Thames Valley Rodents | Small Animal Encyclopaedia

Spiny Mice

Acomys Species

A note on Species:

'Spiny Mouse' is the collective term used to discribe any rodent in the genus Acomys. For some reason, in recent years there appears to have been confusion regarding which species is which so I will attempt to resolve the matter here:

as pictures above from right to left... Egyptian, Arabian, Golden, Turkish.

Of many species of spiny mouse, only the Egyptian (acomys cahirinus cahirinus) and the Arabian (acomys dimidiatus) are commonly seen within the UK pet trade. For this reason I have put the focus in this article on the two common species. Should you manage to come by one of the other species from what I can establish there is little difference between their husbandry and management and that of the Egyptian and Arabian species. Spiny mice are easy to cater for and so I have given them an experience level of two. They are both fantastic as introductions to the world of exotic rodents.

Housing:

So long as they are maintained at room temperature they will not require any additional back ground heating. I have given up providing either species with nesting material as they just don’t use it. They will jump about on it until it is flat and then sit on it - nest building seems to be a dirty word for spiny mice.

Cages are rarely an option for these species as they are avid chewers and will quickly shred the paint from the bars of even the most durable of cages and will turn the plastic bases of hamster cages to dust in days. Glass tanks are the best bet with spiny mice but the do require a tightly fitting lid as these little creatures are fairly intelligent and will soon work out how to escape from an open tank

Diet:

An ideal diet includes some propriety rodent mix such a Gerri Gerbil, some budgie seed, a few cat biscuits, clipped oats and corn flakes although I know of plenty of people that have kept them just fine on a basic rodent mix with no added ingredients. You can make their diet as simple of as complex as you wish but avoid too many peanuts or sunflower seeds, as they are a species prone to obesity and obesity related diabetes. All spiny mice enjoy chasing and catching crickets and locusts but if you cannot bring yourself to offer live food there is now the option of dried mealworms, which are eaten with relish by most rodents. Small amounts of fruit and vegetables can be given but do not over do the sweet stuff, they get fat too easily.

Handling:

When you pick up a spiny mouse, always cup it with both hands. Never, ever try to lift it by its tail, not even the base as spiny mice have a defence mechanism to help them evade predation… if they are grabbed by the tail, the skin shreds off revealing the bone and muscle structure of the tail. The spiny mouse will then gnaw the tail off at the base and it will never regenerate. It’s not pretty and it looks excruciatingly painful. If you need to examine the mouse underneath for sexing or routine health checks then the best way of doing so is to scoop the animal into a pint glass. This enables you to view it from all sides with out the risk of damaging its delicate tail.

Breeding:

Pairs of trios are the best way to breed spinys. Please note that Arabian spinys in particular have a habit of destroying some or all of their first litter. This appears to be normal although not all individuals do so. Should you find yourself with a female that repeatedly cannibalised her babies then retire her from breeding. Gestation period is approximately 38 – 40 days and the females produce litters of between one and three babies although TVR’s biggest litter was five. The pregnant female doesn’t need to be removed from the colony to give birth, in fact she is likely to give birth in the very centre of the enclosure and not even bother to retire to a corner or nest box. The babies are born in an advanced state of development and are walking around and feeding within 48 hours. They have a coat of fine fur and will moult into their adult spines at around 12 weeks of age. The young are weaned at two weeks of age but shouldn’t be removed from the group until they are five weeks old.

Like most rodents, female spiny mice have a post-parturition oestrus and so can get pregnant almost immediately after giving birth so bear in mind that if you have a breeding colony you will be getting babies every 40 to 50 days.

Females can breed for roughly two years after which they seem to become infertile.

The average lifespan of a spiny mouse is around three years although they can live for considerably longer.

I'm trying to track down a few other Acomys species. If you have a few individuals available please email me or contact me through the 'Contact Us' page.