Is the dormouse animal dangerous? Dormouse family. What do dormice eat?

About a month before I started preparing this material, I did a small experiment: I posted on my VKontakte wall several photographs of hazel dormouse found on the Internet. In less than a day, I received dozens of “hearts”, requests to “add me as a friend”, enthusiastic comments and messages: “oh, who is this?”, “how cute!”, “is this your little animal?”, “is this a coincidence?” Isn’t it photoshop?”, “I want one for myself,” etc. In addition to the general emotion and idle curiosity, there were also sensible questions: what kind of animal is this, where does it live, is it possible to keep such a creature at home, and I realized that an article would be written It’s not in vain, especially since some representatives of the dormouse family are successfully kept in captivity. So, dear readers, welcome to this little sleepy kingdom - the kingdom of cute, charming sleepyheads!


Sonya is not called Sonya for nothing. Firstly, for the fact that she predominantly leads night look life. Secondly, for long hibernation in the cold season: in some species of these rodents it lasts up to 6-7 months.

Dormouse family

All species of this family (dormouse) are distinguished by uniformity in the structure of all organ systems. Even with a quick acquaintance with these animals, it can be noted that they are characterized by large dark eyes, rounded, very mobile ears, very long and thick whiskers, soft fluffy hair covering the body and a relatively long tail. These animals live in trees or in the branches of bushes, but some dormouse (in particular, garden dormouse) spend a lot of time on the ground. Certain species of dormouse cause damage to gardens and berry fields, but they are not as numerous and prolific as mice and rats, are not found in all regions and are not positioned as dangerous pests and enemies of humans. On the territory of modern Russia there are 4 species of dormouse: hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula) and dormouse (Glis glis).

Pretty, funny, good-natured, beautiful, interesting to watch, quite unpretentious, long-living - all these epithets perfectly characterize the dormouse. Indeed, the dormouse lives from 3 (minimum) to 6 years and even longer - naturally, if the animal is healthy and properly maintained. For comparison: small decorative rodents (mice, hamsters, rats) live 2-3 years. Grasping pink paws with tiny claws, a mobile fluffy tail, unique grace in movements, an expressive face, amusing manners of holding food in its paws and constantly cleaning its fur - and this is also about the dormouse. Why are they so rarely found in our homes? According to the famous biologist A.I. Rakhmanov, dormice are little known and unpopular among animal lovers because they are very rarely sold on sale, and in nature they are active only at night.

However, when kept in a cage, dormice change their night mode to twilight and even day mode, adapting to the daily routine of their owners. They are friendly in nature, playful, charming and have every right to be called one of the most interesting and enjoyable pets. To get a dormouse, you will have to catch it yourself (which is extremely difficult, or rather, almost impossible for an untrained person), or contact a breeder who breeds and sells these cute pets. But there are a number of other nuances and difficulties that will make the future owner of a dormouse think twice before deciding to place this cute animal at home. To find out about them, read this article carefully.

In appearance, dormice resemble squirrels. These animals have a nocturnal type of vision, but dormouse see perfectly well during the day. The fur of all dormouse is very thick and fluffy, especially that of dormouse (in former times it was even used in the fur industry); males and females do not differ in fur color. In addition to acute vision and an excellent sense of touch, dormouse are endowed with other adaptations for living among trees and bushes. The animals are able to deftly crawl through narrow vertical cracks in tree trunks when they are looking for a hollow for a nest or rest; their skeleton is capable of contracting in the vertical direction, that is, from the sides. In the life of a dormouse, this is of exceptional importance: in natural conditions, this ability allows you to quickly hide in a narrow gap, crack or tiny hollow, escaping from a predator. Silky, thick fur protects the dormouse's body from sudden fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
When searching for food, determining danger or detecting neighbors, hearing plays an important role in dormouse. Wide, rounded ears serve as a kind of locators that are constantly in motion, turning independently of one another. They reach the largest size (in relation to the body) in the garden dormouse, the second place is occupied by the hazel dormouse, and after it - the regiment and forest dormouse.

The digestive system and structure of the teeth in sleepyheads indicate a mixed diet and the advantage of solid food over the rest. The animals hold the food with their front paws, just like a squirrel, quickly rotating it and thereby facilitating the rapid opening of seeds and hard-shelled nuts. On the shell that has been processed, you can always find traces of sharp incisors, located in rows around the circumference. The main “decoration” of the dormouse is its magnificent tail, like that of a squirrel, it does not perform a grasping function, but helps to maintain balance when moving through the trees, and also plays the role of a balancer during a long jump. In addition, the dormouse's tail has a wonderful property: the animal can “shed” the skin of its tail, turning out of the clutches of a predator; in the exposed area, the damaged tail heals over time and grows overgrown with hair.

Late puberty, a small number of cubs in the litter (from 3 to 5), long hibernation and the associated limited mating season (and dormice breed 1-2 times a year) - all these facts should have put the dormice population under threat. However, such poor fertility of dormice is compensated by the excellently developed maternal instinct, good health and longevity of these rodents. Sonya is one of those animals that live literally under our noses, but are so agile, secretive and unnoticeable that you can live your whole life two steps away from them, and only see them in a photograph. This probably influenced the fact that dormouse is so rarely kept at home: many people simply do not know about them. Despite the vast areas of distribution (for example, the forest dormouse is found almost everywhere in central Russia), dormouse are distributed unevenly across their habitats, choosing the most favorable, safe and food-rich places for their territory. In rural areas, dormouse prefer to settle next to humans - in vegetable gardens, in hazel thickets, where there are bushes and fruit trees, in abandoned buildings, barns, in attics under the roof of a house, etc.

If you have dealt with decorative rodents, caring for dormice and keeping them in your apartment will not pose any particular difficulties for you. For a dormouse, you will need a standard all-metal cage. The tray in such a cage should be very durable, preferably also metal - any of the dormouse will gnaw on fragile plastic very quickly. Such cells are available for sale, but more often they are made to order or independently. The distance between the bars of the cage should be small, since the dormouse is a small, dexterous, very nimble animal that can squeeze into any gap. An excellent alternative to a cage is a spacious, properly equipped and well-ventilated terrarium, which today can be purchased or custom-made.

Like most mammals, the dormouse needs drinking water, so you need to hang a nipple drinker with a metal tip on the outside of the cage bars - water from such a drinker does not spill, and it is very convenient to use. It is better to use metal feeders, made of ceramics or thick, durable glass - such a design is difficult to damage, chew or knock over. Sawdust or granulated wood filler are used as bedding material for dormouse. Since dormouse in the wild love to hide and sleep in a shelter, for each type of dormouse it is necessary to place a wooden or ceramic house in a cage. If desired, you can replace it with a cardboard box, but it will very quickly be torn and chewed, so it is better to spend money once on a purchased house that will last your animal much longer. Due to hibernation, the dormouse's body is able to quickly accumulate fat deposits, so it is necessary to ensure that the animal is actively moving and is in good physical shape. Not all sleepyheads will “want” to sleep for many months, but their tendency to overeat and become obese can cause significant harm to their health. The cage for a dormouse should be quite spacious and equipped with climbing ladders, floors and shelves so that the animal is interested in running and playing.

Like all rodents, without exception, dormice must be kept clean, especially since they are very clean and love to take care of their luxurious fur, licking themselves for long hours and “making a mess.” Order in a dormouse's home lies not only in frequent and timely changes of bedding material. At least once every 1-2 days it is necessary to wash the feeders and be sure to change the water in the drinking bowl, regardless of whether it has run out or not. In the summer heat, drinkers should be checked regularly and filled as many times as needed: your pet should have fresh water and grain mixture at any time of the day.

As for other rodents, the same maintenance rules apply to dormice: the cage should be in a well-lit room, but not near a window, direct sunlight should not fall on it, and drafts should be avoided in the room. The cage should not be placed near heating appliances, as this can lead to overheating and heat stroke. The ideal position of the cage is at eye level or slightly lower, so that you can always see your pet and easily open the door, pour in food, change the water bowl, etc. It is better to store grain feed in a closed container, pouring the contents of an open pack into a glass jar with a lid - this will protect it from moisture, dust and insects.

Hazel Dormouse: the most touching

The hazel dormouse is also called the dormouse. This is the smallest of the dormouse living in Russia. A charming baby, slightly larger than a Djungarian hamster (8-10 cm), inhabits the broad-leaved forests of Asia Minor and Europe - from the Volga to Great Britain. Dormouses hide their nests, cleverly woven from grass and leaves, in the branches of bushes - rosehip, blackthorn, hawthorn, dogwood or hazelnut. If a dormouse manages to find some empty hollow, she willingly settles in it, making a cozy nest there. Having found a birdhouse that is not occupied by feathered residents, the dormouse will settle in it like a proprietor, without asking for whom it was hung. Interestingly, in winter, in preparation for a long hibernation, dormice move to warm winter “apartments,” which are often built in burrows or under tree roots.

The hazel dormouse feeds almost exclusively on plant matter. In spring, the basis of its nutrition in nature consists of buds, young shoots and green leaves of trees, as well as acorns (including those that have already sprouted). In summer, its diet includes all kinds of berries, fruits and unripe hazelnuts. In autumn, seeds of trees and shrubs are added to this vegetable menu. The hazel dormouse, like most other dormouse, hibernates during the winter. Hibernation is a kind of protective mechanism that allows animals to survive difficult times. This mode of reasonable calorie saving helps preserve the dormouse population and is very important for their life. In order to survive the winter safely, in the fall they begin to feed more intensively and accumulate fat reserves: there is a known case when a hazel dormouse, which scientists observed, weighed 15 g in the summer, more than doubled its weight by the fall!

What is hibernation and how is it characterized? If a sleeping animal is disturbed or picked up, it will quickly wake up. If we are dealing with hibernation, a cold, hardened fur ball will remain lying in our palms; the animal will wake up only when it warms up. During hibernation, all life processes in animals slow down. Inhalations and exhalations occur very rarely, the heart also beats at a slow pace. Body temperature drops so much that it can often be only one degree higher than the ambient temperature. This “inhibited” state helps sleepyheads save precious calories, because they need to stretch out the accumulated 10-15 grams of fat over several months!

It is curious that in nature, when the temperature in the wintering nests drops too low, dormice, in a half-asleep state, move deeper - to where it is warmer. If, on the contrary, the frost outside gives way to a thaw, the animals begin to wake up, because warming is a signal for awakening. It also happens that the deceptive spring warming is replaced by insidious long-term cold weather, so awakened animals may die. When they wake up, all their life processes accelerate, energy consumption increases, and by the end of winter there are very few sources of energy (fat reserves in the body) left. The sad statistics are as follows: in the most unfavorable years, up to 70% of these charming animals do not come out of hibernation and die. Young individuals who have not had time to accumulate enough fat in the body are especially vulnerable to frost. At home, of course, this will not happen, but you should carefully monitor your pet and, if he decides to hibernate, do not disturb him unnecessarily and provide him with intensive, varied nutrition after waking up.

In the wild, all dormouse, without exception, lead a solitary lifestyle, not forming flocks. Males and females live together for a very short period - only during mating. However, often dormouse (and hazel dormouse is no exception!) gather together for the winter. Usually sleeps in the wintering nest the whole company sleepyhead, huddled closely together. This reduces heat loss and, consequently, energy consumption. In this way, the animals help each other survive. Externally, hazel dormouse is extremely attractive. They have huge, black eyes and long fluffy mustaches, making their faces unusually expressive. The hazel dormouse's muzzle is more blunt than that of other dormouse. Body color is brownish-red, often quite bright.

The hazel dormouse loves to climb, so the cage for such a pet should be not so much spacious as high. Additional tiers and floors, ladders and snags for climbing are great entertainment for your pet. In the literature, advice is given to place not one, but 2-3 shelter houses in a cage with a hazel dormouse, so that the animal has a choice of a place to rest; This makes the animal feel more comfortable. Dormouse food should be quite varied. Most of all they love sunflower seeds and a variety of nuts: hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts and peanuts. This food should be given to sleepyheads in limited quantities to avoid problems with the liver and excess weight. In addition, juicy food is also necessary: ​​apples, pears, bananas, berries. They love dormouse and dried fruits. However, you should not pamper them with nuts and sweet “sweets” too often and too much - the animal will begin to be capricious and stop eating the grain mixture. This statement is absolutely true for all dormouse kept in captivity.

Attention! The hazel dormouse has a number of disadvantages that should be considered before you decide to purchase this animal:
- Dormouse is a very nimble, agile and timid animal. It is very, very difficult to catch, grab and put back into the cage an escaped animal! (This applies to absolutely all sleepyheads),
- the hazel dormouse has a very distinct specific smell, so frequent cleaning of the cage is necessary. This animal is not suitable for allergy sufferers!
- this dormouse constantly needs live food (insects),
- the hazel dormouse has a rather “brittle” tail, so under no circumstances grab the animal by the tail and do not scare the pet, because the instinct to “throw off” the tail in small dormouse is very developed.

Garden dormouse: the most beautiful

When creating the garden dormouse, the Creator, apparently, was in an excellent mood. Of course! In addition to a perfect body and excellent adaptability to living conditions, this dormouse has a fabulous, bright and unique beauty. A black “mask” on an elongated, graceful muzzle, huge bowl eyes, touching ears with a dark border, a dark red fur coat with a golden tint, a snow-white belly and a magnificent tail with a charming tassel at the end - this is the appearance of this delightful animal. Garden dormouse inhabits mixed and deciduous forests middle zone Russia, Volga-Kama region and Southern Urals, as well as Belarus and Ukraine. It often lives in gardens and often in human dwellings located in close proximity to the forest.

This is a very mobile and agile animal that finds food both in the tree layer and on the ground. It consists of various seeds, fruits and berries. Plant foods do not occupy a leading place in the diet of the garden dormouse, but the predilection for animal food is clearly visible in all parts of its range. The basis of nutrition is insects and other arthropods. Settling near orchards, the dormouse willingly eats large quantities of apples, pears and other fruits along with the seeds. At the end of summer - beginning of autumn, having switched to feeding on seeds and fruits, garden dormice become very fat, which is a necessary condition for preparing for hibernation.

This dormouse makes nests in tree hollows and stumps, and less often raises its young in burrows. Females bring cubs no more than 2 times a year, each litter contains 3-6 cubs. The dormouse spends the winter hibernating in specially built wintering shelters, which are located on the ground or underground, because in freezing natural hollows and artificial nests, hibernating animals would inevitably die. These shelters are found in intertwined roots, rodent burrows and under the butts of stumps. Usually they are insulated with a bedding of dry grass, feathers, wool, and chewed leaves. At home, garden dormouse should be kept in a fairly spacious cage with frequent bars, a terrarium or an aviary made of fine mesh. In addition to plant foods, they should also be given insects and their larvae, especially mealworms, as well as minced meat and a boiled egg. These animals eat very well all kinds of nutritional mixtures with the addition of milk powder.

The forest dormouse is very similar in appearance, behavior, and distribution area to the garden dormouse, but rarely settles near humans. As for keeping these dormouse in captivity, it is categorically not recommended for inexperienced owners to keep both garden and forest dormouse, and especially for a child. It is very difficult to choose a feeding diet and keep these dormouse in good shape all year round: in addition to the peculiar eating habits, individual for each individual (and among dormouse there are also capricious gourmands and gourmets!), the owner will inevitably face the problem of buying or breeding live food at home , which is vital for these sleepyheads.

African dormouse: the most popular

The African dormouse (Graphiurus murinus) is now easier to find on sale than other dormouse. There are many photographs, articles and posts on various forums on the Internet dedicated to this charming animal. St. Petersburg, Moscow and Ukrainian breeders have quite extensive experience in keeping and breeding African dormouse in captivity. As the name suggests, this dormouse is common in Africa, predominantly sub-Saharan Africa. The animal chooses wooded areas and places near water. The African dormouse is a small animal, weighing about 30 g, body length is about 16 cm, tail length is 13 cm. The wool is soft, ash-gray. The African dormouse has a white or grayish belly, often interspersed with red-brown color. There are often white and black spots on the muzzle, the tail is black on top or dark brown, and the bottom of the tail is whitish. In nature, dormouse feed on green shoots, seeds, nuts, fruits, eggs, insects and small vertebrates. It is believed that the African dormouse is a more gregarious animal than other representatives of the dormouse: they were found in colonies of 12 or more individuals. These animals usually spend time in trees, hollows and branches of bushes, rarely descending to the ground.

“Sonya Africana is twilight, small, very nimble, cheerful, mischievous, cunning animal, but, unfortunately, not burdened with high intelligence. A definite “plus” is that the African dormouse does not hibernate; She doesn't need it because there is no winter in Africa. (All other types of dormouse need hibernation.) Dormice are not aggressive, do not fight with each other, live alone, in pairs and groups, and are chaotic. sex life, constantly changing partners (if any), females are very loving, breed seasonally: in winter and summer (only 2 times a year).

During the mating period, they “sing”: they whistle like nightingales, very funny and beautiful... if not at night! In normal times, the animals are silent (they don’t make any sounds), and this is also their huge “plus”. They give birth to 3, rarely 5, naked, blind cubs, the care of which falls entirely on the female. It’s interesting, but if sleepyheads live in a small flock, the whole group takes care of, warms, and washes the newborn babies. Nobody tries to eat them. At 1-2 months, little dormouse are already independent, playful, eat themselves and are a smaller copy of their parents.

African dormouse feed on everything they can eat. Zophobos is their favorite and desired delicacy, but for proper nutrition they also need crickets, locusts, sweet fruits (especially bananas), baby sweet food, curds, yoghurts, grain mixtures for rodents, nuts, boiled meat - chicken, boiled eggs. You must understand that the sleepyhead is NOT a hamster! Without protein food (such as meat, eggs, and definitely insects), it will simply die. In addition to this, my sleepyheads ate pasta, persimmons, and cucumbers, but these are more of a taste preference than a proper diet. Dormouse should not be overfed and should not be given sweets or starchy foods! Although they are ready to feast on tasty treats 24 hours a day, they should never be indulged, as the animals are extremely prone to gaining excess weight.

Dormouses smell of what they eat: it is a pronounced sweetish smell (another undoubted advantage of African dormouse is the complete absence of the smell of urine or feces!), that is, when you open the terrarium, you will smell as if you had entered a candy store: it smells sweet, but not understand what exactly. These dormouse are active at dusk, that is, in dim light and at night. They don’t make any noise themselves, but, of course, you can hear them when the animals run around in the wheel. Sonya African is a real “mass entertainer”, she loves everything that can be used to have fun: a running wheel, ropes, tunnels, a small ball, a swing (all these products today can be purchased at a pet store). “Africans” are curious, taken into the house when they are young, they easily get used to people, stop running wild and biting, run with pleasure in their arms, run over the body and head, and get used to their nickname.

Among the “disadvantages” of African dormouse: it is absolutely impossible to lure them out of the house with a tasty treat: the dormouse either runs to you on its own or not, that is, there is a fair amount of independence in their character. African dormice are very fast, you should not let them get away with it, otherwise the animal will run away for a walk around the apartment, and will return to you only when it wants to. These animals also have another annoying, but incorrigible manner: they relieve themselves wherever they want. Keep this in mind, and never pick them up while standing in an evening dress, and do not offer to cuddle your pet to elegant guests sitting at the festive table, no matter how touched they may be.

African dormice are kept in vertical cages with very fine bars, or in terrariums (I kept a group of 9 dormice in the Exo Terra 45*45*60 cm terrarium). A terrarium is beautiful and convenient; there are no sawdust scattered on the floor. In a cage or terrarium you definitely need a shelter (for example, a coconut house or a bird nest), a drinking bowl, a running wheel and all kinds of “entertainment”. It is better to use sawdust purchased at a pet store as bedding material for the bottom.

The African dormouse is an ideal pet for an esthete and an original adult “night owl”, that is, someone who likes to sit in the evenings and goes to bed late. little child will crush, injure, lose the sleepyhead, or be bitten. I had a favorite, an African dormouse named Myshandra. She was waiting for me from work, chirping with impatience and jumping into my arms, or rather trying to climb onto my head. She was distinguished by her affectionateness, intelligence and intelligence; she liked my hair, and she discreetly chewed off a bun while sitting on my shoulder, and when I noticed this hooliganism, she rushed into the house, taking the valuable “trophy” with her. Every time I wanted to take it from the nest, Mousendra chirped furiously, became indignant, and the bunch remained with her.

How did African dormouse come to me? One day I saw a photo of a dormouse on the Internet and literally fell in love with this miracle, I began to look everywhere for such an animal, but they were nowhere to be found. I bought my dormouse only in Ukraine, from the breeder Andrey Bychenko, and then ordered the animals from Germany. This is how African dormouse appeared in St. Petersburg. Many times they brought offspring, making me happy, but then reptiles appeared in the house, and my dormouse moved to live in Moscow, with an experienced lover of rare animals, where they live, thrive and reproduce to this day. Of course, all my babies found caring hands, but now I don’t know a single breeder of African dormice in our city who would breed and sell them. Therefore, if you want to get these cute pets, I advise you to look for them through an ad on the Internet in Moscow.”

Dormouse: the most interesting (see the top picture)

Our acquaintance with the dormouse was fleeting, short-lived, but very interesting. While vacationing in the south, I often heard all the local gardeners complaining that they “have no life from these rat squirrels!” At first it seemed to me that this was some kind of prank or a joke, but it’s unlikely that provincial pensioners would call someone a character from the cartoon “Ice Age,” a fictional saber-toothed rat squirrel who, from episode to episode, runs around with his nut and always gets into ridiculous situations. No one could really explain what kind of rat squirrel this was, they only said that it was “a kind of rat, but with a fluffy tail.” She rampaged through the gardens, completely stripped the hazel trees, encroached on the wonderful figs, sweet as honey, and generally interfered with life. But there was no hatred or disgust in the voices of the locals, such as there is for rats or mice, except perhaps a good-natured grumbling. No one poisoned the “rat squirrels” or caught them in traps - they were scolded like unlucky teenagers who were pretty fed up, but they exist, and nothing can be done about it.

We usually had breakfast, lunch and dinner on the terrace, in the open air, where we often gathered in company, drank wine for long hours, chatted, laughed, admired the amazing stars and sang to the guitar. In general, at night in the Caucasus you can see and hear a lot of interesting things. Twilight sketches silhouettes bats, magical fireflies light up, cicadas sing, owls hoot and jackals howl terribly in the mountains... Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can see some strange animal. And so we sit at night, drink tea (or not tea), admire the fabulous night sky... Eternity stretches before our eyes, and also a piece of a garden, a fence and a woodshed full of old spare parts, tools, boards and other necessary and unnecessary things. In the bushes nearby (just stretch out your hand!) a mysterious rustling is heard, and then something begins: in the gap between the roof and the wall of the barn, a torn branch with leaves “runs” past us! A minute passes, the rustling resumes, and everything repeats itself again, but the one who carries this branch is not visible in the pitch darkness. One thing is clear: this small animal, nocturnal, most likely a female who is building a nest for her future or existing offspring.

This went on for several evenings in a row. Burning with curiosity, we climbed into the barn during the day, but we really didn’t want to climb over the rusty rubbish, climb into the woodpile, look for and disturb the nest, where the babies might be located. And then one day I was lucky: in the dim light of our street lamp I saw a graceful tailed silhouette with smoky fur flashing through the hazel thickets. Yes, it was she, the mysterious beauty, none other than the legendary “rat squirrel”! In just a split second, I managed to understand that this is not a squirrel (the body proportions are slightly different, and there are no tufts on the pointed ears; this animal has round ears), that the animal is very careful, dexterous and agile, and also that it is damn charming and nice But none of us managed to examine this animal in detail, much less photograph it. The fact that the “rat squirrel” and the dormouse are one and the same thing, I found out on the Internet already in St. Petersburg, a few months later.

The dormouse is the largest representative of the dormouse; its size is not much smaller than the gray rat. The chick is distinguished by incredibly thick fur, record long whiskers (up to 6 cm!), and especially large eyes, as if “circled” by a dark border. The color of the fur is smoky-gray, with a brownish tint and silvery tints, the tail seems to be “combed” with a parting in two halves. This is a very beautiful, bright and unusually interesting animal to observe. Let's look at the dormouse in more detail: if only because he is an ideal pet.

Interesting facts:

The ancient Romans valued the dormouse not only for its beautiful fur. It turns out that its meat was famous as a deliciously tasty delicacy! In a number of European languages, the dormouse (Glis glis) is still called “edible dormouse” (for example, in English). This strange name has roots in the history of Ancient Rome. At first, dormouse was eaten during periods of famine, but then the custom took root, and even patricians devoured them - in such interesting combinations as “dormouse stuffed with nuts” or “dormouse boiled in honey.” Moreover, the tradition of eating dormouse remains! They are still eaten in Slovenia, where "navadni polh" is considered a delicacy.

In ancient times, dormouse was much more famous than it is today. For example, Aristotle not only described the appearance of the garden dormouse and wolf, but also talked about their winter hibernation. The naturalist Pliny the Elder also gave a very vivid description of the dormouse. This animal was very popular due to its very tasty meat and fur. As a gift, shellfish were valued on a par with pheasants, guinea fowl, oysters and moray eels. Pliny described special “educational” institutions - gliraria, in which dormouse was kept and bred. Gliraria were quite large territories, fenced with a high smooth wall, preventing dormouse from getting out and thieves from getting in. Behind the fence there were many hollow fruit trees, as well as special shelters in which dormouse could hide and breed. The owners of such “sonefarms” carefully ensured that all wild animals, the founders of the colony, were from the same forest, otherwise bloody fights would break out between strangers. In addition to large glyrari there were also small ones. These were voluminous vessels with a small inlet and a lot of ventilation holes. In similar vessels, decorated with exquisite carvings and drawings, dormouse was presented as a gift to wealthy patricians. There were also special reference books with recipes for dormouse dishes. Artists captured the image of a pretty fluffy animal in beautiful figurines and ornaments. His image can be seen, for example, on the facade of the Lateran Palace in Rome.

In the wild, this dormouse inhabits central Russia and more southern regions; it is most numerous in the Caucasus, including on the Black Sea coast. The dormouse has very interesting habits that distinguish this dormouse from all the others. For example, they get along with each other better than other dormouse - both in a hollow, in a wintering nest and in a home enclosure, cage or terrarium. The dormouse's exit from the shelter for a walk is long and unique. First, a rustling sound is heard from the shelter, then a curious and wary muzzle appears, then the animal comes out of the nest. The first cautious glances, timid “reconnaissance” sniffing, moving ears - and then the animal became bolder and began its nocturnal adventures. First of all, the dormouse climbs onto a high branch and begins to make itself beautiful: it washes itself, cleans its lush fur, combs its tail, licks and wipes its muzzle with its paws, after which it disappears into the dense crown of the tree, running away about its business. The dormouse usually has several shelters, not becoming attached to the same place, but it is very responsible when it comes to building a nest for its offspring. The animals begin to carry bedding to their favorite shelter. Most often these are green leaves from oak, hornbeam, beech, and less often - leaves of shrubs. Real spherical nests inside a birdhouse or hollow dormice are not suitable. They make a cup-shaped nest, the bottom of which is lined with soft material, but such care is usually characteristic only of females. Males are lazier: they can live without any bedding at all, making do with one or two leaves placed on the bottom. Where there is a shortage of hollow trees, and birdhouses and nest boxes are not hung, dormice build open nests about 20 cm in diameter from dry branches, which are lined from the inside with moss, grass and wool. Open nests are usually placed on trees with a spreading crown at a height of about 2-3 m, sometimes higher.

The dormouse is very gluttonous; it eats a large amount of food, which consists of acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, beech nuts, various berries and fruits (apples, pears, figs, etc.). The animals prefer sweet, ripe fruits to unripe ones, so before feeding they try each fruit and throw away the unsuitable ones. Food of animal origin (caterpillars, beetles, etc.) is eaten in smaller quantities. Over the summer, the animals become very fat, increasing their weight by 25-40%.

Active period of daily activity: twilight and until morning; During the day, dormouse sleep in nests and shelters. This animal almost always leads an arboreal lifestyle, constantly climbs both trunks and thin branches, and easily makes jumps of up to 7-10 meters, jumping from tree to tree. Hibernation lasts from November to May. During the hibernation period, up to 4-8 animals fit into one place. At home, in a cage or enclosure, a family of dormice also lives very amicably: they play together, climb walls and floors, “talk” to each other and sleep in an embrace, huddled in a corner of a cage or crammed into a cramped house with the whole crowd. But to truly understand and feel the charm of the dormouse, of course, you need to look at their photographs, talk to breeders, and ideally, see this wonderful animal in person.

Today we have unique opportunity ask a few questions Konstantin Lifatov, Deputy general director Adygzooresurs LLC, a breeder who has been breeding dormouse for many years.

– Konstantin, please tell me how keeping different types of dormouse at home differs from each other and what kind of dormouse would you advise novice owners who have not previously kept dormouse at home to get?
– Small species of dormouse are very difficult to maintain: the smaller the dormouse, the higher its need for animal protein (and live food, respectively!), so for a beginner, either a garden dormouse or a shelf is preferable. All dormouse, with the exception of Polchka and African dormouse (I, however, have no experience with the latter) are not for beginners. Small dormice are best suited for ardent rodent lovers who want to have a whole “collection” of different animals at home. The hazel dormouse eats the most insects; garden and forest dormouse are also highly desirable. Experienced hobbyists who agree to such conditions most often breed crickets or mealworms themselves.

– Probably the most difficult thing about keeping dormouse is the issue of hibernation. Is it necessary to put the animal into hibernation or can it do without it, and if necessary, what is the best way to do this in apartment conditions?
– Speaking of the little dormouse, I can reassure you: don’t be alarmed! Hibernation is not necessary for a shelfling if you do not plan to breed dormice. Many “experts” groundlessly claim that without hibernation, the dormouse’s life will be shortened, but this is true only for small species of dormouse, and the dormouse, with proper maintenance, lives well for up to 12 years, so the dormouse is a real long-liver among small animals. If you keep the animal in an apartment where it is warm, there is enough food and light, it is unlikely to have the need to hibernate in the winter.

– Now let's touch on breeding issues. Is it necessary to choose a mate for the sleepyhead? Is it difficult to breed dormouse in captivity?
– But I wouldn’t recommend breeding for beginners. Breeding regiments is very difficult. Their rut takes place in April-May, but some females have a latent phase of pregnancy, and, being covered, give birth to cubs only after hibernation. I keep a population of chicks in a large enclosure (70 sq. m.), located in Adygea. The core of the livestock consists of 50 females and 7 males, a little more than half of the females give birth, I immediately remove the males after the rut, but if I move a female with her cubs, she can abandon them. Any breeder may have failures during breeding (death of young animals, unsuccessful matings, etc.). There have been cases of dormice breeding at home, but they are rare. It is better for a novice hobbyist to first get acquainted with the contents of dormice in their own practice, to better learn all the nuances of their feeding and behavior, and to gain as much knowledge as possible. It is better not to decide to breed dormice without preparation.

– Then let’s continue to talk about the difficulties that await the owner of a Sonya regiment. The future co-owner must be prepared for any surprises!
– It is very important to warn people that if the animal escapes, your apartment risks turning into real ruins. This is not a hamster, so the damage and the number of things chewed will not be commensurate with the mayhem caused by an ordinary domestic rodent. In addition, the dormouse is more elusive, so it needs an appropriate cage. It is also important to say this thing: in order for dormice to bring joy, you need to devote time to them, lure them with a treat to your hand (a piece of some tropical fruit is suitable as a treat). Then the animal will become contact and will react to the appearance of the owner. But in general, the sleepyhead is ideal for those who do not have time for a cat, or especially a dog, but still really want to have an animal at home. Imagine a picture: a person comes home in the evening, and the pet wakes up when he returns...

– Konstantin, how can I buy a dormouse?
– Despite the fact that our nursery is located in Adygea, our dormouse can “move” to your city. If you are interested in this wonderful animal, you can write to the VKontakte group called “Sleepyheads and Raccoons”.

I would like to say right away that the dormouse animal is called a dormouse for a reason. This animal received this name for two reasons. The first reason is the animal’s predominantly nocturnal lifestyle. The second is a long period of hibernation in the cold. Some types of dormouse can sleep for 7 months a year.

Dormouse family

All species in this family have similar structure of bodies and organs. All dormouse are united by large dark eyes, rounded ears and long antennae. The fur of all animals is fluffy and soft. The tail is quite long and also covered with hair.

Dormouses mostly live in trees. If there are no large trees nearby, then dormouse can live in the branches of bushes. At the same time, there are species of dormouse that prefer to be on the ground most of the time.

Gardeners consider some varieties of these animals to be pests. The fact is that rodents can cause quite significant damage to gardens and berry fields. However, it is not so serious that farmers begin to consider dormouse as the enemy of man.

They live in Russia three types of these animals:

• Sadovaya
• Forest and dormouse.

Dormouses are very interesting to watch. They are quite funny, attractive, harmless, and long-lived compared to other rodents. It would seem that they should be kept at home as pets, but this does not happen. Why? It's all about the sleepyhead's lifestyle. Animal lovers are well aware of these animals, but acquire them quite rarely, since dormouse become active in nature only at night. Who has the desire to watch rodents instead of a healthy sleep? That's why there are very few dormouse on sale. But these animals can change their lifestyle, adapting to the life rhythm of their owners when kept in a cage, but few people know about this.

Externally Sonya resemble proteins. Although they are active mostly at night, in the daytime these animals see no worse than in the dark.

Nature has endowed the dormouse not only with excellent vision, but also with a special skeleton capable of shrinking in the vertical direction, which allows the animals to crawl through the narrowest cracks in tree trunks and get to the safest places for resting and building nests. This is a very important quality of these rodents, ensuring their survival.

When dormouse go out in search of food, they are very rely on your own hearing. Round, fairly large ears serve as locators. They constantly change their position on the animal's head. In this case, the ears move independently of each other. The largest “locators” are those of the garden dormouse. Her photo can be found on the Internet. The second largest ears are the hazel dormouse. Third place was shared by the dormouse and the forest dormouse. Photos of these cute creatures can also be found on the Internet.

Dormouses feed mainly on solid food. Above we compared them with proteins. This comparison is especially noticeable when the dormouse is eating. She, like a squirrel, holds food with her front paws and quickly rotates it. Such actions allow the rodent to quickly open various seeds and nuts. Sonya literally cuts the shell with her sharp incisors.

Unlike most other rodents, dormouse cannot be called fertile animals. They mature for breeding late, their litter never contains more than 5 cubs, and they mate only twice a year. It would seem that such conditions should threaten the dormouse population, but in reality everything is a little different. Females have a very strong maternal instinct. They carefully care for each cub. Combine this with good health and a long lifespan, and you get a stable population whose safety is not threatened.

Keeping a dormouse at home is no more difficult than other decorative rodents. You just need to remember that these animals require an all-metal cage with a very durable tray. It is desirable that it also be made of metal. These rodents will destroy plastic in five seconds. You can buy a similar cage. True, such models suitable for keeping dormouse appear on sale quite rarely, so the cage is most often made to order or made by hand. If desired, the cage can be replaced with a spacious terrarium. The main thing is that it is well ventilated.

A dormice cage must have nipple drinker and feeder. These rodents drink and eat a lot. It is best to purchase drinkers and feeders made of metal, since dormouse will certainly chew other materials.

The bedding for dormouse can be made of sawdust or granulated wood. The cage must have a secluded corner in which the rodent could hide. This is very important, because dormice sleep only in a shelter. You can use a wooden house or a cardboard box as a secluded corner. The last option is cheap, but short-lived. Rodents will quickly make short work of the box.

Due to their metabolic characteristics, sleepyheads are prone to overeating and accumulation of fat reserves. Naturally, overweight poses a threat to the health of rodents. This means that we need to provide them with the opportunity to actively move. To do this, you need to install floors, shelves, ladders and other elements in the cage so that the animals can run along them.

Sonya is very clean. They spend a lot of time cleaning their fur. They need to be kept clean. Change the bedding in the cage regularly. Wash the feeders and change the water in the drinking bowl at least once every 2 days.

The rodent cage should be located in a room with sufficient natural light. The height of the cage is at human eye level.

Types of dormouse

As mentioned above, there are three types of dormouse in our country. Rodents of all these species can be kept at home as pets, but before deciding to take such a step, it is advisable to learn about the characteristics of each species.

Rodents of this species are the smallest in size - no more than 10 centimeters. In nature, hazel dormouse live in bushes. Most often this hazel, cotoneaster or hawthorn. In their branches they build quite strong nests from grass and leaves.

The hazel dormouse can also settle in trees if it manages to find a suitable unoccupied hollow. If an unoccupied birdhouse turns up, the dormouse will certainly settle in it.

By the way, the hazel dormouse lives in bushes and trees only in warm time year. In winter, she prefers to sleep in a cozy hole located near the roots of trees.

At home, hazel dormouse should be kept in high cages. This is explained by the fact that animals love to climb. In such a cage you need to put not one, but several houses. A variety of resting places significantly increases the animal’s comfort of life.

The hazel dormouse needs to be fed with a grain mixture. Various nuts and sweets can be given as treats.

The hazel dormouse is satisfied difficult to maintain at home for the following reasons:

• She is very small and nimble. If the animal gets scared and runs away, it will be very difficult to catch it and return it to the cage.
• The hazel dormouse has a rather specific smell. Therefore, you will have to clean the cage much more often. These rodents are contraindicated for allergy sufferers.
• This type of dormouse needs to be regularly fed with insects.

garden dormouse

This species is considered the most beautiful. They have a black “mask” on their muzzle, making the image of the dormouse mysterious and cunning. The fur coat is dark red, shimmering with gold. The fur on the belly is snow-white. The ponytail ends with a charming tassel. Large eyes and ears make the animal more touching.

garden dormouse very mobile. Feels good both in trees and shrubs and on the ground. It feeds mainly on insects. It can also eat plant food, but gives preference to animal food.

At home, garden dormouse should be kept in spacious cages, or better yet, in an aviary. It is advisable to feed insect larvae and mealworms. A boiled egg can be given as complementary food.

In her appearance and behavior, she is quite similar to her garden sister. But unlike the last one tries to live away from people. It is not recommended to keep this type of rodent at home. There are several reasons for this:

• They have a very complex diet.
• Each individual has its own food preferences. Among the forest dormice there are notorious gourmets.
• It is quite difficult to obtain and breed the necessary live food for these animals.

African dormouse

The most popular type of these animals. The African variety is most often found on sale. Many articles on the Internet are devoted to this animal. You can also find many photos of him there.

This is a relatively small animal with a body length of about 16 cm and very long tail– 13 cm. The fur coat of the animal has an ash-gray tint. The abdomen is often white, but can also be grayish interspersed with brown. The muzzle often has black marks. The tail is two-color. Dark brown along the main length, whitish at the tip.

The diet of the African dormouse is extremely varied: grains, greens, insects, fruits. At home there will be no problems with feeding this animal. But most importantly, this is the most sociable and cheerful type of dormouse. The animals easily get used to people and run to their hands. They even begin to respond to the nickname.

Dormouse animal

If you want to know more about the life of dormouse in nature, about their friends and enemies, then click here: Dormice in nature

Of all the species of dormouse living in the European part, the hazel dormouse is most suitable for keeping in a zoo corner - an animal that resembles a miniature squirrel, slightly smaller than a gray rat, with a long fluffy tail. The ears are short, with rounded tips, covered with sparse hair; the soles of the hind legs are bare, the heels are covered with short hair. The back is smoky-gray with a brownish tint and a silvery coating. The belly and chest are white; paws pale yellowish; the tail is gray on top, whitish below. The hair is long and lush. The dormouse inhabits predominantly forest areas dominated by oak, beech, walnut, wild fruit trees, and hazel.

Hazel Dormouse

The hazel dormouse feeds on acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, beech nuts, and various berries and fruits. Animal food plays a secondary role in her diet.

Sonya is a fast, restless animal, active from dusk to morning. Lives mainly in trees; climbs well on trunks and thin branches; jumping from one tree to another Covers a distance of up to 7-10 m. Makes nests from dry leaves and grass in the hollows of old trees, in artificial structures for birds, much less often natural voids among stones and under roots. The nest has a spherical shape and is used for resting and raising offspring.

The breeding season begins in May and ends in October. The female brings 2 litters of 3-5 cubs each season. Dormouses are in hibernation from October to May. They rarely bite when caught.

Keeping hazel dormouse in a home zoo is not difficult. The cage, as for other rodents, must be metal and large in size so that the animals have enough space to walk. A nest box or a tree stump with a natural hollow with a bedding of hay, straw, and dry leaves is installed in it.

Dormouses kept in an enclosure sometimes bear offspring. For hatching, the male and female build nests that are larger than for resting, 15-20 cm in diameter. Immediately after mating, the female expels the male from the nest and raises the offspring alone. Pregnancy lasts 21-24 days. Cubs at the age of 13-14 days become covered with hair, after another 3 days they open their eyes and after 4 weeks they begin to leave the nest. They become completely independent at 1.5 months. Puberty in young individuals it occurs in the same year.

By autumn, dormice accumulate a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and enter winter hibernation, during which they lose almost half of their original weight. Mild winters end tragically for many animals: waking up frequently, they lose a large amount of energy and die from exhaustion.

In captivity, at temperatures above 10°C, dormice are active all winter, but, being nocturnal animals, they usually sleep all day. The average lifespan of this rodent is 4 years.

They feed the dormouse with a food mixture for songbirds, oatmeal, nuts, acorns, vegetables and berries. Diversify the diet with animal feed, minced meat, insects and their larvae. There should always be clean, room temperature water in the cage.

Garden dormouse. The animal is the same size as the hazel dormouse. The muzzle is pointed; The ears are large, rounded, narrow at the base. The tail is covered with thick hair: in its main part it is short, at the end there is a wide, flat brush of long hair. The back is bright, brownish-brown; neck, chest, belly, paws and ears are white; Black stripes run from the eyes to the base of the ears. In Russia it lives in the middle and southern zones of the European part. Inhabits mixed and broad-leaved forests with a predominance of oak, linden, maple and dense undergrowth of bird cherry, rowan, hazel and rose hips. Prefers to settle on the edges, clearings and old burnt areas; found in gardens, city parks and even in human dwellings located near forests. Omnivore. It feeds on various seeds and berries, insects, mollusks, and bird eggs. Settling near orchards, it willingly consumes large quantities of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and grapes along with seeds. With the dexterity of a squirrel and the sneakiness of a mouse, dormice penetrate everywhere. Once in the room where food is stored, they do not disdain anything: they gnaw crusts of bread, remove lids from pots and feast on milk, cream and sour cream. Plant foods do not occupy a leading place in the diet of the garden dormouse, but the predilection for animal food is clearly visible in all parts of its range. The basis of nutrition is insects and other invertebrates, being easy and accessible prey. In mixed coniferous and mixed forests, dormouse prefer insects such as dung beetles, bronze beetles, beetles, and click beetles. Dormouse reacts very quickly to any moving object and strives to grab it, so small vertebrates and birds, especially hollow nesters, also become its prey. In dormouse nests you can always see bird feathers, wool, remains of rodent skins, chitinous cover and beetle legs in abundance.

At home, garden dormouse should be kept in fairly spacious enclosures made of fine and durable mesh. Moss, turf, driftwood, hollow tree trunks are placed at the bottom - all this can serve as a refuge, a place for rest and solitude while eating tasty food. Since these animals need to climb, jump, and run along branches, the enclosure can be small in width, but not less than 1 m in height and 1.5 m in length. Sonya get along well with each other, almost never quarrel and often rest in the same shelter. In addition to plant food, they should be given animal food: butterfly pupae, crickets, large cockroaches, mealworms, minced meat and a boiled egg. These animals eat very well all kinds of nutritional mixtures with the addition of milk powder. They are given water daily, regardless of the availability of succulent food.

Garden dormouse breed in captivity and raise offspring. Females who have lived in a domestic zoo for several years can give birth to cubs in different seasons. Despite their “carnivory”, they are usually not aggressive, and even after a short period of time in a cage they become so fat that they lose their inherent mobility. The dormouse, taken in hand, makes itself comfortable, sits on its hind legs, and calmly allows any painless “manipulations” to be performed on itself. However, for greater safety, of course, it is best to handle animals with gloves.

Forest dormouse. A small, graceful animal with a long fluffy tail. The muzzle is sharp, the ears are round, the tail is noticeably thickened, evenly covered with elongated hair. The color of the back is reddish-buff, somewhat grayer on the sides, the cheeks, neck, chest and belly are grayish-yellow; the tail is dirty gray, often with a whitish tip, and there are black stripes on the head from the nose through the eyes to the ears.

Inhabits mixed and deciduous forests, gardens, and overgrown ravines. Distributed in central Volos and southern Russia, in the mountains Central Asia, in Altai.

It feeds on berries and their seeds, fruits, nuts, acorns, seeds and buds of various trees, insects, and less often bird eggs.

The forest dormouse primarily lives in trees and bushes, but often descends to the ground. It usually builds spherical nests in hollows of trees, on the branches of bushes at a height of 0.25 m to 12 m. It settles in old bird nests and in burrows or natural voids under the roots. Males and single females usually build their shelters carelessly: the frame is loose, translucent, the lining may be absent. But brood nests have an outer frame made of thin twigs or the tops of bush shoots, between which leaves, moss and dry grass are placed. It is quite durable and well protects the inner chamber, built from soft, delicate material - split oak, plant fluff, wool. Brood nests are always well camouflaged. In the southern regions, dormouse places them on the shady side, and the elastic outer shell reliably hides the entrance hole.

Dormouses sleep in winter. They awaken by the time the snow finally melts and positive temperatures set in - in April-May. The males are the first to wake up and begin to feed intensively, replenishing energy losses during the long winter. They are very excited and run around a lot, exploring the boundaries of their territory. After 7-10 days, females awaken, ready to reproduce. Pregnancy lasts 27-28 days. Childbirth most often occurs at night. Forest dormouse live on average 3 years. They are the most mobile of all species of this group of animals, which should not be forgotten when feeding them. Dormouses love to rebuild their shelter, so the cage or enclosure should have supplies of hay, straw, branches, etc.

At any time of the year, dormice willingly eat fresh branches, tearing off their bark, leaves, and buds. Forest dormice can be kept in large groups in a home zoo - they usually do not show aggression towards each other, but during collective wintering, hungry animals can eat a fellow sleeping nearby. Forest dormouse, taken young, quickly get used to humans and even take food from hands. They can hang on the net for hours in the hope of getting some kind of delicacy - a mealworm, a beetle, a butterfly. As soon as you bring it to the cage, the animals instantly gather around the food, trying to get ahead of each other. Even during the rutting period, the company lives in the same shelter, although the males chase each other with squealing, but there are no bloody fights.

Sonya the regiment. The largest representative of the dormouse family. Body length 13-18 cm, tail about 10 cm. Ears are short, with rounded tips and sparse hair; the soles of the hind legs are bare, the heels are covered with short hair. The color of the back is smoky gray with a brownish or silvery tint; the belly and chest are white; paws are pale yellow; the tail is gray above, whitish below. The hairline is long and fluffy.

Dormouse inhabits lowland and mountain broad-leaved forests in the central zone of the European part of Russia and the Caucasus. Preference is given to areas with a predominance of oak, beech, walnut and wild fruit trees. It feeds on acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, beech nuts, various berries and fruits. Animal feed of great importance don't have. The animals love sweet, ripe fruits and berries, so during feeding they try the fruit and throw it away if it doesn’t suit their taste.

The dormouse leads a predominantly arboreal lifestyle and rarely descends to the ground. It climbs well not only on trunks, but also on thin branches, easily jumps from one tree to another at a distance of up to 7-10 m. It makes nests in the hollows of old trees, artificial bird nests, and less often in natural voids under snags.

Mating begins in July. The female's pregnancy lasts 20-25 days, females give birth to 1 litter per season, in which there are 3-10 cubs.

From November until the end of May-June next year, the dormouse is in deep hibernation. Often several animals, usually 4-8, spend the winter in one nest. Dormouses awaken later than other types of dormouse, in different areas in different ways. In the Caucasus, for example, a mass awakening occurs in the second half of June: during this period, cherry plum and mulberry fruits ripen in forests and gardens, which are what the grasshoppers mainly feed on. The males wake up first.

The rutting period is very stormy, accompanied by endless running around and a showdown. The forest in which the bats live is filled with grumbling, chirping, grunting, sharp high-pitched screams, and often ends with a whistle - this sound can be repeated at different intervals throughout the night. At this time, fights between males are possible.

Marriage relationships among the females do not persist after mating, and the female raises the offspring alone. Newborn animals are very active, but their development is rather slow. Ten-day-old wings are covered with hair 6 mm long, the back and head are pigmented, the claws are dark in color, and the toes are separated. Their incisors are already coming through. They become sighted at 18-20 days, leaving the nest at the age of about 45 days.

Polchkas are rarely kept in home zoo corners, since these animals spend about 7 months a year in hibernation, are awake at dusk and at night, and do not like to be watched. They hibernate even when they are kept in a warm room. In addition, bats caught in captivity do not become tame, they show aggression towards humans and can bite if handled carelessly. Housing conditions, care and feeding are the same as for other species of this family.

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Dormouse family

(Myoxidae)**

* * Dormice are one of the most ancient groups of modern rodents. A large number of subfamilies and genera with low species richness indicates the relict nature of the group. Arboreal forms are more like squirrels, terrestrial forms are more like mice, arboreal forms have developed plantar calluses for better climbing, and the outer toes can be opposed to the rest. In nature, dormouse live 2-6 years. The skins of large dormouse are considered secondary fur.

In their appearance and lifestyle, dormouse are close to squirrels, but they differ significantly from them in some features in their body structure. They have a narrow head with a more or less pointed muzzle, rather large eyes and large bare ears, an elongated body, small limbs and thin legs, on the front paws of which there are four toes, and instead of a big one there is a wart with a flattened nail, and on the hind paws - five fingers. The tail is medium in size, thick and feathery; the fur is also thick and soft. The front teeth are flatly rounded, the lower ones are laterally compressed, the four molars of each jaw have sharply prominent roots and several fairly evenly ground transverse grooves that cut deeply into the enamel surface. The skull looks more like a mouse than a squirrel.
Until now, no more than a dozen individual species of this family are known, all of them belong to the inhabitants of the Old World. They choose hilly and mountainous areas, forests and shrubs, groves and gardens as their habitat. Dormouses live in trees and in hollows, less often - in earthen burrows dug by themselves, as well as between the roots of trees or in crevices of rocks and stone walls, and they try to hide as deep as possible and as far from sight as possible. Most sleep during the day and only early in the morning and in the evening twilight they go out for prey. Therefore, it is quite difficult to get this animal and you can only see it by chance, but after sleeping, they become extremely active: they run well and climb even better, although they cannot make such large jumps as squirrels.
In temperate countries, with the onset of the cold season, dormice fall into torpor and spend the winter in a sleepy state in their nests. Many of them collect food supplies for this time and eat them during breaks from sleep; others do not need this, since they fatten up over the summer and autumn and can survive on accumulated fat. Their food consists of fruits and various seeds; many also eat insects, eggs and young chicks. When eating, they sit squirrel-style on the back of their body and use their front paws to bring food to their mouth.
Some dormouse live in societies, or at least in pairs; others in highest degree quarrelsome. In the summer, the female lays 4-5 cubs in a beautiful nest, which she raises with great love. When caught young, all dormouse become quite tame, only they do not like to be touched, and old animals cannot stand it at all. Dormouses do not bring significant benefit, but rather even harm, since they are engaged in predation in our gardens; but their cuteness makes us forget various offenses and wins our favor, which the majority do not deserve.
The dormouse family is divided into four genera, three of which have their representatives in Europe, while the fourth genus belongs to Africa*.

* Six species of African dormouse of the genus Graphiurus inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the dormouse live in extratropical Eurasia: 7 species live in Europe and the Mediterranean, 4 species in the arid interior of Asia, 1 in the mountains of China and 1 in Japan. Dormouse mountains rise to 4500 m above sea level. In Russia there are 4 species from 4 genera.

Belongs to the first genus dormouse(Myoxus glis)**.

* * Polchok largest representative families. Body length up to 19 cm, tail up to 16.5 cm, weight about 170 g. Soft, rather thick fur on the back is one-color ash-gray, sometimes with a lighter, with a darker blackish-brown tint; it is lighter on the sides of the body. On the belly and inside of the legs, the fur is milky white with a silvery sheen. There is a dark brown ring around the eyes. The thick and feathery tail is brownish-gray with a white longitudinal stripe at the bottom.

This animal is well known by name, but not many have been able to take a close look at it. Everyone who has studied ancient history, knows this dormouse as a favorite of the Romans, who even had special institutions for raising these animals. Oak and beech groves were surrounded by smooth walls that dormouse could not climb, and various holes were built there for nesting and sleeping. The regiments were fed with acorns and chestnuts, and later for final fattening they were placed in clay vessels or tubs called gliraria. The excavations of Herculaneum introduced us firsthand to these gliraria: they were small, semicircular bowls with partitions in the form of protrusions on the inner walls and closed on top with a lattice. Several regiments were planted in them, and they were given food in excess. After being properly fattened, the animals were killed in order to be served as a particularly tasty dish to the table of wealthy gastronomes. Martial even sang the praises of these little animals, into whose mouths he put the following words: “Winter, we wake you up and boast of our stature just in those months when nothing but sleep feeds us!” The shelf is 16 cm long and has a tail of 13 cm.
The regiment's real homeland is southern and East Europe. Its distribution area covers Spain, Greece, Italy, southern and middle Germany; in Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Moravia, Silesia, Bohemia and Bavaria this animal is very numerous, and in Croatia, Hungary and southern Russia it is distributed absolutely everywhere. In northern Europe, even in northern Germany, England and Denmark, it no longer exists. He lives mainly in mountainous areas; dry oak and beech forests are his favorite habitat. All day long he lies hidden in hollow trees or in rock crevices, in holes dug in the ground between tree roots, in abandoned hamster holes, or, finally, is placed in the nests of magpies and crows; in the evening it leaves its shelter and prowls all night, looking for food; from time to time he runs into a hole to digest the food he has eaten and rest a little, after which he sets off again for prey and only in the morning, rarely after sunrise, having usually united with a female or some comrade, returns to his shelter to lie down in silent for the whole day. During night marches, the regiment displays greater mobility, agility and lively activity; With the agility of a real squirrel, he climbs trees and rocky ledges, confidently jumps from branch to branch, from top to bottom, and quickly skips along the ground. However, all this can be seen only in those places where its location has already been discovered in advance, since the night completely hides it from the eyes of humans and many other enemies.
There are few rodents that would surpass a regiment in gluttony. He eats as long as he can eat. The main food consists of acorns, beech and other hazelnuts; does not refuse walnuts, chestnuts, sweet and juicy fruits. The regiment also, apparently, feels the need for animal food, because it attacks every small animal that it is able to catch up with, kills and eats it, ruins it, destroys nests, strangles chicks - in a word, it shows its predatory inclinations. He drinks little water, and when he has juicy fruits, he doesn’t drink it at all.

Throughout the summer, the regiment every night, unless the weather is very bad, searches for prey in its possessions. During such trips, he constantly sits down like a squirrel and puts something edible in his mouth with his front paws. You can constantly hear the clicking of nuts, which the shelf is gnawing, or the fall of eaten fruits, which it throws down. By autumn, the animal collects food reserves and stores them in its burrows. At this time he still eats while he can; then he begins to take care of the arrangement of his winter home, prepares a deep hole or finds a suitable place in cracks and crevices of rocks and old walls or in deep tree hollows, where he makes a warm nest from delicate moss. Here he curls up in company with a few companions and falls into a deep sleep long before the time when the thermometer drops to the freezing point; in harsh mountainous areas this time comes already in August, in warmer plains - around October. At this time, the regiment exhibits the same insensitivity as other animals subject to hibernation; his sleep may even be more sound than everyone else's. You can safely take him from the nest and take him anywhere: he will still sleep and remain in an unconscious state. In a warm room, gradually awakening, he begins to move his limbs and little by little begin to move, although he still looks sleepy. When free, he sometimes wakes up on his own and, as if unconsciously, begins to eat the supplies*.

* Dormice do not store any food for the winter, they just get very fat. Their winter hibernation is very deep - real suspended animation with a strong decrease in body temperature and sharp decline metabolic level. Only such hibernation allows sleepyheads to “hold out” on fat reserves for more than six months.

The little ones that Lenz raised, keeping them in a cold room in winter, woke up almost every four weeks, ate and went back to sleep so soundly that they seemed dead; others, brought up by Galvagni, woke up only every two months to eat. In freedom, our regiment wakes up only in late spring, rarely before the end of April. Thus, the duration of their winter hibernation reaches a full 7 months.
Soon after awakening, the chicks mate, and after about six weeks of pregnancy, the female gives birth in a soft nest of a hollow tree or some other burrow (in the vicinity of Altenburg, very often in birdhouses that are placed on high poles above or on fruit trees) 3-6 naked blind cubs that grow up unusually quickly and feed on their mother’s milk only for a very short time, and then begin to get food themselves. The shelf never makes nests openly in trees, like our squirrel, but, if possible, in a hidden place. Where there are many beech trees, this animal reproduces very quickly, since its welfare depends on the fruit harvest.
Numerous enemies cause significant damage to the regiments. Their most formidable persecutors are pine martens and ferrets, wild cats and weasels, eagle owls and owls; although the regiment bravely defends itself against the most strong enemies, snorts at them, bites viciously and even uses his weak claws, nevertheless he has to give up in the end *.

* For passive protection from enemies, the regiment, like other sleepyheads, has one means. The skin on the tail is very fragile and is easily torn off by a “stocking” when a predator grabs the dormouse by the tail. The exposed tail dries out and dies; the animal, having lost its balance, becomes more clumsy, but remains alive.

Man also diligently pursues a regiment in those places where there is a lot of it, for the sake of meat and for the sake of fur; the animal is lured into artificial winter dwellings, that is, into holes built for this purpose in the forest, between bushes and rock slopes in dry, south-facing places; these pits are treacherously covered with moss, covered with straw and dry branches, and abundantly supplied with beech nuts. In addition, other traps are set. In Bavaria, peasants catch the chickadee in ordinary tit traps, in which hemp seed is scattered as bait. In other places, peasants catch small animals with traps, which they either hang on branches, or place in front of the tracked holes of these animals, placing a juicy pear or plum in them for bait. In addition, sometimes tubs filled with fruits are buried in the ground, which have only one exit from the top, covered with a mesh of iron wire so that the animal can slip inside the tub, but will not come out in any way. There are so many small birds caught in such traps that some hunters collected from 200 to 400 of them throughout the fall.
Shelves are relatively rarely kept in captivity. It could have been foreseen in advance that such a glutton would not show any particular development of mental abilities or any good qualities. His lifestyle and character traits are not pretty; the greatest virtue in him is his cleanliness; otherwise he is intolerable. Always irritated, he does not get close to his teacher at all and angrily, with some special snoring, grumbles at everyone who dares to approach him. He bites anyone who clumsily grabs him painfully several times in a row, which makes it clear that he does not intend to allow his person to be disturbed. At night, like a madman, he begins to frantically jump around the cage and this alone can get boring to the point of disgust. With all this, he requires the most careful supervision and plentiful food, otherwise he will gnaw through the cage or eat one of his comrades. As soon as a regiment lacks food, without further consideration it attacks one of its relatives, kills it and eats it with complete equanimity. Even those born in captivity do not lose the unpleasant properties of their relatives and always remain as unsympathetic as the old ones.
Forest Dormouse(Diyomys nitedula) is the link between the dormouse and the garden dormouse; it is 17 cm long, almost half of which is on the tail**.

* * The body length of the forest dormouse is up to 11 cm, the tail is the same length. The tail is evenly pubescent, like a regiment's, but the hair on top seems to be combed in the middle. On the hind legs, not only the outer, but also the inner toe can be opposed to the rest.

The color of the fur on the head and back is reddish-brown or brownish-gray, on the belly it is completely white; a black stripe begins under the eyes, which, expanding, covers the eyes and continues to the ears; behind the ears lies a dirty grayish-white patch. The tail is dark brown-gray on top, slightly lighter at the end, and white below.
Southern Russia should be considered the homeland of the forest dormouse; from here it spread west to Hungary, southern Austria and Silesia, but is quite rare there*. In terms of lifestyle, as far as is known so far, it does not differ in any significant way from the regiments and garden dormouse.

* The forest dormouse has the widest range among dormouses; to the north and northeast it reaches Sweden, the Volga region, Altai, to the south - to Italy, the forests of Western and Central Asia, to the East - to Mongolia. In the west it reaches only Austria and Southern Germany. Prefers broad-leaved and hard-leaved forests of the Mediterranean type.

garden dormouse(Eliomys quercimts) reaches a maximum length of 14 cm, with a tail length of 9.5 cm. The head and back are reddish-gray-brown, the belly is white; the eyes are bordered by a shiny black ring that continues under the ears to the neck; there is a whitish spot in front and behind the ears, and a blackish one above the ear. The tail is gray-brown at the root, and at the end it is two-colored - black on top, white below. The hair on the belly is two-colored - it is gray at the roots, white at the tips, and in some places it is yellowish or grayish. The ears are meat-colored, the mustache is black, with white tips; the claws are the color of a light horn, the upper front teeth are light brown, the lower ones are light yellow. Beautiful dark black-brown eyes give the garden dormouse an intelligent, lively expression.
Garden dormouse, already known to the ancient Romans under the name Nitella, belongs mainly to the temperate zone of central and western Europe; France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Galicia, Transylvania and the Russian Baltic provinces** are considered her fatherland.

* * Garden dormouse is largely associated with coniferous trees; it penetrates further to the north than other species - to Karelia, the Vologda region, to the east - to the Urals, but is absent from the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor.

It lives both on plains and in hilly countries, but still prefers to huddle in mountainous areas and here mainly in deciduous forests, although it also comes across coniferous ones, and sometimes enters low bushes and gardens. In Switzerland it rises to high glaciers. It feeds on the same thing as the elk; but, in addition, he carries lard and butter, lard and ham from the houses of mountain residents; Apparently, she eats young birds and eggs even more willingly and more than the chick, which she certainly surpasses in climbing and jumping. Its nest differs from the shelf's nest in that it is located in open place; however, sometimes the garden dormouse uses cracks in walls, old rat holes, mole holes and other depressions between stones and in the ground; she gently covers the nest with moss and arranges it as comfortably as possible. Squirrels are especially willing to settle in empty nests; if necessary, she can build a nest herself, which she hangs in a visible place between the branches of a tree.
The time of love for the garden dormouse begins in the first half of May. Several males often start a heated argument over the possession of a female, chasing each other, while hissing, sniffling and rushing through the trees like crazy. As peaceful as they are in ordinary times, they now become perky, angry and pugnacious; real battles take place between them, and with such fury that it was difficult to expect from them; It often happens that one of the opponents is fatally bitten by the other and is immediately eaten. After a 24-30 day pregnancy, the female lays 4-6 naked, blind young, in most cases in a perfectly prepared and openly placed nest in a tree; To do this, she often uses an old nest of a squirrel, crow, or blackbird and common blackbird, which she sometimes captures by force, then lines it with moss and wool and closes it tightly. The mother feeds the cubs contentedly for a long time and, when they grow up a little, brings them food in abundance. If at this time you approach her nest and try to take the cubs out of there, then the alarmed female with sparkling eyes begins to hiss at the enemy, bares her teeth, rushes right into his face and frantically tries to bite. It is remarkable that the otherwise clean garden dormouse keeps its nest extremely untidy. Smelly feces accumulate in the nest in whole heaps and spread such a strong stench that not only dogs, but even an ordinary person at a distant distance is able to recognize the presence of such a nest. After a few weeks, the cubs reach the size of their mother and after some time they begin to run near the hole in order to find food under the supervision and guidance of the mother. Subsequently, they start their own homes and next year become capable of reproduction. In particularly favorable weather, the female gives birth twice in one year.
During hibernation, the garden dormouse looks for dry and protected holes in trees and walls or settles down in mole holes, sometimes entering forest guardhouses, garden gazebos, barns, haylofts, coal miners' huts and other residential buildings, where it hides . Usually they are found several in one nest, pressed so closely together that they form, as it were, one ball. Sleepyheads sleep without interruption, but not as soundly as others; When there is a thaw, they wake up, eat from food reserves, and when the cold returns, they hibernate again. In contrast to other animals subject to hibernation, garden dormice exhibit a certain sensitivity to external irritation at this time. They rarely emerge from their burrows in the spring before the end of April; First they eat the entire winter food supply and then resume summer activities.
Garden dormouse is hated by all gardeners who grow tender fruit trees. It is enough for just one dormouse to get into such a garden to destroy the entire collection of peaches or apricots. When choosing a treat, the garden dormouse reveals a lot of subtle taste. She chooses only the best and juiciest fruits, which she recognizes not by appearance, but by taste, so that she spoils much more than she eats*.

* Plant foods do not occupy a leading position in the diet of this dormouse; the basis of nutrition is invertebrates and small vertebrates. More than other relatives, the garden dormouse spends time on the ground in search of food. In a number of areas of Europe, it prefers to settle near humans, competing with rats and even displacing them due to its aggressiveness. In some places it actually causes significant damage to gardens. In the east of the range it is rare and needs protection.

There is no way to get rid of a harmful guest who has entered the garden, since he knows how to overcome all sorts of obstacles; climbs palisades and trees, slips through the loops of nets that protect trees, or gnaws through them if they are too dense: and can even get through wire mesh.
Only late-ripening fruits can be saved from dormice, since at this time the animals are already in their burrows. The garden dormouse brings only harm and only the slightest benefit with its meat and skin, so it is diligently pursued and exterminated, especially by gardeners, who have to suffer the most from it. The best traps are wire snares that are hung on fruit trees, or small traps. But the best defender of gardens against these robbers is a cat. Martens, weasels, eagle owls and owls also diligently pursue the garden dormouse; therefore, landowners living near forests act quite reasonably in providing patronage to these natural enemies harmful rodents.
The garden dormouse is just as unsuitable for keeping in captivity as the dormouse. She rarely gets used to a person and whenever he appears unexpectedly, she bites so hard that the pain is very sensitive. At the same time, she has the same unpleasant quality that is inherent in a regiment - she sits quietly during the day, and rebels in a cage at night; tries to gnaw through the bars and bars in order to break through it and, if she succeeds, then she rages as if there were a dozen sleepyheads in the room; in this case, everything that stands on the road is overturned and destroyed. It is not easy to catch a garden dormouse running out of its cage again. It is easy to verify her predatory inclinations by making observations of animals in captivity. She displays the bloodthirstiness of a weasel coupled with the gluttony of a regiment; furiously attacks every small vertebrate animal brought into a cage, strangles a bird in an instant, deals with a perky mouse in a few minutes, no matter how it resists, and does not spare even its equal... Hunger entails an inevitable internecine struggle, which ends the fact that one kills and eats the other, and hibernation leads to the triumph of the strong, who abstains from hibernation, and the death of the weak, who succumbs to it. As soon as one of several garden dormice kept together falls into hibernation while the others are still awake, it can consider itself already dead: insidious comrades attack the sleeping ones, bite them to death and eat them. The same thing happens when several garden dormice that were in hibernation begin to wake up one after another; the one who wakes up before others kills her helpless comrades. An ordinary daytime nap does not pose such a danger, because a sleeping dormouse quickly wakes up and protects its skin.
Hazel Dormouse(Muscardinus avellanarius) - one of the cutest, cutest and playful European rodents; She is liked not only by her external beauty, but also by her cleanliness, comeliness, and gentleness of character. The animal is approximately the same size as our house mouse; its total length reaches 14 cm, of which almost half is the tail. The thick and smooth fur consists of medium-length shiny and soft hair of a yellowish-red color, the fur is slightly lighter below, white on the chest and throat; the eye sockets and ears are light reddish, the legs are red, the toes are whitish, the upper side of the tail is brownish-red. In winter, the upper side of the last half of the tail is covered with a light blackish coating. This happens because the new awn hairs have blackish tips, which subsequently wear off. Young animals are bright red in color. The homeland of the little hazel dormouse is central Europe: Sweden and England apparently constitute the northern border of its distribution, and Tuscany and the northern part of Turkey constitute the southern border; in the east it does not go beyond Galicia, Hungary and Transylvania. The hazel dormouse is especially numerous in Tyrol, Carinthia, Styria, Bohemia, Silesia, Slovenia and northern Italy, since it is found in greater numbers in the southern regions than in the northern ones *.

* This smallest species of the family (weighs 15-35 g), preferring broad-leaved forests, is nevertheless absent from most of Asia Minor, the Crimea and the Caucasus. The northern border in Russia coincides with the northern border of mixed forests. To the east, the hazel dormouse is distributed to the Cis-Urals. The number of the species is low everywhere, and high mortality of young is noted. Systematically, the hazel dormouse, close to the common dormouse, like it, is the most arboreal species of dormouse, comparatively rarely descending to the ground.

Their dwellings are almost the same as those of their relatives; the lifestyle is no different from that described above. The hazel dormouse inhabits both the plains and the mountains, but it does not rise above the forest line, i.e. 1500 meters above sea level. Favorite habitats are low bushes, thorns, and mainly walnut groves.
During the day, the hazel dormouse lies somewhere hidden and sleeps; at night it forages for food, which consists of nuts, acorns, hard seeds, juicy fruits, berries and buds; but most of all she loves nuts, which she skillfully cracks and eats: she does not pick the nuts from the tree and does not take them out of the green shell. She loves rowan berries and therefore often ends up in snares set for birds*.

* The hazel dormouse feeds almost exclusively on plant foods, in the summer it is mainly succulent food, and by autumn it is high-calorie hard seeds and nuts.

Hazel dormouse live in small societies, however, not closely connected with each other. Each dormouse separately or two dormouse together builds a soft, warm, rather skillfully made nest of grass, leaves, moss, roots and wool in very dense bushes, and at night they leave it in order to get food in partnership with others living nearby. Like real arboreal animals, they skillfully climb even the thinnest branches, not only like squirrels and other dormice, but also like monkeys; You can often see her hanging with her hind legs over a branch to reach a distant nut and crack it, or running along the underside of a branch with the same confidence as along the top, just like the forest acrobat monkeys of tropical countries.


Even on smooth ground they run very quickly, especially when they are in a hurry to return to their arboreal possessions.
The mating time for hazel dormouse coincides with mid-summer; rarely does mating occur before July. After about a four-week pregnancy, usually in August, the female lays 3-4 naked, blind cubs in her round, very comfortable summer nest, skillfully built from moss and grass and lined inside with the hair of various animals. Dormouses try to make this nest in dense bushes at a height of one meter above the ground. The cubs grow up unusually quickly, but suckle for another whole month until they are mature enough to run for food on their own**.

* * In favorable years, the hazel dormouse brings up to 3 broods; births occur with an interval of 2 months. The mating season begins in April and proceeds very peacefully, without conflicts or fights between males. At this time, the hazel dormouse is more silent than other species; partners are guided mainly not by mating “songs”, but by scent marks. There are usually 3-4 cubs in a litter, which a month after birth stop feeding on milk and become completely independent.

It is difficult to catch the hazel dormouse when it is awake; very rarely falls into traps that are placed in the animal’s favorite places, placing bait in them - nuts or other tasty food. It can be most easily obtained in late autumn or winter in forests and gardens, while raking dry leaves and twigs. Having climbed into a nest for the winter, built under dry leaves, hazel dormouse easily fall into the hands of an experienced hunter, as they betray their presence by squeaking; then the hunter carefully digs up the nest, wraps it tightly in fur and takes it home, where he arranges the animals in a cage or gives it to some amateur. If you get your hands on a hazel dormouse, it’s easy to make it completely handmade. It would never occur to her to use violence against her master, to defend herself and to bite; in the most severe fright, it limits itself to squeaking or hissing loudly. She soon submits to her fate, calmly gives herself into the hands and submits to the will of man, abandons all wildness, although she does not lose her innate timidity and timidity. In England they are kept as pets in ordinary bird cages and sold at the market. Animals can be kept in the most elegant rooms, since they do not emit any bad odor, and only in the summer they smell a little musk, and even then so faintly that they do not cause the slightest disgust.
In captivity, the hazel dormouse undergoes hibernation if the premises are not equally maintained warm temperature. Before hibernation, she tries to make a nest and curls up in it or falls asleep in a corner of the cage. If a sleeping dormouse is brought back into a warm place, it awakens, but soon falls asleep again. Biological encyclopedia Wikipedia

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Just look at these cute little orange-brown ones. Although they belong to the rodent family, they are easily distinguished from their cousins ​​by their bushy tail.

Dormouses are nocturnal animals. They hold the palm in terms of sleep duration, carefreely sleeping during the day in a hollow, or a cozy and well-hidden nest. As soon as dusk falls, these funny animals wake up for 2-3 hours to move around and eat. If she smells something nearby, she will go back to sleep. Bad weather is unlikely to allow the little “sloth” to get out of its hiding place. It’s better to stay warm and dry, even if not completely full.

In autumn, the animals hibernate as a friendly family in underground burrows or hollows. The animals lie on their backs, covering their bellies with their fluffy tails, like a blanket. Dormouses sleep for a long time - up to 8 months. During hibernation, the animal's heart rate slows down and the animal's body temperature drops, which helps conserve energy.

They wake up hungry in the spring and go for food to gain weight and replenish lost energy. Animals are good at climbing trees. They happily eat swollen buds on trees and young green shoots. Dormice feed on a variety of foods: nuts and berries, insects and aphids, and destroy the nests of small birds, feasting on delicious eggs.

The habitat of the animals is Europe (except the North) and Africa. They prefer deciduous and mixed forests. They spend most of their life above the ground, on tree branches.

to his appearance, they are similar to squirrels, only smaller in size. The body length is 7 – 18 cm, and one animal weighs about 50 grams. The tail is quite long, 6–7 cm. The muzzle has small rounded ears, a long mustache, and the eyes are large and round, black in color. On the paws long fingers with sharp claws. The nose is pink-brown. The dormouse's belly and neck are lighter than the main color.

These are territorial animals. The animal's well-developed hearing will let its owner know about encroachments on the property. They are solitary animals, and create a pair for procreation. Offspring are born 1–3 times a year, depending on the species. After winter sleep, having found each other, the female prepares to become a mother. She looks for a secluded place, then builds a nest, lovingly covering it with down and soft grass.

The pregnancy will last about a month, and the little cubs will be born. Usually there are from 3 to 10 babies in a litter, they are born naked, blind and completely helpless. They will feed on mother's milk for about a month; the eyes open only after 2.5 weeks. Mother's care and affection will not last long, after 35 - 40 days, the children must leave their home, and after some time find a suitable territory for themselves. It should be noted the efforts of the father of the family, he also takes care of the offspring.

In the wild, dormice live for about three years.