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(This information goes for all social rodents and non-rodents including mice, gerbils, and degus.)
This matter is briefly talked about here.
While no one knows for sure what, if anything, animals understand about death, rodents do understand absence, as in: my friend is missing. Just as they are happy to see you after a while, they are happy to see ...
10
Just gently keep working at it on a daily basis and be patient.
We have 3 Degus (like a domesticated squirrel), and when we got them, they weren't very keen on even being touched. I offered my hand for them to sniff and nibble on everyday, and I can safely pick them up now.
If they're small enough, you can also lay your hand flat on their cage's floor, ...
7
This is impossible to "diagnose" via the Internet.
The list of what may be wrong is nearly endless, but some of the more frequent issues are, in no particular order:
Internal / organ damage.
The pups are extremely fragile and both it falling from the nest and
your dog carrying it around may have caused harm.
Thermoregulation problem.
This pup is ...
6
NO
It is not much known from the wildlife of this kind of hamster. They are called winter white, because this kind has the whole year the color of the wild animals winter fur. In the wild there were very rare observations of pairs, and colonies only for the winter's time, to warm each other. In conclusion, they can live peacefully together for some time (one ...
6
Mice are known to be capable of getting through 1/4 inch wide gaps. You will have to change your cage to something more escape-proof. Without knowing what your cage looks like, I must assume your cage only has vertical bars. You have 2 options:
Keep the mouse in a cage with vertical AND horizontal bars (crossbars). The problem here is that the mouse may ...
6
For most small rodents, such as rats or mice, I would look to use hardwood wood shavings (aspen is usually easily found, depends on where you are). Avoid softwood shavings, such as pine or cedar as they're known to be very problematic and not just for rats and mice. There is also other bedding options, commercially available, made from recycled papers that ...
4
It sounds like you are taking very good care of your gerbils, and they are relaxed and happy. You are doing fine as you are. I would continue to stroke them, both because it's good for bonding and because it will make things easier if you ever have to give them medicine. Your gerbils don't need to be held.
If someday you do want to be able to hold them, I ...
4
While cats usually enjoy chasing rodents, my understanding is that cats aren't particularly fond of eating them. Most cats would rather play with them than eat them, and I don't think there's any practical way for you to teach them to kill. And not that you suggested it, but it would be cruel to deny her food to try to get her to kill them. I think that ...
4
What noise are they making? If it is the wheel they have you could get a silent spinner. You could also try using another sound to drown them out. Maybe some light music. Or a fan.
Also if the cage is light consider moving the location of it at night. Maybe place it in the bathroom. So you don't have to mess with their sleep pattern and they won't mess with ...
4
While waiting for the answers to my questions above I figured I would post this to help in the meantime.
If she is showing any symptoms described in this question, then she is indeed choking. It sounds to me like this isn't the case.
If not, and taking into account her age, she's probably experiencing mild respiratory distress. All rats have a certain ...
4
No,
Pine and Cedar are generally considered toxic to Rats (and many small mammals) pine should not be used as bedding by extension they should not be offered as chew toys.
There are several home remedies (most don't work) for keeping needles on trees, and you have no idea what methods may have been used on the trees that have been disposed of.
In fact ...
3
If she's actually drooling or foaming at the mouth, she could have some sort of medical issue, ranging from overgrown teeth to an infection. Your best bet would be a proper exotics veterinarian to diagnose and treat her.
From experience, a respiratory infection's running nose can look like "foam" or drool in the mouth area given they are so tiny!
...
3
What I like to use is shredded paper, because even though it is nessicary to clean it often, it has proven to be the more comfortable option for my mice. It is very easy for them to burrow in, and they can move and rip it as they please to build up on theirs “ house”. It is also really cheap. I can get many months out of one 3 dollar bag, it is also very ...
2
Depending on what you are using the lab rat for, this should be a very careful decision. They are many studies analyzing different types of cage beddings and many have advantages and disadvantages. As I do not know what you are using your rat for, I will provide you with a very useful document and allow you to decide. This document is from animalethics.org ...
2
I think you should be fine leaving it in the cage. I've had gerbils and dwarf hamsters where I left their sand baths in the cages with no ill effect (I replaced the sand frequently as well).
You've mentioned you clean the sand daily and completely replace it from time to time, which is key. It's true they only need to bathe a few times a week but I don't ...
2
This is indeed a baby mouse (perhaps wood mouse/deer mouse), if you do not want to bring it to a wildlife rehab you can try to care for it yourself. Wikihow has an excellent guide to feeding and caring. This mouse looks to be 1.5 weeks old.
Some important points:
Mice ages 0-1 week need feedings 6-8 times a day; mice 1-2 weeks need feedings 5-6 times a day; ...
2
It could be also that the tail got stuck somewhere between the bars if you have bars in your cage and then was torn off while they were wrestling. Have you found the missing tail somewhere?
Have your rats known each other for a long time, like a few months? Because where you introduce a new rat to the group, you have to do it carefully, especially if the new ...
2
The elecronic repellers appear to work by making a high-pitched sound. Snakes don't hear all too well. I haven't seen mine react to any loud noises, like music or fireworks. If there's anything they're going to hear, it'll be the lower vibrations through the ground. I wouldn't worry in this case.
As for the dog-safe poison Elmy suggested, be advised that ...
2
Yes, that should be enough space. It is recommended to have at least 2903 cm2 (450 in2) of floor space for one hamster. Having more than one dwarf hamster will require a little bit more space than 2903 cm2. If your tank is 96 x 47 cm, then that is 4512 cm2 (699 in2) of floor space, which is plenty for a few dwarf hamsters.
Note: this answer is solely about ...
2
Hamster hair loss is usually a vicious cycle: some irritation causes itching, itching causes scratching, scratching causes more irritation, etc. Other usual suspects would be stress, which can lead to both hair loss and scratching, low food variety, allergy and cancer.
While I wouldn't be alarmed, it is always a good idea to take him to a vet.
I personally ...
2
The hair loss of a hamster is almost always caused by rubbing against a hard object or sharp object in its cage, but the type of bedding you may use could potentially cause the hamster to lose hair if it is allergic to its bedding. One other cause could be that the cage is to moist from the water bottle dripping.
2
Gerbils are usually not aggressive and don't tend to bite without a reason like being stressed or attacked. I assume you have a terrestrial tortoise and these are typically herbivorous, thus not interested in attacking nor eating other animals. However, one can't really guarantee that a tortoise won't misinterpret gebril's curiosity as a threat or for ...
2
I have noticed that it is always the most difficult task with the older rats from pet stores. I think that they had to fight the longest for the food, for a good place in the cage also the rotation is quit big so every day you (rat) have to fight for domination.
I had similar problem with one of my rats. They say that a fight is OK until there's no blood, ...
1
In this individual case it's probably a sign that he's not feeling at his best right now. Catching rodents requires a certain level of fitness and very sudden, very quick motions. He might either feel pain during the pouncing and catching, or he doesn't feel perfectly well in general and prefers to rest.
Hyperthyroid can cause fatigue and muscle pain, so ...
1
You should go to the vet, that looks like swelling from an infection.
1
I found a site that states:
On close inspection, it can be seen that rats' tails are skin, soft with hair, and the "scale" is only a texture. Rat tails are easily injured and can tear from a bite.
My best guess as to what happened is they were either playing or got aggressive with one another and either accidentally or purposely bit off the tail of the ...
1
You should when you are able to pick them up also hold them for a few seconds and then give them a treat. Once you give Them the treat put them back in the cage. This associates you holding them with treats.
1
I think you've got a few options here. One is like JoshDM suggested and get a 10gal glass fish tank. You can get a wire lid if there is anything she can stand on to get out. However, I wouldn't add much to it if it's just a temp cage till you find a better solution.
Another temporary solution that may or may not work, depending on how determined your mouse ...
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