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| Misc. FAQ for Spiny Mice |
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| How do you tell male from female? There are three different ways to decifer gender in spiny mice, I use a combination of all three just to be sure of myself. Some people think the easiest way to tell is to check for nipples, which only the females have. Another way to check in the "egyptian" or "golden" spiny is that the females will have a bit of black pigmentation just under their tails where as males are just pink. And the third way to tell and the easiest for me is to check the distance of the two openings under their tail. Like rats and other rodents the males will be much farther apart then females, however this teqnique is pretty useless if you don't know what you are looking for or have many animals of many ages- making it hard to compare. The choice is yours- try all three! But don't pick these critters up by the tail- it'll rip off. Be really gentle and either flip them over on their stomaches(if they'll allow) or *really* gently lift up the tail just enough to see with the mouse's feet still on your hand... Be careful! What is their lifespan? Spiny mice on average live around 5 years of age, they can live longer or shorter depending.. 5 years is a nice break from the much shorter lived fancy mice! Are they noisey? Spiny mice as far as I can tell don't make any vocalizations so the only noise you'll hear is them chewing or digging in their bedding in the middle of the night- they are nocturnal as far as I can tell. How bad is their chewing? Spiny mice in my opinion are the worst chewers of any animal known to man. They will chew through a plastic water bottle in a matter of minutes, they love cardboards, plastic and wood and will gnaw on just about anything. They are enormously destructive!! That's why aquariums with metal mesh covers are the best for them! Is there different species of spiny mice? Yes, all my spiny mice are "Golden" or sometimes called incorrectly "Egyptian" but there are others known to the pet market although they are much harder to find. Some are sometimes called 'satins' and they have a much shinier coat, others are black and these are all sub species. None of these should be interbred! Do they have health Problems? Their tails are easily breakable and can rip off really easily, they can get rather chubby rather easily and lone mice whom haven't been properally raised and socialized with others after weaning can have mental disorders. Please see my Spiny Mice Illness and Cures page for more details. Do they get allong with other animals? Spiny mice should not be mixed with any other animal rodent or not. They shouldn't even be housed with other sub-species. They are mice and are at the bottom of the food chain so be wary of other larger pets.. |