calomyscus?

[Kirsty1987]

What are these? I found an ad on preloved that said they are mouse-like hamsters. Does anyone here own them or know much about them they more mice-like or hamster-like?

[purple_x]

Never heard of them but just searched for pics and they are adorable.

[Kirsty1987]

I know they are very cute im intrigued about them now after seeing a pair for sale :)

[Hope]

Could they be chinese? They have longer tails like mice.

I havent looked for the ad though.

[Kirsty1987]

No there not chinese they have tails like gerbils and massive ears here is a pic
http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/DappyDucky/Calomyscusbailwardi.jpg

[Hope]

Good lord!!! :shock:

No I have never seen one before, Vectis has some experience with exotic rodents perhaps she can help...?

[Kirsty1987]

You can only get them from breeder and they have a long life span some recorded living for up to 9 years

[Flamestriker]

How big are they?

[Kirsty1987]

I read that there no bigger than a fancy mouse about 7 - 10cm long

[Knotty]

From the pic they look like the size (body) of a chinese but it's hard to tell with nothing to compare it to. They are cute little things!!

[Kirsty1987]

Someone is selling 2 adults that are a breeding pair or there 3 babies or the whole lot for £80 i was tempted to get a couple of babies but then realised its a 3 hour train journey away and i know very little about these animals like diet, cage etc

[Kirsty1987]

http://exotickeepersforum.co.uk/upload/Mouse-like_Hamster.pdf just found this which has a bit of information about them :) there diet is close to what normal hamsters eat

[Hope]

Hmm interesting...

Not really cuddly little critters then :(

[Kirsty1987]

No but still cute to watch :)

[racinghamster]

It looks like a cross between a mouse and a gerbil to me! The problem with owning `exotic` rodents is getting their diet right and also being aware of the animals requirements. Where to they originate from, do they require certain temperatures, can they co-habit well, those sort of questions.

Many of these rodents will bite and not be the best candidates for anyone who likes to handle them. Multimammate rats/mice for example have this reputation but I know some fancy mouse owners who keep them and actually pair them up with single fancy male mice, who will not tolerate other fancy males. But multis will chew their way out of most conventional caging, which is why they require glass or all metal housing.

Anyway I digress....these look like some kind of desert rat species.

[Vectis Hamstery]

I know a few people who keep mouse-likes and saw some for sale at Houten (though I was very good and didn't come back with every rodent species I saw!). A great site for exotics info as well as Exotic Keepers Forum is Crittery. This is the link to their info on mouse-likes though there are guides on many exotic rodents there too Mouse-like Hamster Overview - Crittery Exotics (http://crittery.co.uk/mouselike/mouselike_hamsters.php)

Well done for doing your research before leaping in to get an exotic. So many are bought and then handed in to rescue as they don't meet the owners expectations -exotic rodents are often not as snuggly as hamsters which have been kept and bred in captivity for much longer :)