Sexing and breeding
It's not very hard to distinguish the sexes on mature dormice.
The male's body has a tapered bulge near the base of his tail, like in the picture, the female rump is more rounded. You can also place the animals in a transparent glass or plastic box. Then you can easily determine their sexes
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by looking at the box from below. Like with most rodents the distance between the anus and the genitals informs us about the animal's sex. This distance is always bigger in males than females.
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In the wild the african pygmy dormouse will breed once or twice a year.
Captive dormice will breed throughout the year, but the litters seem to be bigger during summertime. I suspect that dormice are inhibited from breeding if they feel that the cage or nestingbox is overcrowded. For nesting material you can provide your dormice with paper. They will drag it into their nesting box and shred it into stripes with their teeth and forepaws. Clean the tank (not the nestingbox) a couple of days before the female is supposed to give birth, then leave her alone. Keep the diet relatively high in protein.
The gestation period is about 25 to 28 days. The litter size ranges from one to seven, with an average of three or four young.
Newborn dormice are naked and blind. Their first week is critical. Try not to disturb your dormice during this period, as it might cause the mother to desert her young. Within a week they are furred and about a week later they open their eyes. When the young are about tree to four weeks old they begin to explore their surroundings.
When they're five to six weeks of age they're old enough to leave their parents.
When the youngsters are weaned they should be placed into separate cages, based on sex. This will prevent inbreeding and unwanted litters. Try to avoid placing a youngster by itself.
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