Husbandry of Small Mammals Flashcards
What are generalist characteristics?
- animals adaptable to a wide range of environments and conditions
• (humans as able to change environment to suit ourselves: geographically wide ranging, broad diet e.g. Norwegian rat and house mice)
What are specalist Characteristics?
precisely adapted to a narrow ecological niche
• Range is limited to particular habitats, climates, specific diets and conditions that are essential for the animal to live
What are most animals in terms of generalists or specialists and why is this important?
- Mixture of the 2. E.g. generalist as can live in many different climates but specific diets
- Importance as have an impact on husbandry requirements and likely problems
Purpose for keeping exotic animals?
- Companionship
- Livestock/ labatory animals
- Conservation
What are husbandry key considerations?
- Legal requirements
- Suitable enclosure
- Appropriate diet
- Physical conditions (temp, humidity, lighting)
- Natural habitat/ ecology
- Social organisation
- Breeding system
- Common problems in captivity
What is the veterinary definition of exotic?
any mammal not dog, cat, horse, rabbit or livestock
What SUBORDER dormice, rats gerbils etc come under? (order is rodentia)
MYOMORPH
Family and examples of myomorph
•Family Muridae – Mice & rats (Murinae) – Hamsters (Cricetinae) – Voles & lemmings (Arvicolinae) – Gerbils & jirds (Gerbillinae) – Pouched rats (Cricetomyinae) •Family Dipodidae (last 2 more rare outside of zoos) – Jerboas & jumping mice •Family Myoxidae – Dormice: have to have a lisence to keep
What do domesticated mice and rats feed on broadly
• Feed on large range: mix of seeds, nuts, fruit, vegetation, vegetables, (insects according to availability)
How sociable are domesticated mice and rats?
• Very social within family groups but highly territorial, especially male mice. Must be introduced as youngsters, before sexually mature. If not often not successful
What substances should you avoid for cage objects and why?
cedar and pine wood for substrate or cage objects - toxic
Rodent Cage Types
- Wire sides, solid base
• Good ventilation
• Easy to clean
• Avoid mesh bases – bad for feet
2. Terrarium / tank • Protect from drafts • Keeps cage bedding inside • Preferred for burrowing rodents • Needs mesh lid for ventilation • Plenty of objects for enrichment and to stimulate activity ensure change
Gerbil adn Jirds
- Need to dig & burrow (avoid sawdust)
- Will show stereotypic digging in inappropriate cage
- General rodent cereal/seed diet plus insects, avoid high moisture content
- Require fresh water
- Large colonies / family groups Most species pair breed
- Tolerant of temperature extremes
Jerboas
- Highly specialised desert rodents
- Deep burrows in sand
- Require considerable space
- Very wary & secretive (not good pets)
- Water derived metabolically
Dormice
Dormice • African pygmy dormouse, • Graphiurus murinus eats insects & fruit • Dormice have no caecum • (no fermentation of vegetable matter)
Chinchillas
- Highly specialised South American rodents
- Highest living mammal
- 80-100 hairs grow from each hair follicle
- Colonial and highly social
- Live up to 15 yr – with appropriate care
- Bred on fur farms, later as pets
Chinchilla physical environment
- Adapted to harsh physical environment & resource conditions
- Require dry environment, free from drafts
- Solid bottom cage
- Enclosed ‘tank’ type cage generally too humid
- Susceptible to heat stroke
- Different levels to allow ‘rock jumping’, free-ranging exercise (but gnaw)
- Nocturnal, refuge essential for good welfare
- Make sure 12 hr light, 12 dark
- Dust bathing essential to keep fur clean and dry & allow hair shedding
Chinchilla Nutrition
- Natural diet – dried grass, seeds and moss, little else available
- Caecal fermentation followed by reingestion of faeces
- Needs high level of roughage & fibre; white wood or cuttlebone to gnaw
- Intolerant of high fat / protein or green plants
- Very susceptible to diet-related problems
- Use commercial diet for chinchillas + good quality hay (no mould)
- Any change to diet should be made very slowly
- Digestive problems detected through faeces:
Chinchilla breeding
– Gestation 111 days to produce fully-furred offspring
– Only 1-3 young per litter, partly precocial
– 40-60 days to weaning
– Insufficient milk / mastitis leads to aggression
• Look for bites on kit noses
• Can be hand-reared successfully from day 1
Curled tail + back legs apart = good health
• Females should not be bred until fully grown
Degus
Hystricomorph rodent, Family: Octodontidae
• Diurnal S American
• Highly social, agile & active – need to climb & jump
• Similar to chinchillas, less specialised
• Sugar-intolerant, prone to diabetes
• Chinchilla + cavy pellets/mix , hay, greens, occasional veg & fruit
• Broader diet to chinchilla, particularly intolerant to sugar
• Susceptible to tail shedding
• Sand bath keeps coat clean
• 90 day gestation
• Up to 8 young
• Females will nurse communally
• Male parental care
• Fully furred, eyes open
• Solid food within days
• Fully weaned at 4-6 weeks
Guinea Pigs
- Diurnal S. American rodent
- Domesticated by Incas since c.500BC
- Non-burrowing, hides in vegetation
- More timid, may panic & stampede
- Travel in small herd
- Entirely herbivorous
- Spend most of their time grazing
- Unable to manufacture vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
- Highly social, small groups
- Gestation 58-75 days
- 1-6 young per litter
- Precocious (well developed when born), weaned at 14-28 days
- Intolerant of extreme heat or cold, wind and damp
- Need floor pens with cover and refuges, constant supply of quality hay, commercial pellet diet plus fresh veg & some fruit, water bottles, companions, wood blocks for gnawing, solid floor and protection from wind/rain/cold/heat
Chipmunks
• Chipmunks Eutamias sibiricus
• Diurnal, arborial generalists
• Mixed diet: seeds, nuts, fruit, insects Extremely active, large home range
– small cages unsuitable
• Require space and height eg aviary with internal structuring and indoor or well protected shelter
Southern Flying Squirrel
- Small species, body ca 12cm
- Requires a tall aviary or room
- Highly nocturnal
- Nuts, seeds, fruit
- Calcium/D3 supplement
Sugar Gliders
- Marsupial (gliders & possums) Family: Petauridae
- Strongly nocturnal, strongly arboreal
- Highly social
- Single male dominates colony
- Males distinguished by scent gland on forehead
- Large cage/aviary or open room, with tree branches & elevated nest sites
- Critically dependent on suitable diet
- Natural diet includes sap from
- Eucalyptus and insects
- Require 75% fruit/vegetable,
- 25% protein minimum
- Prefer sweet fruits/vegetables including sweetcorn, lychees, mango, pineapple, apple, fig, dates, berries with calcium/vitamin supplement (limited grapes & citrus)
- Insects including crickets, waxworms, mealworms, locusts/hoppers
- Protein supplement such as dried cat food or glider pellets, nut treats
• Potential problems – Elongated claws normally worn down by climbing – Obesity in dominant male – Nutritional problems likely – Calcium supplement essential – (calcium:phosphate ratio 2:1)
- Breed in pair, trio or colony
- Only dominant male breeds; subordinates show hormonal suppression
- 16d gestation
- 1-3 young, in pouch for about 2mo
- Open eyes 7-10d
- Weaned 3-4 weeks after eyes open
- Female shouldn’t be bred until fully grown (8-12mo)
