sleep on their owner's shoulder or hidden in the clothes, but even they want to explore when they are awake. If your gerbils allow themselves ot be held, they are already tame and like to interact with you, I wouldn't expect more, even from gerbils that were already tamed at a young age.

You can find breeders for example here:
http://www.agsgerbils.org/Breeders.html

Gerbils should stay with their mother/parents for at least eight weeks to make sure theyare properly socialized. If they are taken away before that, it can cause problems when you have to introduce them to other gerbils because they never learned all the behaviour that is needed for that.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer