Sonya is an animal. Dormouse rodent: general characteristics of animals and types of these mice

At night, the dormouse in search of food silently moves among the dense foliage of trees and shrubs. Why is this brisk animal called dormouse? Because the animal falls into a long hibernation in winter, which lasts seven, and in cold regions - all eight months.

BREEDING

The mating season for dormouse begins in June and ends in July. The female generally brings offspring once a year.

The male dormouse takes care of the female in a peculiar way. He pursues the chosen one, making a loud squeak. Three weeks after mating, the female gives birth to 4 to 6 cubs, for which she builds a nest of leaves and moss in a hollow tree or in an empty bird's nest.

Dormouse babies are born blind, naked and completely helpless; they are completely dependent on the mother. After three weeks, their eyes open and fur grows. The mother takes care of her offspring for a long time, she has to get food, often moving a considerable distance from the nest.

LIFESTYLE

Sonya regiment first lived in deciduous forests. Today it is also found in alpine forests and gardens, if fruit trees and shrubs grow there. These animals are active at night. They look for food on trees and shrubs, deftly climbing trunks and jumping from branch to branch. If the intended fetus falls down, the dormouse flies after it, keeping the limbs and tail parallel to the ground. Animals usually do not move far from the nest. They return to their home with the first rays of the sun. Dormouse's nest is covered with dry leaves and twigs and is usually located in a hollow tree, in a gap between stones, under the roof of a house or in an empty bird house. Dormouse can simultaneously use several living quarters, which are located at a short distance from each other. Dormouse spends 7-8 months in winter shelter.

WHAT DOES IT FEED

Dormouse is a herbivore that only occasionally eats insects, bird eggs or chicks. Nuts, acorns, chestnuts usually predominate in the diet of the dormouse. At the end of summer, she prepares for winter, accumulating fat reserves. At this time, the dormouse raids warehouses, storages, cellars, where she finds plenty of apples and other delicacies.

SONYA POLCHOK AND MAN

The ancient Romans specially bred and fattened regiments, the dishes from which were considered one of the most delicious at the feasts. Since dormice feed almost exclusively on plant foods, their meat is very tender. In some European countries the dormouse dormouse is called the "edible mouse". Nowadays and still people continue to hunt the dormouse dormouse. This animal is considered a garden pest, because it damages the trunks and branches of young trees with its sharp claws and teeth.

OBSERVING SONIA

Watching a dormouse that leads a nocturnal lifestyle is really not an easy task. Sonya can be found in his tent by a climber or a tourist who, having stopped to spend the night in the park, is located on the lawn under a chestnut or oak. Sometimes she rustles in the pantry and leaves "material evidence" of her presence in the bird feeder - heaps of excrement, and gnaws bark, branches and buds on trees. to such a trick: hang a jar with a small amount of jam at the bottom from a branch.

INTERESTING FACTS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT...

• One owner of domestic regiments said that in 10 weeks three animals ate 272 cherries, 92 pears, 64 apples, 42 apricots, 25 grapes, 58 plums, 526 gooseberries and several hundred pumpkin seeds.
• The ancient Romans cooked fine dining from dormouse. To do this, they raised animals in special gliraria cages, and received especially tender meat for the holiday by feeding dormouse with acorns and chestnuts.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF SONY-TOP. DESCRIPTION

Head: the dormouse has large, rounded ears and a pink, hairless nose. Eyes with black border.

Meal: the dormouse eats sitting on its hind legs, and holds food in its front legs, while its tail lies on the ground - unlike the squirrel's, pressed to its back.

Limbs: claws and soft pads on the paws are adapted for climbing trees.

Wool: short and soft, brown-gray or smoky-gray with a silvery tinge on the back, white on the belly.

Tail: length equal to the length of the body, fluffy, covered with long hair. This is a vulnerable part of the body - dormice without a tail are often found.

- Habitat of dormouse

WHERE LIVES

Sonya lives in most of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. In 1902 it was acclimatized in Great Britain.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

Dormouse in Europe is found only in isolated areas of its range. To preserve the species, it is necessary to prevent the felling of old deciduous forests, as well as shrubs.

Dormouse dormouse / Glis glis. Video (00:02:08)

We met him in the hunter's house on Caucasus mountains, he peacefully but very noisily gnawed a one-year-old piece of bread. This funny animal was not even scared when I started filming it with a flashlight on it!

Dormouse / Edible dormouse. Video (00:00:23)

The origin of the sony known species and their features, tips on keeping and feeding a rodent at home, the right purchase of a dormouse and price.

It is a pleasure to keep such a pet, it is easily tamed, even goes to hand. Having brought such a pet into the house, you can be sure that he will never make you bored or sad. Sonya sometimes simply infects with her activity and perky disposition, and looking at this little "motor" one wants to live and work.

But before you run to the pet store in the neighboring area in search of such a fluffy comrade, it’s better to get to know him better, because after all, he comes from wildlife and he is not very accustomed to home conditions.

The origin of the dormouse and its native habitats

The natural distribution area is quite wide and depends on the specific type of dormouse, but if you have such a desire to visit this rodent, then you won’t have to travel far, these animals are found almost throughout Europe and Asia.

Description of the varieties of dormouse and their characteristic features

forest dormouse

On the territory of Russia, this forest rodent lives in the Tver region and in the western part Kirov region. On the lands of the Caucasus, these animals are distributed almost everywhere.

For their comfortable living, small mammals prefer deciduous forests with fairly dense undergrowth, it can occasionally settle in mixed forests, dense gardens and in areas rich in shrubs. As their personal living space, forest dormouse chooses hollows made in advance by other inhabitants of the forests, abandoned bird nests, and if she has time and inspiration, then sometimes she can design a nest for herself with her small paws.

These tiny animals almost never have problems with food, they can be content with both plant foods and live food. The forest dormouse likes to eat fruits and seeds of plants, for example, acorns, a variety of nuts, apple seeds and even juicy fruits, if they are lucky to get them. As for products of animal origin, they eat various insects with joy and great pleasure, in difficult times they can afford to gobble up bird eggs and even small chicks without remorse.

If we talk about the appearance of this little animal, then this is a rather small animal. The length of its miniature body reaches approximately 10-12 cm, the caudal process grows up to 9-10 cm, body weight varies from 30 to 45 grams.

Forest dormouse, of course, is not a chameleon at all, but its color tends to change, depending on the territories in which the animal lives. Most often, the coat of these mammals is presented in grayish tones. But in some areas, dormouse can be painted in slightly brownish colors, there are locations where animals of yellowish-gray shades live, and on their bodies you can easily notice the border between the color of the upper and lower parts of the body. If this forest animal settles in a mountainous area, then usually their fur is decorated with a white and gray color scheme.

The caudal process is usually very fluffy, its color is most often represented by dark shades of gray. The tail of the dormouse has a very good blood supply, for this reason, if the animal gets into some kind of unpleasant situation, the hair on the tail rises strongly, and the blood rushes into the caudal vascular network, you can see how gradually this part of the dormouse body changes and becomes reddish.

On the cute face of the animal there is a strip of dark shades, which is located from the nose to the auditory organs. These animals have very well developed vibrissae and besides they are quite long, their length is approximately equal to the total length of the body.

dormouse

The body of this mammal is wrapped in a rather thick lush layer of fur, but the coat is relatively short. Compared with its forest relative, the color of this animal is constantly the same and is not affected by either geographic or climatic conditions. Usually the dormouse is painted in grayish-brown shades with a slight smoky tint. The area of ​​the abdominal cavity is usually lighter than the area of ​​the back and is traditionally painted in white-yellowish tones. On the cute face of this living creature, his “natural accessories” are immediately evident in the form of dark rings around the eyes, which are somewhat reminiscent of sunglasses, but in some representatives of their kind they are hardly noticeable.

For the first time, this medium-sized rodent was described in the UK, although the natural distribution area is quite extensive and goes far beyond Asia. These bushy-tailed oddballs can be seen traveling through France, Italy, Spain, and even coastal Mediterranean regions.

For the reason that by nature these beautiful animals are the strictest vegetarians, they choose wooded areas for their living, where a large number of fruit trees, they can’t eat acorns and nuts all their lives, they don’t mind eating some juicy fruit. Shelves can settle near agricultural holdings, such as vineyards or orchards. The animal does not eat so much, so it will not bring a significant loss to the crop, but it will remain full and satisfied. He loves apples, pears, dogwoods, plums, cherries and even raspberries and blackberries very much. Before eating, the animal must first make sure that its food is ripe, it will never eat if its dinner is not ripe enough.

The period of activity for these fluffies falls at night, with the onset of twilight on the earth, these nimble little animals come out of their small cozy houses and start looking for a variety of goodies. They spend most of their time in the trees; ground walks are extremely rare. But they are not active at all for a long time, since already from mid-September they begin to lie down in a winter dream. Very interesting is the fact that the first winter holidays mature males leave, and then by seniority.
For wintering, regiments usually dig deep holes, which reach a length of approximately 180–200 cm. But if they have no desire to engage in construction, and there are human settlements nearby, then these cunning people can winter in haylofts and even under the attics of houses. They never make stocks for the winter, for this reason, in times of cold weather, a large number of animals die, who did not have time to properly fatten themselves over the summer, because if their sleep is disturbed, they immediately wake up, but they have nothing to eat in winter.

garden dormouse

On the territory of Russia, this mammal is widely distributed not only in dense woodlands, but also on different edges, in orchards and even city parks.

By nature, it is an omnivore, it can satisfy an attack of hunger with a variety of seeds, nuts, fruits, but still its favorite dishes are animal products, for example, dung beetles, beetles, nutcrackers and other insects. With pleasure, this fluffy cunning devours small defenseless chicks.

If they are very lucky in life and people live near their place of residence, then garden dormouse can also make their way into their premises. Of course, they do not climb onto the bed and do not turn on the TV, but they can afford to treat themselves to various products. Bread, milk, sour cream are some of the favorite delicacies of little thieves.

These cunning representatives of the dormouse family are not at all afraid to die during the fierce winter cold, since they are the most voracious among all their relatives, so their fat reserves are quite enough for the entire winter period, some individuals even practically do not lose weight during hibernation.

Spectacled, South African dormouse

The African dormouse is a small animal, the length of its miniature body does not exceed 15 cm, and its weight is approximately 25–45 grams. The coat of this eccentric from Africa is very pleasant in texture, soft, colored in smoky grayish shades. The projection of the tummy of this mammal is painted white, occasionally with a slight ash tint. In some individuals, against this background, it seems possible to notice a certain pattern formed by small spots of brown-reddish color. The same drawings can be on the face of the animal.

Unlike their domestic relatives, this African rodent does not tolerate loneliness at all, for this reason, in the wild, they usually live in fairly large social groups.

At first, you may experience some inconvenience associated with the nocturnal activity of this rodent, in order to avoid lack of sleep, it is best to take out the dormouse cage at night to the place furthest from the bedroom. In the event that you pay enough attention to your friend, he will easily change his usual schedule for you. And if you also spoil him with goodies throughout the day, you can be sure that your rest will not be disturbed by a well-fed and happy pet.

Usually, dormouse quickly get used to a person and after some time after the start of living together they are happy to make contact with their owners, especially if they have prepared something tasty for them.

In the animal's house it is necessary to put a feeder, a container with drinking water, and also make a place to relax, preferably in the form of a shelter. This little tenant also sometimes wants to retire.

Cleaning in his home must be done regularly, not only to avoid unpleasant odors, but also in order to prevent various diseases of your friend.

In the event that you stay at work for a long time, think about your furry friend, he will be bored, if you cannot allow this, then make sure that your pet has something to do in free time. As entertainment, you can install a jogging wheel in the cage, believe me, your sleepyhead will drive like crazy in it. In addition, it is desirable to build a place for climbing from different branches and trunks. It is recommended to put some straw or dry leaves on the animal, suddenly he will have a desire to build a place for himself to sleep with his own paws.

This funny little animal, so similar to either a squirrel or a hamster, is called hazel dormouse (lat. Muscardinus avellanarius). She became “Oreshnikova” because she lives where there are a lot of different nuts, and she was nicknamed “sleepyhead” because she likes to take a nap during the day.

This is one of the smallest representatives of the dormouse family. The body length of an adult animal is only 7-9 cm with a weight of 27 g. The tail with a tassel is long, almost equal to length body (6-7.7 cm). It is evenly covered with short, soft hair. At hazel dormouse blunt muzzle with very large vibrissae, the length of which sometimes reaches 40% of the body length. The ears are small and rounded.

The head, back and tail of the animal are ocher-red, sometimes with a reddish tint. The belly and the inside of the legs are yellowish, the chest and lower part of the body are often decorated with white spots. Large and almost round black eyes.

The hazel dormouse lives in Europe and northern Turkey, and can also be seen in southern Sweden and the UK. In general, this cute rodent is quite common in southern Europe, only in hot Spain it is not. In Russia, the little dormouse is extremely rare. If you're lucky, you can see it in broad-leaved and mixed forests of the middle zone.

The main condition for the habitation of hazel dormouse is the presence of a dense undergrowth of hazel, mountain ash, wild rose, viburnum, bird cherry and other trees and shrubs that can produce crops in different time of the year. In addition, a shy animal loves very much when there are many shelters around where you can hide from terrible predators.

flickr/kleinsaeuger.at

Hazel dormouse builds several residential nests, placing them in hollows of trees or simply on branches at a height of 1-2 meters. On occasion, he willingly occupies birdhouses, nest boxes or titmouses, not particularly worrying whether someone already lives there or not. From the antics of an impudent animal, mainly small birds suffer, which are not able to fight back.

Dormouse is a territorial animal, while the personal territories of females never intersect with each other, while the male's territory always passes through several females' territories.

During the daytime, the dormouse sleeps in one of its nests. At nightfall, she goes out in search of food. Interestingly, the animal does not immediately leave the shelter. First, he sticks his muzzle out and quickly moves his vibrissae, checking if there is anyone suspicious nearby. Then the dormouse goes to the nearest branch and begins to take care of her toilet.

Having thoroughly cleaned, hazel dormouse sets off on a night journey full of dangers. A few hours before dawn, full and satisfied, she returns home. The animal feeds on linden nuts, acorns, nuts, beech and other seeds of broad-leaved species. In addition, she willingly eats berries, fruits, young spring buds and shoots. Sometimes her diet includes bird eggs.

In winter, hazel dormouse hibernates. To do this, she arranges a warm and reliable nest on the ground or underground, using root weaves, holes of other rodents, and sometimes even old tires or tin cans. Of course, the animal insulates them with bunches of dry grass, feathers, wool and simply gnawed leaves. The life expectancy of hazel dormouse in the wild is 2-3 years.

Description of the forest dormouse

The small dart frog forest dormouse has much in common with mice and squirrels, and at the same time. Peculiarities appearance, namely color, size and behavior depend on the place of immediate habitat. Depending on the place of residence, the coat color of the forest dormouse may be darker or lighter, the contrast between the shades manifests itself in different ways.

Appearance

Dormouse are small animals with a slightly elongated body. The total body length is from 60 to 120 mm. The flattened tail, separately, can be the same length, with longer hair. The tail is not just an ornament, but an important vestibular tool. It helps to balance on the branches, playing the role of a kind of steering wheel. Also, this part of the body may indicate the mood of the rodent. If the long hair on the tail lies smoothly, the animal feels safe. Rearing hairs in this zone indicate an unfriendly attitude. In anticipation of danger, the dormouse raises its hairs to appear larger for its opponent. Cats do the same.

It is interesting! The long narrow head ends in a sharp muzzle, the eyes of the rodent stand out noticeably on general background, they are dark, round and shiny. On the head of the animal are prominent rounded ears, they are quite large.

On the muzzle itself, like in most rodent species, vibrissae are located. These are additional "tools" for orientation in the space of the animal. With them, they capture the smallest fluctuations in the air, as a result of which they can navigate in space in conditions of relative darkness. The length of the vibrissae in relation to the body size of the forest dormouse ranges from 20 to 40%. The antennae, each individually, can make movements due to the contraction of the subcutaneous muscles of the face. Such an organ of touch helps to better navigate the world around the rodent.

It is interesting that the dormouse's hind legs have 5 fingers each, and the front ones have 4. The legs are thin and short. The coat of the rodent is short, of uniform length throughout the body, except for the tail, soft and silky to the touch.. As a rule, on the chest it is painted in grayish-yellow shades. The coat of the same color is also on the chest with the throat part. The back of the forest dormouse is brown-reddish. On the muzzle, these two colors are separated by a contrasting stripe of dark black-brown.

Character and lifestyle

Deciduous thickets and forests are considered favorite habitats for forest dormouse. She is a fan of the thicket with dense undergrowth, places of hollow trees. But at the same time, you can meet her in a garden or park area. This funny animal is widely distributed in middle lane and in the west of the European part Russian Federation. For housing, dormouse chooses natural shelters. It can be hollow trees, old abandoned nests of all kinds of birds. For example, forty. If a suitable vacant place was not found, the dormouse will not be embarrassed by the presence of the "owners" in the nest. She can settle in a hollow or birdhouse, driving the feathered owners out of there with a bang.

This rodent can make a home on its own. The most commonly used material is the bast of trees and other vegetable small "garbage". These are grass, fluffs, dry leaves, a wickerwork of flexible branches is used as a frame. It takes about 2-4 days to build one dwelling. Dormouse manages to build their homes in the density of thickets of thorny bushes. Thus, they make it safer, preventing predators from getting close. Forest dormouse is an economic rodent, they devote most of the construction time to arranging the interior of the housing. Sonya stuffs it with fluff, wool, dry grass, which makes it not only warm and cozy, but also perfectly masks the chicks grown in it from prying eyes.

Therefore, if you happened to see an untidy translucent nest without litter, this is a bachelor's dwelling or a temporary overnight stay. In such a house, the animal will not stay for a long time, it could serve as an overexposure point, then the dormouse will go to build a new nest. On the territory of residence of one individual, you can find up to 8 such dwellings. The rodent can change apartments, even if they are clogged, in order to comply with sanitary standards. There is no separate passage to the nest. Dormouse enters and exits through any suitable gap between the bars. This structure also makes it a difficult prey for predators.

It is interesting! Forest dormice are also meticulous about cleanliness own body. They can spend hours combing every hair of their own tail, carefully sorting them out.

Winter apartments are built deep underground in heaps of brushwood or thickets of the root system of a tree. Close to the surface, the soil freezes too much, not giving a chance to survive, so they settle with the onset of cold weather at a distance of 30 cm below ground level.

The forest dormouse is a climbing animal. It moves perfectly along the branches of trees and shrubs, while being active both during the day and at night. Even during the day most of species spends in a dream. Sharp curved claws and special "corns" allow her to easily hold onto the branches without falling down. And vibrissae help to navigate well in dense thickets.

The cold puts the animal into a stupor. In this state, the forest dormouse hibernates all the cold days of the year. Such numbness lowers the temperature of the body of the rodent, slowing down the course of metabolic processes, allowing the economical use of vital resources. For this period, some dormice stock up on food, which they eat with pleasure at the moments of awakening during periods of thaw. After that, with a repeated decrease in temperature, the dormouse can fall asleep, having refreshed itself, continue its hibernation. The rest of the representatives of the species consume only the fat reserves of their own body, accumulated in the warm seasons.

How long does a forest dormouse live

In the wild, forest dormouse live from 2 to 6 years. This animal can be tamed if it was caught in infancy. During fishing, you should not take them with your bare hands, dormice do not like this.

Range, habitats

Forest dormice are common in the forest zone from Central Asia to Kazakhstan and European countries. They inhabited the northern part of Africa, China and Japan. The Dormouse family has up to 9 genera. The number of their species is 28. They can be found even in Asia Minor and Altai.

The diet of the forest dormouse

The diet of forest dormouse may contain various insects . However, animals choose plant foods as their preferred type of food. They are happy to eat the seeds of plants, fruits that come across on the way, and do not disdain the seeds of berries. If on the way the forest dormouse meets a bird's nest with small chicks or laid eggs, she will eat them with pleasure.

It is interesting! The very process of food intake by animals deserves special attention and tenderness. Like most rodents, they take food in their tiny paws and then bring it to their mouths. It's nice to watch how deftly these kids straighten their tiny fingers with seeds and berries.

Many of us remember Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and a wonderful scene from this work, which describes how Alice meets Sonya during a tea party. If you think that this is a fictional character and he is just a figment of the imagination of Lewis Carroll, then you are forced to ... please, it is not. Perhaps the author embellished the image of a rodent a little, but it actually exists, and it looks like an ordinary mouse with a fluffy, just like a squirrel (by the way, you can read about the peculiarities of keeping squirrels at home) tail. Moreover, in recent times more and more often this creature can be found at home - not only Alice's fans start it, but also those who adore all small animals and believe that caring for her is much easier than caring for a cat or dog. Is it really? Yes, and how to take care of Sonya in general, how to feed her at home - our publication will be ready to tell you about all this ...

Sony description

Immediately I want to say that these are very small rodents, and an adult dormouse can easily fit in the palm of an adult. Dormouse became domesticated quite recently, and this was facilitated by a decrease in the number of dormouse in natural conditions. In order to somehow save these rodents, which, by the way, come in 2 types - with a magnificent tail (they live in trees and live like squirrels), and with a bare tail (live on the ground), they decided to bring them into the Red book, and later began to engage in their home breeding. So, from the conditions of the wild, dormouse got into pet stores and settled in the homes of rodent lovers. To date, 9 genera of dormouse are known, and 28 species, while all of them are part of the dormouse family and belong to the suborder of squirrels, to the order of rodents.

Where do dormouse live in Nature

In nature, dormouse rodents live in forest-steppe and steppe zones North Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, Altai and even in the northern regions of Japan and China, in the northern part of Scandinavia and southern Africa - where one single species of African dormouse lives. By the way, most often you can still find protein-like dormouse with a magnificent tail that live on trees. There are even those who never descend to the ground in their entire lives - they live in trees, build nests there, breed ... But ground dormouse, on the contrary, does not paw at trees, they prefer to dig minks at the roots or settle under fallen trunks. There is also a species of garden dormouse, however, they are considered to be pests, since they destroy many useful plants from which you plan to harvest.

What does a dormouse look like

As you may have guessed, mouse-like dormouse is more like, but squirrel-like ones look like squirrels. Both those and others rarely reach sizes of more than 20 centimeters. All of them have round, noticeable ears, as well as large, bulging dark eyes. On their paws they have sharp claws that help tree individuals confidently climb trees. By the way, an interesting feature

some rodents do not have a claw on one of the fingers on the hind foot - and this is not a pathology, rather an anomaly.

The soles of the paws of the dormouse are hard and rough, and if you put a rodent on your palm, you will definitely feel it. The hair of the dormouse is soft, and the pile is long, but not too fluffy, but rather smooth, therefore, long and thick on the tail (its length can reach 17 centimeters), it stands out well. Dormouse color is usually yellowish-gray.

How many years do dormouse live

You will not believe it, but these rodents have a rather rare life expectancy for their own kind - in the wild they can live up to 5 years, and in captivity, with good care- up to 3 years. Who knows, perhaps the answer lies in the fact that dormouse hibernates every winter.

Features of keeping dormouse at home

If you decide to start a sleepyhead at home, you should take care to create the most comfortable conditions for it. By the way, if you want to keep several rodents - no problem, these creatures get along well with each other, the main thing is that the room or cage where they will live is spacious enough for them, otherwise the muscles of the animals will atrophy, they will intensively gain weight and may start to hurt.

For maintenance, it is better to use spacious cages or aviaries in which you can create a natural landscape for dormouse if you cover the bottom with moss or peat, lay out thick branches or snags. Some even plant edible shrubs in these enclosures or plant pots with garden shrubs and grass. Of course, there should be a shelter for hibernation in an aviary or in a cage - for these purposes, a pipe can be suitable that you insert into a hole dug in advance, which will end in a “nest” - the functions of which will be performed by an insulated box lined with dry grass.

If you do not have the opportunity to provide the rodent with a spacious aviary, you will have to limit yourself to a large cage - here the requirements for its equipment are somewhat different, although quite standard - a retractable tray, filler (you can use sawdust), an autodrinker, bowls, toys - a running wheel, a nest ...

Wherever your dormouse lives - in a cage or in an aviary, it will be necessary to clean daily and periodically disinfect. Otherwise, very soon, an unpleasant smell will begin to emanate from the sleepy home in your house, and unsanitary conditions will arise inside the cage or aviary, which are favorable for the occurrence of various diseases.

Sony cage requirements

Cells made of organic glass and other synthetic materials, although practical and convenient in terms of cleaning, use disinfectants in them with caution.

As for the shape of the cage, then, rectangular is considered the most convenient, while round and multifaceted cages are not practical and not convenient in terms of cleaning, regardless of what material they are made of.

Where is the best place to put a cage with Sonya

A cage with a rodent should be placed away from electrical and heating appliances, and at a distance of at least 20 centimeters from the walls. Drafts and direct sunlight on the rodent's dwelling should be avoided. And, there should be enough light around the cage and inside it - if necessary, you can install additional lighting, taking care in advance that it does not harm the life and health of your dormouse.

Dormouse nutrition

What do dormice eat in captivity

Since, most often, dormouse live on trees, they feed on what can be found on them - these are fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, small insects. Terrestrial views rodents love to eat grass, but arboreal ones - they sometimes even go to crime - ruin bird nests to eat bird eggs.

How to feed Sonya at home

Taking into account the peculiarities of the natural diet, you can create an appropriate menu for your already pet, including in it an abundance of plant foods, grain mixtures, seeds, fruits, nuts. Sometimes you can pamper dormouse with carrots and bread. You can feed the animal and eggs, boiled meat, milk and cottage cheese, small insects. By the way, according to many owners of these cute little animals, flour worms are a favorite delicacy - you will have to take care of breeding a whole colony for your pet. And, as a vitamin supplement, you can give them rodent vitamins or add fish oil to their main diet.

Also make sure that the rodent always has fresh and clean water in the drinker.

Given the characteristics of dormouse to eat a lot and often, rodent owners need to monitor the portion size and frequency of feeding animals, as they are prone to obesity. But, if your animal is going to hibernate in winter, then gain a little extra weight by autumn - it will be very necessary for him, therefore, the autumn diet should differ in calories from the summer one.