lemmings

Question
Hi
Thanks loads for your speedy reply! Im wondering i heard that some lemmings dont want to live together?! How do you know if they want to live together? and do they prefer to live as a group or alone or just 2 or 3? What about them breeding?! could i get 2 males or 2 females?
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Followup To
Question -
Do you know anything about lemmings and how to care for them etc etc?
Thanks faith
Answer -
Hi Faith,
   There are two types of animals that are confused for the lemmings. You are probably talking about the animal called Steppe Lemming (Lagurus lagurus). The lemming that you are most likely referring to is more related to voles. Here are a few facts about them.
   They need rather specific care or they can die very quickly. Many people who thought that they knew how to correctly care for them have not have success. They are not hamsters (Although they do look like the Russian Dwarf Hamster.), or gerbils,they can't be taken care of the same way that you would those animals. They do not have any odor if the cage is kept clean, can be tamed quite easily (There are always exceptions), and are not skittish.
    A wire hamster cage is not a good home for Stepp Lemmings. They will escape easily because of their size. They need to be housed in long fish tanks (a twenty gallon long tank, not tall), with a wire cover, (not the aquarium cover that you put light bulbs in for fish. Put an inch or two of Carefresh bedding in the tank to about two inches. It is best to house the lemmings together at once. You can have about four in a twenty gallon tank. Don't overcrowd, as this may cause fighting. If you intend to put your new pets together and they have not been together before, you must introduce them in a neutral place.  If you try to put new lemmings in an established colony, they may kill them.
  Use a water bottle , and a shallow open water dish.It is a good idea to provide a water dish in addition to a bottle because they sometimes do not want to use the water bottle. Put the dish on a brick so that it doesn't wet the bedding.
bedding must never be wet because they will quickly contract respiratory illness and die. There should be a less males to females ratio in a tank or the males will fight.
  Do not feed them fruit or any sugar based food. They are sugar intolerant. They need very plain diets. I would feed them Timothy Hay (You can buy that in pet shops.),guinea pig food (not the seed kind, but the pellet kind such as Oxbow), hamster/gebil mix that does not contain mollases, (Take out most of the sunflower seeds and peanuts.), millet seeds, millet sprays (for birds,)and a pinch or two of softbill bill such as Skippio's.
  Do not provide nest boxes. Use open-ended tubes so that the dominant lemmings cannot trap the others and hurt them. Make sure that there is Timothy Hay on the bottom of the tank.
   Lemmings usually live less than two years, and much less if they are not taken care of properly. They can die very young then.
   I hope that this helps a little.
Ann  

Answer
Hi Faith,
  You're very welcome. Lemmings are a social animal, meaning that they rather not live alone. In fact, a lemming that is usually alone is not a happy lemming. I think that they would be equally happy if you had two, four, or six.  I think that the key to having them live together is trying to get lemmings that already are together, or are very young when you buy them.
   You can usually tell if they will get along if they don't fight or agressively chase each other. The main thing that you shouldn't do is to put new lemmings with lemmings that have been together for a while. Two males will defitely fight. It is always better to have more females than males. A group of one male to three females is  fine. If you don't want them to breed, then get females only. Never get just males.  
   Here are some facts about breeding.They can breed throughout the year, but most of the babies are born during the months of March to October. Females are in heat for about seven days. About eight babies are born after a gestation period of about twenty days. The males do not help with the young at all. Babies are completely weated at about three weeks. They are mature and can have babies of their own as young as four weeks old. If the babies are not to survive, it will be around the time that they are weaned that this will happen. No one knows why. Adult females can produce up to five litters a year and up to twelve, but this significantly shortens their lifespans which are short to begin with. It is not recommended to have too many litters.