Dormouse from the squirrel family. dormouse animal

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 highland forests and gardens, if they grow there. fruit trees and shrubs. 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 is called the "edible mouse". Nowadays and still people continue to hunt the dormouse. This animal is considered 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 prepared gourmet dishes 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 shrub thickets.

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

We met him in a hunter's house in the Caucasus Mountains, he peacefully but very noisily ate 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)

A cute animal that looks like a squirrel, a hamster and a red mouse at the same time, moreover, as if from cartoons, it is a hazel dormouse, which is also called a mushlovka. This charming creature is protected by law - the Muscardinus avellanarius species is listed in the Red Book. Introducing a small rodent from the dormouse family.

Description of hazel dormouse

Mushlovka does not apply to hamsters, or squirrels, or mice, which it resembles in appearance, although it is also a rodent. The dormouse family includes animals of various sizes, of which the hazel dormouse is the smallest..

Appearance

This tiny rodent weighs no more than 27 grams as an adult (slightly larger than the average size of a normal mouse). This is the maximum weight before hibernation. Only the dormouse, which has woken up and emaciated during the winter, weighs only about 15-17 g.

The body of the flycatcher is only about 7-9 cm long, not counting the tail, which will add about 6-7 cm more. The animal is covered with soft short fur. The coat color is terracotta-red on the back, head and tail, yellowish or whitish on the belly and the inner surface of the paws. The tip of the tail is brown or, conversely, white. Light spots can decorate the breast and abdomen of the animal.

The skeleton of a dormouse is able to shrink vertically - this allows the animal to curl up into a small ball, take up very little space and squeeze into narrow cracks. The paws are relatively long, flexible, tenacious movable fingers are clearly visible, also of a light color. 4 fingers are of the same length, and the fifth, perpendicularly spaced, is somewhat smaller.

It is interesting! When the dormouse jumps along the branches, its brushes turn almost at a right angle.

Sonya has a rounded muzzle with a small pink nose, near which grow very large vibrissae whiskers, almost half the length of the body. The ears are small, slightly flattened and rounded, they move like locators, and each ear is separate. The eyes are round, slightly convex, large, shiny black. It has very sharp incisors for chewing through hard nutshells, practically does not use them to bite.

hazel dormouse lifestyle

The animal is named dormouse partly because it spends most of the day in hibernation, being active only at night. Dormouse also sleep in winter (from October to April) in underground burrows. Thus, more than half of the life of a mousetrap is sleep.

Attention! When the animal is sleeping, you can pick it up and it will not wake up. Sony doesn't like low temperature, if suddenly a cold snap of up to 17 degrees and below occurs among the heat, they can oversleep for several days in a row.

At night, dormouse crawls out of their shelters and seeks food by climbing the branches of bushes, in which their light weight and strong flexible legs help them a lot. They jump from branch to branch like miniature squirrels.

These are trusting and friendly creatures that are easily tamed and can be easily kept at home, like hamsters. These animals were especially popular in Victorian England, in books there are often mentions that children looked after them. Today there are clubs of dormouse lovers, enthusiasts - those who are not deterred by the nocturnal lifestyle of these animals - are breeding new hybrid breeds.

Nests of hazel dormouse

The animals make comfortable nests for themselves to sleep, which are insulated with moss, wood shavings, leaves, feathers. As a place for a "day" sleepyhead can be:

• hollow;
• a hole under the roots;
• mink under an old stump;
• nest, independently woven from grass, suspended at a height of 1-2 m;
• a bird's nest, empty or one from which the rodent evicted the rightful owners.

If Sonya failed to find or make a home for herself from natural materials, she is not averse to using the fruits of human hands: curl up in an old tin can or an abandoned car tire. They can take an empty birdhouse, settle in the attic. One dormouse can have several places for days at once. For winter hibernation, dormouse builds a special wintering nest - underground or between tree roots. They try to insulate it as much as possible and close the entrance.

To breed offspring, females build a spacious maternity nest, trying to place it at a certain height from the ground. It is two-layered: the outer shell is made of foliage, and the inner “capsule” is made of the softest materials available to Sonya - feathers, down, chopped grass.

Lifespan

In the wild, dormice do not live long, 2-3 years. As a pet, they can live longer, up to 7-8 years. The reason for a short life in the wild is not at all danger, but mainly temperature jumps and environmental troubles. Many animals freeze during hibernation (up to 70% according to the data of the Moscow region).

Range, habitats

Dormouse do not like to travel, occupying their own territory, separate for each individual. Females do not violate the unwritten boundaries of their plots up to about half a hectare, and males cross their possessions up to twice the area. Animals meet each other for a short time, only during the mating season.

For the settlement of the mussel, they choose places with a generous undergrowth, preferably hazel (hence the epithet "hazel" in the name of the dormouse). Thickets of wild rose, viburnum, mountain ash, young oaks, linden, ash are perfect for her life. Dormouse also settles in orchards, without harming them at all, on the contrary, contributing to better pollination. They like coniferous forests less, unless they come across a clearing with their favorite fruit bushes.

The habitat of dormouse is quite wide: animals live throughout Europe, up to southern regions Sweden and the UK. You will not meet Sonya in Spain and Portugal - it is too hot for them in the Iberian Peninsula. On the territory of Russia, dormouse live in the forest zones of the Volga, Dnieper and Ciscaucasia regions.

The diet of hazel dormouse

Hazel dormouse is predominantly a vegetarian. She eats nuts, acorns, seeds, which is why it is important that in her habitat the fruits ripen in different time. On warm days early spring Mushlovka is not averse to feasting on young buds and shoots, and in summer it will be happy to eat fresh fruits and berries.

If the rodent manages to find bird eggs or catch a worm, he will not refuse protein food either. Nuts are especially fond of the animal, for which the dormouse got its name. Sharp teeth leave characteristic holes on the shell. While eating, the dormouse, like the squirrel, holds food in its front paws.

If you want to know more about the life of dormouse in nature, about their friends and enemies, then click here: Dormouse in nature

Of all the species of dormouse living in the European part, hazel dormouse is the most suitable for keeping in a zoo corner - an animal resembling a miniature squirrel, slightly smaller than a gray rat, with a long fluffy tail. The ears are short, with rounded tips, covered with sparse hair; the soles of the hind feet are bare, the heels are covered with short hair. The back is smoky-gray with a brownish tint and a silvery coating. The belly and chest are white; paws pale yellowish; the tail is gray above, whitish below. The hairline is long and lush. Dormouse inhabits mainly forest areas dominated by oak, beech, walnut, wild fruit trees, and hazel.

hazel dormouse

Hazel dormouse feeds on acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, beech nuts, various berries and fruits. Animal feed in her diet plays a secondary role.

Sonya is a fast, restless animal, active from dusk until morning. Lives mainly in trees; perfectly climbs trunks and thin branches; in a jump from one tree to another Covers a distance of up to 7-10 m. Nests are made from dry leaves and grass in the hollows of old trees, in artificial structures for birds, much less often in the EU natural voids among stones and under roots. The nest has a spherical shape and is used for rest and rearing of offspring.

The breeding season starts in May and ends in October. The female brings 2 litters of 3-5 cubs in each season. Dormouse hibernates from October to May. They rarely bite when caught.

It is not difficult to keep hazel dormouse in a home zoo corner. The cage, as for other rodents, should be metal, large in size, so that the animals have enough space for walking. A nest box or a stump of a tree with a natural hollow with a bedding of hay, straw, dry leaves is installed in it.

Dormouse, contained in the enclosure, sometimes bring offspring. For hatching, the male and female build nests larger than for rest, sizes - 15-20 cm in diameter. Immediately after mating, the female drives the male out of the nest and raises the offspring alone. Pregnancy lasts 21-24 days. Cubs at the age of 13-14 days become covered with wool, after another 3 days they open their eyes and after 4 weeks they begin to leave the nest. They become completely independent at 1.5 months. Sexual maturity in young individuals occurs in the same year.

By autumn, dormice accumulate a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and fall into hibernation, during which it loses almost half of its original weight. Mild winters for many animals end tragically: often waking up, they lose a lot of energy and die from exhaustion.

In captivity, at temperatures above 10°C, dormice are active all winter, but, being nocturnal animals, they usually sleep all day. The average life expectancy of this rodent is 4 years.

Dormouse is fed with songbird feed mixture, oatmeal, nuts, acorns, vegetables and berries. Diversify the nutrition of animal feed with minced meat, insects and their larvae. The cage should always have clean, room temperature water.

Garden dormouse. The animal is the same size as the hazel dormouse. The muzzle is pointed; the ears are large, rounded, narrow at the base. The tail is covered with thick hair: in its main part - short, at the end - a wide, flat brush of long hair. The back is bright, brownish-brown; neck, chest, belly, paws and ears are white; black stripes run from the eyes to the base of the ears. In Russia, it lives in the middle and southern strips of the European part. Inhabits mixed and broadleaf forests with a predominance of oak, linden, maple and dense undergrowth of bird cherry, mountain ash, hazel and wild rose. Prefers to settle on the edges, clearings and old burnt areas; found in gardens, city parks and even in human dwellings located near the forest. Omnivorous. It feeds on various seeds and berries, insects, mollusks, bird eggs. Settling near orchards, it willingly absorbs large quantities of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, grapes along with seeds. With the dexterity of squirrels and the cunning of mice, dormouse penetrates everywhere. Once in the room where the food is stored, they do not disdain anything: they gnaw the crusts of bread, slide the lids off the pots and feast on milk, cream and sour cream. Vegetable food in the diet of garden dormouse does not occupy a leading place, but the addiction to animal food is clearly seen in all parts of the range. Insects and other invertebrates serve as the basis of nutrition, being easy and affordable prey. In coniferous-mixed and mixed forests, insect dormouse prefers dung beetles, bronze beetles, beetles, and click beetles. Sonya reacts very quickly to any moving object and seeks to grab it, so small vertebrates, birds, especially hollow-nesting birds, also become its prey. In the nests of dormouse, you can always see bird feathers, wool, remnants of rodent skins, chitinous cover and beetle legs in abundance.

At home, garden dormouse should be kept in fairly spacious enclosures made of fine and durable mesh. Moss, turf, snags, hollow tree trunks are laid at the bottom - all this can serve as a refuge, a place for rest and solitude while eating tasty food. Since these animals need to climb, jump, run along branches, the enclosure can be small in width, but not less than 1 m in height and 1.5 m in length. Sony get along well with each other, almost never quarrel and often rest in the same shelter. In addition to plant foods, they should be given animal food: butterfly pupae, crickets, large cockroaches, mealworms, minced meat and a boiled egg. Very well, these animals eat all kinds of nutrient mixtures with the addition of milk powder. They are given water daily, regardless of the availability of succulent food.

Garden dormice breed in captivity and raise offspring. Females who have lived in a home zoo for several years can bring cubs to different seasons. They, despite their "carnivore", are usually not aggressive, moreover, even after a short stay in the cage, they become so fat that they lose their inherent mobility. Taken in the hands of Sonya, sitting comfortably, sits on her hind legs, calmly allows you to do any painless "manipulations" with yourself. However, for greater safety, of course, it is best to take animals with gloves.

Forest dormouse. A small, graceful animal with a long fluffy tail. The muzzle is sharp, the ears are rounded, the tail is noticeably thickened, evenly covered with elongated hair. The coloration of the back is reddish-ocher, somewhat grayer on the sides, the cheeks, neck, chest and belly are grayish-yellow; the tail is dirty gray, often with a whitish end, black stripes pass on the head from the nose through the eyes to the ears.

Inhabits mixed and broad-leaved forests, gardens, overgrown ravines. Distributed in the middle valley and in the south of Russia, in the mountains Central Asia, in Altai.

It feeds on berries and their seeds, fruits, nuts, acorns, seeds and buds of various trees, insects, less often bird eggs.

Forest dormouse mainly lives on trees and shrubs, but often descends to the ground. It usually builds nests of a spherical shape in hollows of trees, on branches of shrubs at a height of 0.25 m to 12 m. Settles in old bird nests and in burrows or natural voids under the roots. Males and single females usually build their shelters carelessly: the frame is loose, translucent, the lining may be absent. On the other hand, brood nests have an outer frame made of thin twigs or the tops of shrub shoots, between which leaves, moss and dry grass are laid. It is strong enough and well protects the inner chamber, built of soft, delicate material - split oak, vegetable fluff, wool. Brood nests are always well camouflaged. AT southern regions Sony places them on the shady side, and the elastic outer shell reliably hides the inlet.

Dormouse sleeps in winter. They wake up by the time of the final melting of snow and the establishment of positive temperatures - in April-May. The males are the first to wake up and begin to feed intensively, making up for energy losses during the long wintering. They are very excited, running around a lot, exploring the boundaries of their territory. After 7-10 days, females wake up, ready to breed. Pregnancy lasts 27-28 days. Childbirth most often occurs at night. Forest dormouse live on average 3 years. They are the most mobile of all species of this group of animals, which should not be forgotten while feeding them. Dormouse likes to rebuild their shelter, so there should be stocks of hay, straw, branches, etc. in the cage or aviary.

At any time of the year, dormouse willingly eats fresh branches, tearing off the bark, leaves, and buds from them. You can keep forest dormouse in your home zoo large groups- usually they do not show aggression towards each other, but during collective wintering, hungry animals can eat a brother sleeping nearby. Forest dormouse, taken young, quickly get used to the person and even take food from the hands. They can hang on the net for hours in the hope of getting some kind of treat - a flour worm, a beetle, a butterfly. One has only to bring it to the cage, as the animals immediately gather around the food, trying to get ahead of each other. Even during the rut, the company lives in the same shelter, although the males chase each other with a screech, but there are no bloody fights.

Sonya-shelf. The largest member of the dormice family. Body length 13-18 cm, tail about 10 cm. Ears are short, with rounded tips and sparse hair; the soles of the hind feet are bare, the heels are covered with short hair. The coloration of the back is smoky-gray with a brownish or silvery tint; the belly and chest are white; paws pale-yellow; tail gray above, whitish below. The hairline is long and fluffy.

It inhabits flat and mountain broad-leaved forests. middle lane European part of Russia, Caucasus. Preference is given to areas with a predominance of oak, beech, walnut and wild fruit trees. It feeds on acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, beech nuts, various berries and fruits. animal feed of great importance Dont Have. Animals love sweet ripe fruits and berries, so during feeding they try the fruit and, if it doesn’t suit their taste, they throw it away.

Dormouse dormouse leads a predominantly arboreal lifestyle and rarely descends to the ground. She perfectly climbs not only on trunks, but also on thin branches, easily jumps from one tree to another at a distance of up to 7-10 m. She arranges nests in the hollows of old trees, artificial bird nests, less often in natural voids under snags.

Mating begins in July. Pregnancy of a female lasts 20-25 days, females bring 1 litter per season, in which there are 3-10 cubs.

From November until the end of May-June of the following year, the dormouse is in deep hibernation. Often several animals hibernate in one nest, usually 4-8. Shelves wake up later than other types of dormouse, in different areas in different ways. In the Caucasus, for example, a mass awakening occurs in the second half of June: during this period, the fruits of cherry plum and mulberry ripen in the forests and gardens, which are mainly fed by the regiments. The males wake up first.

The rut period passes very rapidly, accompanied by endless running around, showdown. The forest in which the regiments live is filled with grumbling, chirping, grunting, sharp high-pitched calls, often ending with a whistle - this sound can be repeated at different intervals throughout the night. At this time, fights are possible between males.

Marriage relations in regiments after mating are not preserved, and the female alone brings up the offspring. Newborn animals are very active, but their development is rather slow. Ten-day-old regiments are covered with hair 6 mm long, the back and head are pigmented, the claws are dark in color, and the fingers are separated. They already have incisors. They become sighted on the 18-20th day, leave the nest at the age of about 45 days.

Shelves are rarely kept in home zoo corners, since these animals hibernate for about 7 months a year, stay awake at dusk and at night, and do not like to be watched. They hibernate even when they are kept in a warm room. In addition, captive regiments do not become tame, they show aggression towards humans and, if handled carelessly, they can bite. The conditions of keeping, care and feeding are the same as for other species of this family.

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hazel dormouse, or mushlovka (lat. Muscardinus avellanarius) - a mammal of the dormice family of a detachment of rodents.

In the deciduous forests of Europe and northern Turkey, one can often find very pretty rodents resembling squirrels - hazel dormouse. The animals got their name due to their constant love for the fruits of hazel and daytime sleep in cozy nests. They also feed on a variety of seeds and berries.

It is worth noting that it is possible to check the presence of these rodents in a particular territory very in a simple way: for this it is worth finding a hazel nut, gnawed in a characteristic way for hazel dormouse. Their houses are located in the hollows of trees or on the branches of shrubs. Hazel dormouse spend the winter in hibernation in nests underground.

hazel dormouse- an animal resembling a miniature squirrel. It is the size of a mouse: body length 15 cm, body weight 15-25 g. This is one of the smallest dormouse. The tail is long, 6-7.7 cm, with a brush at the end.

The muzzle is slightly blunt; ears are small, rounded; whiskers are long, up to 40% of body length. hazel dormouse - the most tree view among dormouse, which is expressed in the device of their limbs. 4 fingers of the hand are almost the same length; The first toe is smaller than the others and is perpendicularly opposed to them. When moving along the branches, the brushes turn to the sides almost at a right angle.

The color of the upper body of the hazel dormouse is ocher-red, sometimes with a reddish tint; the lower side is lighter with a fawn tint. There may be light, almost white spots on the throat, chest and abdomen. The fingers are white. The tip of the tail is dark or, conversely, light, depigmented.

hazel dormouse lives in deciduous and mixed forests, settling in places with rich undergrowth and undergrowth of hazel, wild rose, euonymus, mountain ash, bird cherry, viburnum and other fruit and berry trees and shrubs, which provides the animals with a food base (in particular, the alternation of ripening food) and good protective conditions.

It can be found along forest or country roads, along the edges of glades, in overgrown clearings. In the mountains it rises up to 2000 m above sea level. in Yaroslavl and Vladimir regions Sony prefers deciduous forests with a predominance of linden, ash, oak. In the Volga region, hazel dormouse can also be found in coniferous forests with abundant admixture of deciduous and broad-leaved species.

Hazel dormouse lives mainly in the undergrowth, skilfully climbing bushes, even the thinnest and most flexible branches. Active from dusk to morning.

The nest is located on a branch at a height of 1-2 m above the ground or in a low-lying hollow. Sonya also willingly occupies birdhouses, titmouses, nest boxes, and regardless of whether the house is already occupied by a bird or not. To a greater extent, redstarts, pied flycatchers suffer from dormouse, to a lesser extent, great tits and blue tit, capable of repelling this small rodent.

The forage diet of hazel dormouse consists mainly of seeds of trees and shrubs (nuts, acorns, chestnuts, beech, linden nuts) and a variety of berries and fruits.

Hazel dormouse's favorite food is hazelnuts. In early spring, the animal uses young shoots and buds for food. Animal food in his diet, according to some sources, is absent; according to others, it is believed that hazel dormouse attacks small passerine birds, ruins egg laying. Dormouse avoids food with a high content of cellulose, because it lacks a caecum, where cellulose is digested.

These animals are easily tamed and can even produce offspring in captivity.

Class: mammals.
Squad: rodents.
Family: dormouse.
Genus: The classification includes 9 genera.
Habitat in nature: in nature, there are 28 species of dormouse, most of which live from North Africa and Asia Minor to Altai, Northwest China and Japan, some species of the genus Graphiurus are isolated in Africa south of the Sahara, and are distributed in Europe to Southern Scandinavia. Most dormice are forest animals, preferring broad-leaved and mixed forests, they can be found in the forest-steppe regions and in the mountains, where they settle at an altitude of up to 3500m. In Russia, there are 5 species of these rodents.
Lifespan: in nature 2-3 years, at home 4-6 years.
Averages: body length 8-20cm, tail 4-17cm. Weight depends on the type of animal, but does not exceed 70g.

Description
Dormouse is a small and medium rodent, with terrestrial forms more like mice, and arboreal ones like squirrels. The muzzle is sharp or slightly rounded (depending on the species), the ears are small, rounded, the eyes are bulging, round, large. The tail, as a rule, is densely pubescent, although there are species with a semi-naked tail. The coat is thick and soft, but short. The color depends on the species.
The coat on the back and sides may be gray to buffy-brown, the abdomen and paws may be lighter or white. Long, up to 20 percent of the body length, extremely mobile vibrissae, growing like a fan near the nose, are the main tactile organ for the dormouse.

Character
Dormouse are very sociable, lively, active and social animals. They prefer to live in the company of relatives, but at home they are best kept alone or in pairs. These rodents are very cautious and shy, afraid of loud or unexpected sounds, sudden movements. Hazel, African and dormouse-dormouse quickly get used to people, taming other species requires more attention and patience.

Relationships with other pets
Dormouse that has left the cage can be dangerous to smaller rodents, small birds and lizards. Cats, dogs, ferrets and large birds are dangerous to dormice.

Attitude towards children
Sony is not very suitable for children as pets.

Education
Dormouse, who appeared in the house in early age, get used to the person quite quickly, will expect your arrival with food and can get used to taking food from the hands. They can be taught to go out for a treat when called, but they most likely will not become completely tame.

Food
For all types of dormouse, a diet that includes sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, pine nuts and walnuts, melon, watermelon, pumpkin seeds. It is useful to include apples in the diet of sleepyheads (an adult animal can eat a whole apple overnight), grapes, buds, branch bark, wild rose, dried mountain ash, viburnum, dry apricots. In summer, it is useful to reduce the number of oil seeds. Forest, garden and African dormice need animal food. They are suitable for mealworms, butterfly pupae, crickets, May beetles, snails, large cockroaches, sometimes they can be pampered with raw meat, cottage cheese and eggs.

Care and maintenance
Of the species that live on the territory of Russia, at home they most often contain hazel, garden, forest and dormice. The African dormouse, which is called the pygmy dormouse because of its very small size, is also well suited for keeping as a pet. Hazel and African dormouse are well suited for keeping in a cage, dormouse can be kept both in a cage and in an aviary, but it is better to keep garden and forest dormouse in an aviary, where you can create a landscape for them that resembles natural environment a habitat.
When keeping sleepyheads in a cage, it is easier to communicate with them, it is more convenient to observe, they make better contact. It is advisable to choose a small-mesh, spacious and all-metal cage in order to avoid the unpleasant odor that impregnates the wooden parts of the cage, and various infections. They are well suited for squirrel cages with a spinning wheel, as these rodents have a very high need for movement. Existence in a cage of the sliding pallet considerably facilitates cleaning and cleaning. Sawdust, dry sand or small shavings can be used as bedding. It is necessary to put heavy bowls for food, a drinker, preferably automatic, place various ladders, hollow pipes, a hammock in the cage, fix the ropes and the wheel and attach houses to the grate where the dormouse will make a nest. To equip the nest, they can be offered hay, straw, unpainted strips of paper, small twigs. Every day it is necessary to wash the food bowls and the drinking bowl, remove the leftover food; two, three times a week, the bedding should be changed, twice a month, a complete cleaning and disinfection of the cage is required. Disinfection can be carried out by spilling the cage with boiling water.
Dormouse do not like temperature changes, drafts and direct sunlight, so the cage should be placed at least 40 cm from heating appliances and away from windows and doors.
Dormouse are nocturnal animals and can disturb you with noise. However, often communicating with a person, dormice gradually move to a daytime lifestyle, especially if you feed them only in the morning and evening no later than 19 hours.
With properly equipped housing, dormouse does not need to walk. If you decide to get the animal out of the cage, then be prepared for the fact that it can easily arrange an escape.
In summer, in dry weather, the animals can be taken out to the balcony during the day or put the cage on the table near the house on suburban area, shading part of the cell from sun rays so that the animals can rest.
Dormouse living in nature fall into hibernation in winter, which can last 6-7 months, but at temperatures above 10 ° C, dormouse can be active all year round.
Outside the city, these rodents can be kept in an aviary, where you can recreate a piece of wildlife: make a litter of moss or peat, put stumps and snags, fix strong branches with hollows, put grass and oats in pots, plant bushes of currants, gooseberries, blackberries. Dormouse kept in an aviary are less tameable, because when a person appears, they hide in various shelters, do not make contact, retain the behavior characteristic of them in the wild, and are not given into hands. Many owners are happy to talk about their observations of these lively, funny, active animals living in an aviary. It should be borne in mind that all species of the dormouse family in winter period in an aviary they can survive only in a properly made shelter, arranged in the ground in the form of an artificial hole, well insulated and covered with a layer of sawdust from above. Before wintering, dormouse gain weight 3-4 times higher than usual. However, you should carefully monitor the awakening animals: a sleeping dormouse that has awakened can eat a fellow sleeping nearby.

A bit of history
Unlike many other rodents, dormouse came to the homes of animal lovers directly from wildlife. In the 20th century, the number of dormouse began to decline rapidly due to the destruction natural environment habitats of these rodents as a result of human activity. Many species of dormouse have been listed in the Red Book, and programs have begun to be developed around the world to restore the livestock of these cute animals. In the wake of this popularity, Sony first got into living corners with youth circles, and then into apartments, where they feel very good.