Small Mammals

12 species listed on Pet Listings.

12 pages written

C

ChinchillaThe densest fur of any land mammal, with dozens of hairs out of a single follicle. It bathes in volcanic dust rather than water, and it can live twenty years.

D

DegusA Chilean rodent that is awake in the daytime, which few small pets are. It lives in colonies and is one of the more talkative rodents kept.

F

FerretA domesticated polecat, and an obligate carnivore: meat, not grain pellets. It sleeps most of the day and spends the rest of it at full speed.

G

GerbilA desert animal that digs for a living and wastes very little water. Pairs bond and stay bonded, so gerbils are kept in twos rather than alone.

Guinea PigLike people, it cannot make its own vitamin C and has to eat it. A herd animal from the Andes, and it whistles the moment it hears the fridge.

H

HamsterCheek pouches that stretch back to the shoulders, and a night shift: a hamster will run miles on a wheel while the house is asleep. Syrians live alone.

HedgehogThousands of spines, and a habit called self anointing where it froths and spreads the foam across them. Nocturnal, and an insect eater by design.

M

MouseFemales live happily in groups and adult males do not. Nocturnal, quick to tame with regular handling, and a life measured in a couple of years.

P

Prairie DogA ground squirrel that lives in towns and has one of the most detailed alarm calls known, with different sounds for different predators. It greets by kissing.

R

RabbitNot a rodent but a lagomorph, with teeth that never stop growing and a gut that runs on hay. Most awake at dawn and dusk, and it jumps for joy.

RatOne of the most trainable animals of its size, and it laughs when tickled, at a pitch too high for us to hear. Rats need company, so they come in pairs.

S

Sugar GliderA marsupial that glides on a membrane between wrist and ankle and covers long distances in one go. Colonial, nocturnal, and it feeds on sap and insects.