Behavior
There's a lot of different oppinions whether the dormice should be kept in groups or solitary, like the hamster.
I've come to the conclusion that, in the wild, they live in colonies of about ten individuals.
I don't recommend keeping a single dormouse, as it easily get stressed and bored. Dormice should be kept in pairs or small groups. There should be more females than males in a colony. You can also keep a group with only males or only females if you don't want them to reproduce. If you want to keep a group they should be put together when they're still young, or whey might fight with each other.
But if the cage is big enough and offers many hiding places, there should be no problem.
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The dormouse is nocturnal, meaning they're awake during the night. If you turn the lights on during nighttime they quickly run and hide.
If you don't want to scare your dormice away you can use some kind of dimmed light or put in a red light bulb.
You can also put some dark clothing or paper between the light and the cage. Now you can observe these amusing little animals when they're eating, climbing and exploring, without disturbing them.
You might think that these little creatures are quiet animals.
But they actually have a broad range of noises, that the human ear is able to hear. Here are some of the sounds that we've been able to distinguish:
A high pitched squeak. Their head vibrates when they make this noise. We've heard and seen this when the males are trying to impress the females.
Like when you zip a zipper.
Like a cricket.
Like the sound of a kokaburra. It sounds like they are laughing. This sound is often heard when the dormice get scared and run into a hiding place, maby a warning to the others?
Loud squeaks. This is heard when they fight or squabble over territory or food.
Like the cheeping of a small bird. This sound is very characteristic and it's the young calling for their mother. This will reveal if there's a new litter in the nest.
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