Little rodents: cute pets and malicious pests
Small rodents are classified as mammals. Some of them constantly harm people. However, some species are considered decorative and become favorite pets.
Content
Pasyuk
Pasyuk the color is usually dark gray or gray-brown. Sometimes it has yellow, red, orange hues. Gray and black are the most common. The body length is from 8 to 30 cm, the tail has the same length or more. Average weight up to 250 grams.
People have been fighting them for many centuries in various ways. Rats are tested in the laboratory. The life expectancy of pests is up to 2,5 years. However, due to their fertility, the number is growing every day.
Black and gray rat
In the wild, rodents live near water. Fight rats in various ways:
- biological - cats and dogs are helpers;
- physical - with the help of rat traps, traps, traps;
- chemical - poisonous preparations;
- ultrasonic.
Mouse gerbil
Visually, they are similar to jerboas. They have a rounded head and smart big eyes. Their tail is fluffy with a tassel. Able to jump 1 m from the ground. This distinguishes them from other mice.
Usually they are grouped by 2 - 3 individuals. Life expectancy is 2 to 3 years. A plastic cage with a tunnel is the perfect home. They are fed with cereal mixtures. You can add fruits and vegetables. The exceptions are legumes and citrus fruits.
vole mouse
Habitat nlions and voles - banks of rivers, ponds, reservoirs. They also inhabit meadows, fields, vegetable gardens, orchards. With a flood, it begins to migrate to land. When the water subsides, they come back.
Body length varies between 13,5 - 21,5 cm, tail length from 6,3 to 12,8 cm. Weight - 80 - 180 g. It resembles a rat. A large and clumsy body is combined with fairly short legs. The animals feed on succulent shoots, tree bark, earthworms, and plants.
Animals are greedy. A flock of animals can destroy the crop. They are able to harm the tree by eating the bark at the base. Mice feed on crops, damage garden seedlings. They tolerate Omsk hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis.
The fight against them is given a special place.. The use of poisons is inappropriate, as it can harm plants. The use of ultrasonic repellers and traps is most effective. Cats help to destroy rodents in a small area.
Females and males are the same color and size. They tend to reside and build complex burrows. The burrows have separate nesting chambers and pantries. Water voles are a source of food for minks, otters, foxes, ermines, ferrets, birds of prey.
forest mouse
Body length within 8 - 11,5 cm, tail length from 3 to 6 cm. Weight - 17 - 35 g. The color of the back is rusty - brown with a grayish - whitish belly. The tail is bicolor.
They feed on herbaceous plants, seeds, bark, shoots, moss, lichen, and invertebrates. In gardens and forest plantations they cause harm, and also carry tick-borne typhoid fever and leptospirosis. Mice are the main source of food for weasels.
Gray or common mouse
Gray mouse.
Body length - 8,5 - 12,3 cm, tail length - 2,8 - 4,5 cm. Weight - 14 g. Gray color. Sometimes with a brown or reddish tint. Settles in meadow and treeless spaces. Burrows with a depth of 10 to 70 cm. This is affected by the time of year and relief.
The diet consists of 88% of the green parts of plants, the rest is seeds and wild plants. In summer and spring, composites and cereals are used, and in winter - tree bark.
They eat 70% of their body weight per day. In the cellars they eat grain, root crops, cabbage, and potatoes. They carry leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, swine face, tularemia. Life expectancy is 8 to 9 months.
steppe pied
Until recently, this species was considered a dangerous pest. However due to the small number of remaining individuals, they were included in the Red Book. Habitat - steppes, semi-deserts, forest-steppes. It can live in river valleys and lake basins, as well as on the slopes of ravines.
Activity around the clock. Burrows at a depth of 30 - 90 cm. In winter, they can lay a tunnel under the snow. Body length - 8 - 12 cm, tail length - 7 - 9 mm. Lifespan reaches 20 months, although in captivity some live up to 2 years.
The color is monochromatic. They feed on tubers, bulbs, seeds, shrub bark, green parts of narrow-leaved grasses.
They themselves are prey for the fox and corsac. The fox is able to eat 100 individuals within a month.
Djungarian hamster
It is cute, active and inquisitive pet. The animals are fertile. Of the shortcomings, it is worth noting a short lifespan. They live up to 4 years.
They are nocturnal and do not require special care. They are fed in the morning and evening. You can use food for small rodents or prepare a mixture of oats, corn, peas, seeds, nuts.
You can add carrots, zucchini, cucumber, greens, lettuce, apple, pear, berry to the diet. Sometimes you can treat with boiled chicken, low-fat cottage cheese, unsalted lard.
It is forbidden to feed:
- potatoes;
- sausages and sausages;
- mushrooms;
- onions, garlic;
- cabbage;
- watermelon;
- citrus;
- chocolate;
- cookies;
- honey;
- sugar;
- salt and spices.
The natural color is expressed in a gray-brown back, which has a pronounced black stripe and a light tummy. In nurseries, varieties with pearl, tangerine, sapphire colors are bred.
Hamsters are very fond of edible sticks and spikelets. For grinding teeth, it is appropriate to use a mineral stone or a birch bar. Keep animals in cages or aquariums. Put in a quiet place where there is no exposure to direct sunlight and drafts.
gray hamster
Small and short-tailed animal. Body length - 9,5 - 13 cm, tail length from 2 to 3,5 cm. The color can be smoky gray, dark gray or brownish gray. Reddish-sandy specimens are rare. They store supplies in their burrows. Nora can only be in a dry place. The stock of seeds for the winter period reaches 1 kg. Activity is noted at night.
In nature, their diet consists of seeds and inflorescences of wild cereals. They do not refuse green shoots of plants. Larvae and terrestrial mollusks are a favorite delicacy. In this regard, the pet is included in the diet of insect larvae. Food is given little by little, avoiding overeating. The water must be fresh.
This variety is used by scientific institutions in laboratory research.
mouse hamster
Mouse hamster.
A mouse-like rodent in the wild can live in rock crevices. In a jump, it reaches 30 cm from the ground when it senses danger. Small groups gather in one nest, where they hide from the cold and predators.
The diet consists of seeds, flowers, leaves, animal feed, insects, carrion. In captivity, they are able to breed at any time of the year, in nature from March to December. Life expectancy is more than 9 years at home, in the natural environment about 2 years.
Conclusion
Small rodents can cause not only material damage, but also infect with dangerous infectious diseases. At home, you can keep decorative animals, taking into account all the features of nutrition, care and lifestyle.
