Mary Allen
With their big eyes and big ears, Sinai spiny mice look downright cute. However, they are quite demanding housemates.
Characteristics
What do Sinai spiny mice look like?
Sinai spiny mice belong to the mouse-like family and are therefore rodents. They look similar to our mice and are seven to twelve and a half centimeters long from head to bottom. The tail is bare and measures two to four inches. The tail is usually a little shorter than the head and body combined.
The animals weigh between 30 and a maximum of 70 grams. The spiny mice got their name from the fur on their backs: Here the hair is bristly, prickly, and flattened. The animals are dark grey-brown to yellowish-beige on the back and gray to white on the ventral side. The large, funnel-shaped ears are striking.
Where do Sinai spiny mice live?
Spiny mice are found in the arid areas of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Sinai spiny mouse, as the name suggests, comes from the Sinai Peninsula. Spiny mice live in dry, open areas: These include deserts, savannas, and steppes. They occur up to a maximum of 1500 meters.
Which Sinai spiny mice are there?
In addition to the Sinai spiny mouse, there is also the Crete spiny mouse, the Egyptian or common spiny mouse, the golden spiny mouse, the Cyprus spiny mouse, and the Algerian spiny mouse
How old do Sinai spiny mice get?
The Sinai spiny mouse can live up to four years.
Behave
How do Sinai spiny mice live?
Sinai spiny mice are crepuscular and nocturnal animals. They live in fixed herds. Other species are mercilessly driven away or even killed. During the day they are only awake for a short time to groom themselves or to sunbathe. Spiny mice are good at walking and climbing. They can even jump quite high. Unlike many other mice, spiny mice do not create tunnels or nests.
The reason for this is probably that newborn spiny mice are already very developed. That’s why they don’t need a nest. The fact that spiny mice are very social animals is also shown by the fact that the females help each other during childbirth. Sometimes a female will even steal someone else’s young and raise them as if they were her own. This behavior ensures that young who lose their mother are raised by other females.
Friends and foes of the Sinai Spiny Mice
The enemies of spiny mice are mainly birds of prey and small predators.
How do Sinai spiny mice reproduce?
A female spiny mouse can have young three to four times a year. After a gestation period of 35 days, about one to five young are born. That’s a relatively long gestation period.
However, newborn spiny mouse babies are very well developed: they weigh six to six and a half grams and are born with their eyes open. The ears are fully developed. They already wear a real coat and already have incisors. They can walk only a few minutes after birth. After two days, they explore the area on their first excursions.
The young are usually born in the morning. In the evening the female is again ready to mate. Male spiny mice sometimes stand guard in front of the camp when they give birth. If it is very cold, they huddle together to warm mother and young. The little spiny mice are usually only suckled for about six days, at most two weeks. Then they are already independent. The young spiny mice become sexually mature at the age of two to three months.
Care
What do Sinai spiny mice eat?
In the wild, spiny mice feed on snails and insects. But they also eat seeds. In captivity, they usually get hamster food as basic food. However, this should only contain a few sunflower seeds so that the animals do not become too fat. They are given fruits and vegetables such as B. carrots, grapes, apples, and pears.
They also need live food: These are e.g. B. mealworms, crickets, or grasshoppers. Shell snails are a special treat for spiny mice. For each type of food, the animals need an extra bowl made of clay or ceramic, which is easy to clean.
Keeping Sinai spiny mice
Spiny mice are increasingly being kept as pets. Spiny mice are still relatively rare in the pet trade. It is best to buy them from a breeder who can also give you expert advice. However, you should think carefully about whether spiny mice are the right pets: They are not cuddly animals. And because they are nocturnal, you can only see the animals going about their business late in the evening.
Normal cages are not suitable for them because they can squeeze through even the narrowest bars. Spiny mice are better kept in a terrarium or converted aquarium. The terrarium should be at least 60 x 30 x 30 centimeters for a couple. If you keep several animals, you need a correspondingly larger terrarium.
You should always keep a couple if possible, better still more animals. But they have to be together from an early age, otherwise, they won’t get used to each other anymore. Ready-made sleeping houses, which are offered in pet shops, serve as shelters for sleeping. But you can also put half coconut shells in the enclosure. The animals also need a water bowl or a drinking bottle. Normal small animal litter is used as bedding. Because spiny mice are very lively and need a lot of variety, you should definitely install a running wheel and some climbing branches in the terrarium. Some big stones are for climbing. The animals can build a bed out of hay and straw to sleep in.