OCT 11th Dulette pased away due to old age
LAST UPDATED:OCT 14 2001
OCT 11th Dulette pased away due to old age
On Wednesday she seemed a little more lethargic then normal, but nothing to be overly worried about, she eat and drunk water.. the next day it was clear she was dieing.. her eyes where weepy/puffy, she had lost wieght overnight, was walking in cirles when she did move and later was bleeding from her retum. I took her to work with me because they have morning vet rounds and she could be looked at imidiately. She was odviously dieing and because it was the most humane and best option for her she was euthanised early Thursday morning
Dulette was very old, and they assured me her illness was realted to old age complications. Due had a long and happy life once she arrived with us, was well loved and is missed. For now I am leaving her images up but will be taking them off soon.
Later I will keep information on these exotic and interesting mice.. but right now I am not ready.....
I haven't updated in a while, Due is now 4 years old.. it seems that spiny mice live longer then fancy mice, an added joy! The also, being desert mice do not smell as much (remeber I DO own females!) She is a very sweet little creature.
We get her all kinds of treats besides her regular mouse diet.. it took some time to find a good one for her. The photos are taken of her in her small "cleaning tank" which we put her in when her cage is being cleaned as it's impossible to take any good photos through the bars of her cage! (I have tried!) her cage is a large one, about the smae size as Jersey's and has all kinds of things for her to play and exercise in. We plan on getting her a tank too as with the cats it's just earier to clean and we will be able to see her better.
However I do suggest that anyone that doesn't have cats or has a room to safely isolate their small animals away from the cats use a large 2-3 story cage as the ventolation is better.
Originaly when I got Deulette I was unable to find ANY information of these mice other then one or two sites, so I have included some links about them and their care
Spiny mice as pets -general information about housing, feeding and caring for spinies
Spiny Mice housing, feeding ---- they suggest 10 gallon tank, I suggest at least 20-30 gallon tank!
Some info about spiny mice
Feeding Spiny mice information on feeding and caring for spinies (and other mice)
Awsome Spiny mouse page
Spinies!
Spinie info
Yahoo seach for spiny mice
(feb 2000)
Dulette is now 3 years old, she is still very active and friendly. She loves he mouse food and enjoys various treats. She likes mealworms a great deal!! Dulette now has a bigger cage and is much happier. She has tubes and toys to play with andtissue and paper tubes to chew, she also gets some branches to chew on as well. I got her a 3 story cage which she will move into soon, and I think that will give her lots more room to move around!
Our new freind now has a name, she's called Dulette. For an "unfriendly" creature, she is rather freindly, you can't pick her up but she is willing to take seeds from me and lets me put my hand in to take out her food bowl, she drinks out of a water bottle.
She's a sweet looking and active mouse, and seems happy!
We just got (May 7th '99) a cute little spiny mouse. She is about 1 year old and missing her tail but looks something like the ones pictured above I'll add her picture soon. She was no longer wanted by her former owners and they brought her in to the shelter to be put down, but the staff didn't want to put her down so they were looking for a home for her. I saw her and since I had been thinking of getting one some time back and also we didn't want her put to sleep either, she came home with me.
She's very hand shy and will bite if someone tries to pick her up but is otherwise a very sweet little mouse. She has some mice/hamster block food and I am getting her some mouse food (seeds) tommorw. 
I an still looking into diets, but I been told she eats seeds, fruits and vedgies and bugs. If anyone has some information on feeding and care of these guys please e-mail me, I know the basics about mice and small animals but not much about this type of mice.