Egyptian Spiney Mice!

[gambite]

Anyone else have these? I got two females for $15. They are really cute, and I love their quill-things. After handling them with my sister after bringing them home, we decided to name them Vicious and Nibbler The latter gave my finger a little taste, and the other bit my sister so hard she needed a band-aid. I was hoping they would be a little more docile, but I can live with it. The shop still has three males, which my friend might grab. Since they are supposed to have small litters, I was thinking of breeding them. Would anyone in the eastern-MD/delmarva area be interested?

Also, mine are a little fatter than I would like. How can I get them to slim down? ATM, they are eating plain oatmeal, with whatever veggies I can find for treats. I tried feeding them a small cricket today, but I got mixed results. They were very interested in it, but would not do more then lick at it. I dunno where it ran off to. If I got these girls a wheel, would they use it?

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Also, mine are a little fatter than I would like. How can I get them to slim down? ATM, they are eating plain oatmeal, with whatever veggies I can find for treats. I tried feeding them a small cricket today

Not terrible, from what I can find, but here goes some diet suggestions:

"Main diet for spiny mice is rat/mouse lab blocks. These blocks should never be the green ones made for rabbits or guinea pigs. If you decide to give your spiny mice seed mix, remove all sunflower seeds and nuts. By adding oats to the seed mix, 1 dl oats to 1 litre of seed mix you can get a mix that suits better the needs of your mice. Food that contains too much fat results in less fit spiny mice and it makes their fur greasy.

Along with dry food, you can give your mice different kinds of porridges, berries, fruits, vegetables and cat or dog kibble. You should also give something hard to chew on, like dried bread. Spiny mice love different grains, especially oats. They also like to eat oranges, but oranges should not be given them too often.

The main thing to bear in mind with feeding is to have enough food available. Spiny mice are very active animals and therefore eat a lot."

*

"Spiny mice are omnivorous meaning that they eat both plants and animals. A good diet consists of a combination of seeds, fruits, vegetables and insects. Fresh fruits may include apples, grapes, plums or pears. Vegetables that may be included in their diet are broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots and corn. A small amount of hard-boiled egg may be added to their food. Meat and poultry that is lean, cooked (not fried) and de-boned may also be added to their diet. These meats should not have salt, sauces or spices added to them. Processed meats should be avoided. A commercial rodent pellet is also good to include in their diet. Try to offer a variety of items since all spiny mice don't have the same preferences. Live insects such as crickets or mealworms may be included in their diet. Do no feed more than one or two of these insects each evening. Do not collect insects from outdoors where they may have been sprayed with pesticides."

*

So from the sound of it, a wide variety is a good thing. That and a wheel or two should help your pudgy mice. And be sure to research brands before you buy any rat/mouse blocks or cat or dog kibble, some brands are nutritional junk despite what the packaging claims.

If I got these girls a wheel, would they use it?

Google says yes, so go for it. Be sure you get a solid one, not the kind with little ladder rungs, apparently the "ladder" wheels have caused a lot of leg injuries in various rodents. And slightly bigger is better, so that they can run without their little spines being bent too far backwards (or maybe that's guinea pigs, but either way it's better safe than sorry).

EDIT: Also on the subject of breeding, I wouldn't do it. If they're all from the same store, odds are high that they're related already.

 

[lucanidae]

I have my own little breeding colony too:

Original male and female sharing a cockroach:

Newest youngsters:

The young female in this picture is now breeding size:

I originally got mine in Delaware but I live in New York. They love a wheel. They should be fed high protein low fat cat food with minimal vegetable supplements and maximum insects (don't worry, they'll learn to hunt them pretty quickly). These guys are insectivorous in the wild so they really need that high protein.

 

[xchondrox]

We had a group of these in the petstore that i worked at during high school. We started out with 3-5 and ended up with around 30+. They ended up taking up alot of space 2-20 gallon long tanks and a handful of 10gallons, then at some point They started canabilizing each other it was pretty ugly! All the remaining surviors were missing their tails so it was a pain to move them from cage to cage for cleaning purposes. We had pretty much no interest from customers on them and ended up giving them away to our rat breeder. I know they love super mealworms! Just becareful dont get over run like we did.

 

[gambite]

We had a group of these in the petstore that i worked at during high school. We started out with 3-5 and ended up with around 30+. They ended up taking up alot of space 2-20 gallon long tanks and a handful of 10gallons, then at some point They started canabilizing each other it was pretty ugly! All the remaining surviors were missing their tails so it was a pain to move them from cage to cage for cleaning purposes. We had pretty much no interest from customers on them and ended up giving them away to our rat breeder. I know they love super mealworms! Just becareful dont get over run like we did.

I read about the tail-eating thing being a result of overcrowding. If you had as many as you say, then its not improbable that might have been the cause. And these mice had been in the store I got them from for a while, too. It seems like they are not very popular with your common rodent-owner. I think thats too bad, because they are awesome!

And if I tossed in some superworms, would they be able to dig them up? I have about 2" of Carefresh as substrate in their 10g, and there are a lot of places for bugs to hide.

Also, I have caught them climbing on the screen top of the tank. I dont know how they get up there, as its about 10" of glass, but is there a risk of them gettting out? I dont have any clamps on it, its a bi-fold screen lid.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

they are so cute! I want them!

of course, only "laboratory variety" mice and rats are legal in california.