Eva's Spiny Mice Fact Sheet

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Species:
Their real name is Acomys cahirinus. When you talk about spiny mice you are probably referring to Acomys cahirinus and its subspecies. You can find wild spiny mice in Africa, Asia and the southern parts of Europe.

Adult size:
Usually between 50 and 90 grams.

Lifespan:
4 to 5 years.

Natural behaviour and social organisation:
Spiny mice live in large family groups in arid areas like deserts, semi-deserts, and savannas. The species is active during the night. Spiny mice are generally very social in the wild.

Social organisation:
NEVER keep spiny mice alone, this is a highly social animal. Males live together without fights if the cage is large enough, they only fight if the cage is too small. It is preferred to keep a group of animals, 4 or 5 that lives together in the same cage is better than just a pair.

Cages and environment:
The cage MUST be at least 90*45*45 cm or bigger. The best cage is a big aquarium, since these animals thrive in heat and aquariums keep in the heat. Spiny mice can die at a temperature of 10 or 15 degrees Celsius. They prefer temperatures around 30 to 40 degrees Celcius. Remember that this is a typical desert animal!
The cage must have at least 10 cm of bedding/litter. To burrow toilet rolls and stuff like that in the bedding is a good idea, so it will be easier for the mice to make tunnels. On top of the layer of bedding they need sleeping houses, wooden sticks, and any kind of paper houses. Even cans made of glass is ok. If you can make some wooden shelves too that is really good. And then - most of all - lots of hay!

Escape proof cages:
These animals are very good at escaping, make a wellfitting wire cover for the aquarium that they cannot put their heads through (and maybe get stuck).

Environmental changes:
Do NOT rearrange inside the cage! Spiny do not like this. Keep the animals warm at all points if moving them to another location.

Care:

Never lift a spiny mouse by holding its tail! The tail will fall off, and of course this is very painful for the animal. Tails do not grow back if lost.
Spiny mice kept in too small cages will fight.
In a big enough cage you will not have to clean out more than a few times per year.
If some of the mice lose their tails they are either too crowded or have been fed too little protein (or both).
Their tails can easily get stuch in wheels, so do not use wheels.
Handle with care - the spines may be hard, but the mouse feels pain if it loses one of its spines...
If you spend time with your spiny mice they will become came, just as gerbils and mice and rats... They can learn to come when called, know their own name and stay on your shoulders.

Taming spinies:
Take the long way and do not offer treats in your hand or they might nibble on you in hope for treats. You don't have to use food or treats of any kind since spinies are so extremely curious they will come up to anyways when you open the the cage. Clean your hands so you don't smell of food, and the gently touching their foreheads when they come up to you... Just try to just touch their foreheads and necks (usually one is easier to tame than the other), and when you can touch them genly try petting them gently. Just go on tryíng to touch them gently and petting them gently. Never catching and holding any degu, just touching and gently petting, and soon they climb up in your hands anyway. It takes a long while before you can hold them!! But they live long lives compared to other small pets, so it is worth it!

Food and nutritional requirements:

In the wild they eat mainly plant seeds, plants and dates (from datetrees).
Crushed oats, crushed wheat, corn, dry and hard bread is good food. Some peanuts and sun flower seeds may be added. This is the dry food.
As fresh food they need all kinds of vegetables (without strong taste or smell) and many kinds of fruit, do not give much of your spiny mouse is not used to this.
You can also give whole-meal bread, cooked potatoes, cornflakes, meat, nuts and insects once a week. The meat is easy to give as a chickenbone with some meat on it.
They easily become fat, it your mice are a big on the fat side - exclude fat nuts from their diet.
Always have fresh water in a waterbottle, changed daily!

A recipe for home mixed dry food:
3 parts oats, rolled or crushed
3 parts wheat, rolled or crushed
3 parts rye, rolled or crushed
3 parts barley, rolled or crushed
1 part millet
1 part buckwheat
1 part Eukanua (dry dog food)
1/2 part flax seeds
1/2 part sunflower seeds
1/2 part sesame seeds
1/8 part alfaalfa seeds
1/8 part quinoa seeds

Breeding:

Spiny mice may come in at least three different colour variations.
Sexing: just as for mice, rats and gerbils.
If you want to breed: Get a bigger cage!
If you have mixed males and females in a big enough cage you will soon see babies.
The female is usually pregnant 36 to 38 days.
She does not leave the group and do not need a cage of her own.
She can have up to six babies in a litter.
The spiny mice helps out with the babies.
The babies can eat solid from birth.
At three days of age the babies are able to walk (run) around...
Babies are old enough to get their own babies at the age of 6 to 9 weeks.
Do not wean until 5 or 6 weeks of age.
Spiny mice will grow until three years of age and live for 4 or 5 years.
A female can have up to 12 litters per year, and they breed troughout the year.

To see if they are healthy:

Fat animals are unhealthy animals.
Bitemarks or missing parts on ears, eyes and tails are signs off too many spiny mice in too small a cage.
Otherwise same as for any rodent...

Health:
Only known disease of spiny mice is diabetes caused by fatness.

Disadvantages with spiny mice:
Are best pets for night owls, since they sleep during the days and are active during the night.

Relatives:
Acomys dimidiatus (Arabian Spiny Mice) is a species that does not exist in Sweden at this time. It is closely related to our common spiny mouse, but a bit larger and more pale in its colouration. It is cared for exactly as for the common spiny mouse. There is also another species of Spiny Mice called Acomys russatus (Golden Spiny Mice or Russet Spiny Mice). This species builds nests and males may be aggressive toward eachother, otherwise it is kept just as for the common spiny mice... I have found no evidence that this species have been kept as pets in Sweden, but they been kept in England.

More to read about spiny mice:
A booklet about Spiny Mice (in Swedish). More information about the booklet (in Swedish): Dina första taggmöss.pdf.

Degus. Degus (in Swedish). Spiny Mice (in Swedish).