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🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your African Pygmy Mouse Vet-Prep Sheet

Exotic-mammal vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. Print it and keep it with your care notes. This helps you prepare for a vet — it is not treatment.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it’s a vet trip yet? Run the “normal, or should I worry?” check first — many worries turn out to be a husbandry fix.

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African Pygmy Mouse — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find an exotic-mammal vet — before you need one

  • Search the AEMV find-a-vet directory (the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians), or, in the UK, the RCVS Find-a-Vet tool — or search “exotic / small-mammal vet near me”.
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: “Do you see small / exotic mammals?” Not every vet does. Ask the exam fee while you’re on the phone, so the cost is one less panic in a crisis.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

My vet
My african pygmy mouse
What I’m seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

See a vet promptly if you notice any of these:

  • Any laboured, rapid or noisy breathing, or discharge from eyes/nose, respiratory illness in an animal this tiny escalates fast.
  • A mouse sitting hunched, fluffed-up, lethargic, or refusing food or water.
  • Visible weight loss, a bony or sunken look, or a swollen belly.
  • Wounds, limping, or signs of fighting injuries (more common in male groups).
  • Diarrhoea, a dirty or wet rear end, or straining.
  • Any lump, growth, or eye that looks cloudy, bulging or injured.
  • A pregnant or straining female in difficulty, or a mother that seems to be abandoning or eating pups. Because pygmy mice are so small, examination and treatment are hard, see an exotic vet early rather than waiting.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Keep it warm — small mammals chill and dehydrate fast, and cold makes almost everything worse.
  • Bring it in its own bedding/carrier with some familiar food.
  • For rabbits and guinea pigs, keep offering their normal hay, greens and water — a gut that stops is an emergency.
  • Bring a fresh dropping or urine sample if you can.
  • Keep it calm and quiet.

⛔ Don’t

  • Don’t give any human or OTC medicines — some common antibiotics are fatal to rabbits and guinea pigs.
  • Don’t withhold food from a rabbit or guinea pig.
  • Don’t let it get cold.
  • Don’t handle it more than necessary.

🎒 What to bring

  • A fresh dropping or urine sample, if you can collect one.
  • Photos and a short video of the behaviour or symptom — it may not show it in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • A note of eating, drinking and toileting over the last day.
  • The animal in a secure, warm carrier.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Enclosure
Escape is the number-one practical problem: these mice fit through standard cage bars and mesh and can jump around 50 cm, so a wire cage is not safe. Use a well-ventilated glass or acrylic tank with a tight, fully sealed lid (fine no-see-um mesh or a secured ventilated top) and no gaps a pinky-tip could pass. A minimum of roughly 30 x 30 x 30 cm (about 12 inches each way) suits a small colony, and taller is welcome because they climb well. Check every seam and lid catch, because a single missed gap means a lost mouse.
Companionship
African pygmy mice are highly social and should never be kept alone; they do best in pairs or small colonies. Because they breed so readily, keep same-sex groups to prevent runaway litters, a mixed pair can produce litters continuously. Females generally live together more peacefully than males, and too many males in a group can lead to fighting, so all-female or carefully monitored small all-male groups are usual. Correct sexing of such a tiny animal is genuinely difficult when young, so buy from a knowledgeable source and be prepared for the possibility of mis-sexed animals.
Temperature
Warmth-loving. A stable, draft-free room temperature in the range of about 21 to 26°C (roughly 70 to 78°F) is commonly recommended, and they should not be kept cold, keep them reliably above about 15 to 16°C (60°F) at minimum. Avoid drafts, direct sun on the glass, and sudden temperature swings. If your home runs cool, gentle supplemental warmth (never a hot spot they cannot escape) may be needed.
Substrate
Use a soft, dust-low, paper-based bedding or other safe soft substrate deep enough to burrow in, plus soft nesting material. Avoid cedar and pine shavings, whose aromatic oils are linked to respiratory irritation in small rodents. A layer they can dig and tunnel through supports natural behaviour.
Enrichment
Provide plenty to explore: tunnels, small hides, nesting material, and secure climbing structures and branches, since they are excellent climbers. Foraging opportunities (scattering seed in bedding) suit their natural granivore habits. A safe, solid-surface (not wire-rung) small wheel can be offered. Enrichment matters more here than handling, because these are animals you enrich and observe rather than pick up.
Diet
Omnivore leaning heavily herbivore/granivore. In the wild the bulk of the diet is seeds, grains and plant matter, with insects taken opportunistically (proportions vary by region). In captivity offer a base of a good-quality small-rodent/mouse mix or pellet, small seeds such as millet, and small amounts of suitable fresh greens, with occasional insects (for example a small mealworm) for animal protein. Feed modestly, do not overfeed, as pygmy mice can become obese. Provide fresh water daily in a shallow dish or a tiny bottle.
Supplements
No routine supplements are required if a varied, appropriate diet is fed; occasional insect protein and fresh greens cover most needs. Do not add supplements without an exotic vet's guidance, since dosing anything for an animal this small is very hard to get right.

⚕️ Small mammals are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so any change in eating, droppings, drinking or behaviour is urgent — in rabbits and guinea pigs, not eating or passing no droppings for 12–24 hours can be a life-threatening emergency (gut stasis). They also chill and dehydrate quickly, so keep it warm. Tell the vet about your diet and any remedies you’ve used, and ask for exotic-mammal-safe medicines and doses — several antibiotics that are routine in other pets are dangerous to rabbits and guinea pigs.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you routinely see small / exotic mammals? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?