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Small Mammals Make interesting pets for both children and adults. Some care is needed to ensure that you choose the right kind of pet that will be looked after properly for the whole of it's life. Animals mentioned on this page can live up to twenty years of age All of these pets are rodents and have teeth that continue to grow throughout their lives. There are some four thousand six hundred known species of mammals in the world and of these some two thousand are rodents. It is surprising in a way that we do not keep more of them as pets Often these animals, with the exception of rabbits which need regular vaccinations, will need very little veterinary treatments. You will need to get the right cages and care must be taken to ensure that they are able to live in a stimulating environment and are fed on the correct diet.. All rodents will need attention to their teeth from tome to time and the four incisor teeth should be checked at least once each month. It is not usually too difficult to have them trimmed. If they are neglected they allow the molar teeth at the back of the mouth to become too long and this can be far more difficult to sort out. Also be aware of skin conditions as small mammals can sometimes have problems with a fungal infection and mites that live in their skin. Ringworm is a cause for concern as it is readily passed on to infect the hands of children that look after these animals. Both conditions can be treated but you will need to be careful about handling your pets until the infection has cleared up. These are nocturnal mammals that take up little space and are fairly easy to keep. They are particularly suited to houses that are empty for the greater part of the day as they start to get active when people arrive home in the evenings. In general they need little looking after but they must be cleaned out at least once each week to avoid difficulties with enteritis that can be difficult to control once it becomes established. Syrian Hamsters are naturally solitary creatures that live in deep burrows and will show aggression to others of their kind. They can sometimes have a tendency to bite and should be handled regularly from a young age to build up their confidence and stop their aggressive tendencies. Russian and Chinese Hamsters are smaller and tend to be more docile. In the wild they live in family groups and they can be kept as single sexed pairs as long as they have been reared together. Hamsters are usually bedded on shredded paper, avoid newsprint and man made fibers as these may be eaten and cause obstructions. Wood shavings can also be used as a bedding material. Hamsters are house proud and like to move their bedding around to suit their own needs. Water bottles need to be close to the floor of the cage and make sure they are not leaking and making the bedding wet. They will eat a variety of feeds and prefer to pick things up from the floor. Oats, wheat and maize are a good source of carbohydrate and they do like sunflower seeds and peanuts as well. Green food and pieces of dog biscuits will also be taken but limit the quantities as they can start digestive upsets. Hamsters can breed from as young as six weeks and are only pregnant for sixteen days. They will live to between two and two and a half years of age. These are nocturnal desert animals that are able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures, but do not like damp conditions. They are very active and prefer to live in single sexed groups that have been reared together. It is difficult to introduce strangers, or animals of a different colour to an established group. Gerbils rarely bite and are relatively odourless when kept in clean conditions. These animals have a tendency to chew and should not be kept in wooden cages. Gerbils have back legs that are longer and stronger than their front ones. They can leap and climb and stand up on their hind legs to watch what is going on. In the wild they drum their hind feet to communicate and will do this in their cage if they have enough space. If you have the space give them a layer of peat at the base of their cage as they like to burrow. Usually it is better not to provide an exercise wheel for gerbils, they use they too actively and will damage their toes on them. Wheat, oats, barley and maize seeds are the main source of energy in their diet. They enjoy peanuts and grass pellets and some individuals may become addicted to sunflower seeds. If this happens you should limit the supply as they will eat these alone and become overweight. Diets fed to mice and rats can also be used for gerbils. Gerbils can breed from ten weeks of age and are pregnant for four weeks. It may not be wise to start a breeding colony, as there will be a massive population explosion in a short space of time. They can live for up to four years. There are now over forty different varieties of mice that are kept as pets. They are popular with young children, as they are relatively inexpensive to buy and house. They respond well to handling and are readily tamed. Mice can be very active creatures and are good acrobats that enjoy showing off to an audience. Mice need a cage that is secure from predators; they may be just too much of a temptation for your family cat to live with. Wood shavings, sawdust or peat may be used in the cage, but it will need to be cleaned out twice each week. Male mice have a very distinctive odour when they mature so the females are a better option if you have a choice. Adults move quickly and are best lifted by their tail as this causes them no distress. Mice are easy to feed either with cereals or a pelleted food. They enjoy sunflower seeds and will take rabbit pellets and small dog biscuits for variety. Do not give them cheese in any quantity, as it is not a balanced food. It is not always easy to spot when a mouse is unwell; they are often very poorly before anything is noticed. It is better to keep female mice, they can breed from six weeks of age so the sexes must be segregated as soon as they are weaned. Does are pregnant for twenty-one days and can live for up to two years. Guinea Pigs are quite small rodents related to the Hedgehog and Chinchilla. They are an ideal pet for small children as they enjoy being handled and are easy to look after as they can be kept as outdoor or indoor pets. They are relatively noisy animals during the day because when in colonies they communicate to each other in high pitch squeals. The ideal housing for a Guinea Pig would be a rabbit hutch which is sheltered on the one side and open on the other with wire mesh, bedding should consist of sawdust or wood shavings and hay and straw which is sterile from the pet shop to help stop lice. If choosing more than one Guinea Pig to keep as pet it is best to choose the same sex. When a male pig is put in with a female they will start breeding straight away and will continue breeding after the litter is born, if this should happen within a couple of months your guinea pig population will have increased a lot as young guinea pigs start breeding as soon as they reach three weeks of age. The daily diet should be a mixture of grains such as milled oats, wheat, kibbled maize and grass pellets. You can buy this from your local pet store as a complete diet. It would be even better it fresh fruit and vegetables were added to there dry based diet. Guinea Pig need a daily supply of vitamin C or they will develop problems with their joints and muscles. The very best food is Supa Guinea Excel as this supplies all of their needs and can be fed to rabbits that share the same environment. When buying a new Guinea Pig you must make sure there is no kind of discharge coming from either the eyes, ears, nose and bottom area, the breathing should sound clear and the teeth and claws are kept trimmed as they will grow very quickly. Guinea Pigs mature quickly and the females can breed from thirty days of age. They are pregnant for sixty days and usually have three offspring. If you want to start a breeding colony the sows should be mated young as they have difficulties giving birth if they have been allowed to mature before the first mating. Adults can live for up to eight years.
Rats are probably the most suitable pet for a child or an adult who lives alone. They are nocturnal animals but can easily be trained to sleep during the night and come out during the day. They are easy to handle and love attention. If handled often it is very unlikely that they will bite. Rats are more content with a companion, either put two sisters together or two brothers. The ideal housing for a rat would be a large fish tank with wire mesh for the lid. Fine sawdust is best for the substrate and shredded paper for the bedding. To amuse a rat during the day buy it some small toys as they will keep them occupied for ages, ladders are a good idea as they keep them exercised and also help to keep there teeth down when gnawing. A mature rat will eat up to 60g of cereal food a day. Dry complete feeds are a very good source of nourishment. Fruit, fresh vegetables and greens can be added to the diets in small amounts. Rats are able to breed from nine weeks of age, are pregnant for twenty-one days and may have twelve or more offspring each time they give birth. These are born at a relatively immature state. In a good environment individuals may live for four years.
Chinchillas are nice pets to watch but do not like to be handled much, so this rodent may not be an suitable pet for small children. They must be provided with a sand bath every day because chinchillas have very delicate, soft fur which needs to be kept very clean. If the chinchilla does not keep itself clean its fur will start to drop out in clumps. To house a chinchilla you need a lot of room as they need a tall cage for height to jump, this is because chinchillas originate from the foot hills of the Andes in South America where they have to jump up the side of the hills for fresher vegetation. In the cage it should include several shelves at different heights all made out of wood and a wooden box, which is dark on the inside for the chinchilla to hide during the day. They are very difficult to catch again should they ever escape from their cage. In captivity the diet of a chinchilla is limited, In the wild they survive on a diet low in nutrients. They need a good supply of hay. It has been discovered that chinchillas are prone to diabetes so all they can been fed as a daily diet is pellets from a pet store, carrots and apples. Hamster or rabbit feeds are not suitable for Chinchillas. Chinchillas have a very dense soft coat and come in a variety of colours but the most common is the grey and then the albino. Chinchillas will live with you for as many as twenty years. They mature slowly and can only breed from seven months of age. They are pregnant for one hundred and twenty eight days and normally have either two or three offspring each time they give birth. These are very agile ground dwelling animals that originate from North America. They need a lot of space and are best kept as two females and a male or a small colony. Special cages are now available for chipmunks, add shelves and branches for them to climb onto, and a small wooden nest box with hay for sleeping purposes. If you have the space build an outside run and let them have shavings or soft peat to burrow into. Chipmunks make very little noise and are odourless so their accommodation will not need a great deal of maintenance. Take care to avoid any escapes, you will not be able to recapture them and it is not a good thing that they should be encouraged to breed here in the wild. For some reason they get very distressed by television sets and should not be kept anywhere near one. Chipmunks can readily be fed on a Hamster diet. They like nuts and fruit and will readily accept animal protein in small quantities. Like Hamsters they have cheek pouches and use their front paws to hold the food they are eating. Young chipmunks do not like to be handled and can be aggressive. The females are pregnant for thirty-five days and usually produce four or five offspring after this time. These are born blind and hairless and continue to feed from their mother for seven weeks.
Male ferrets are known as hobs, females as jills and baby ferrets are called kits. Ferrets require a large cage with lots of toys to occupy them as they are easily bored. They like tunnels, blankets to burrow in and things to climb. Many ferrets have hammocks in their cage to play and sleep in. Ferrets are very sociable animals and need to spend lots of time playing with their owners. It is best to keep two or more ferrets if you work in the day, as this prevents them becoming bored. The best diet for a ferret is a specially designed ferret food. Their natural diet is made up mostly of meat such as rabbit, so you can add rabbit, chicken or beef to their diet. Ferrets drink quite a large amount of water so a large water bowl or bottle is required. If using a bowl it must be weighed down to prevent being knocked over in play. Although they don't need a yearly vaccination like dogs and cats, it is a good idea to vaccinated ferrets with a dog vaccine every two years, as they can catch canine distemper. Ferrets can breed from the age of about 6 months. The male ferret is in season from about January to August and the female from March to September. The gestation period of the ferret is about 42 days and litter size is about 8 kits. The kits will start to eat solid food at 3 weeks of age, and open their eyes between 4 and 5 weeks. Weaning age is about 7 weeks. Ferrets who are not being used for breeding must be spayed or neutered for health reasons. Female ferrets who are not mated will have prolonged seasons, which will make them ill and can cause death. There are more thoughts about living with ferrets on the following link. We do see and treat reptiles from time to time but would not claim to have any specific expertise in their care and management. The Reptile Clinic has a growing web site with useful link that you might like to explore for further information.
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