Barbary Striped Grass Mouse

Lemniscomys barbarus and Lemniscomys striatus are kept as pets, although L. barbarus is a lot more common than L. striatus. Due to their attractive appearance, both species are getting more and more common in captivity.

Striped grass mice kommen live mainly on veldts and grassland. Some subspecies can also be found in sparse woodlands and cultivated land. The ground-living mice build tunnel systems from grass, hay and other soft materials and live in those as a colony. A big group offers the animals protection against predators who hunt them despite their excellent camouflage. Striped grass mice feed on seeds, leafy greens and invertebrates such as snails, spiders and insects.

the stripes are typical for this species

Striped grass mice are between 8-12 cm long, with a tail of 8.13 cm. The normal weight is between 35-55 gramms, which makes them fairly ligthweight for their size.

They are camouflaged by light brown and almost black stripes, similar to wild piglets. This helps them to hide in the sundappled high grass of their native habitat. Breeding in captivity has produced pied grass mice with white spots. Their feet are hairless and not very suitable for climbing, they have problems holding on and are much more adapted to running. The hairless tail is used for balance and for steering. You can find more photos in the gallery

Striped grass mice often get tame enough to take food from their owner's hand, but won't enjoy being handled. They are skittish and nervour, in particular when getting used to new surroundings and they should be left alone during that time. They are also very easy to stress out and sensitive. All this makes them hard to keep in captivity, stress often causes aggression which may lead to serious injury or even the death of one or more animals. Owners with experience in keeping other mouse species may be successful in keeping them, but people new to keeping mice should choose another species that's easier to keep. Striped grass mice are not suitable at all for children.

grass mice sitting on their lookout

Handling is very much dependent on how shy the animals are. In no case the grass mice should be grasped by their tail since that can result in the loss of the tail. If the animals allow themselves to be touched, they can be handled with bare hands since they don't bite. If they cannot be touched, use a small pet carrier and gently coax the mice into it to put them into their new enclosure, this is the least stressful method. It's also a useful method for sexing the mice.

If the mice need medical attention, you can either take them to the vet or ask the vet vor a housecall, which is the better solution for very shy and nervous animals. Less shy mice can be taken to the vet, but it's advisable to take the whole group to prevent fighting when it will be more than a short trip. At the vet, you can handle tame animals normally. Scruffing should only be done when absolutely neccessary since it's very stressful for the mice. If they are held too firmly, the skin can tear like paper, leaving a huge wound. Shy animals should be wrapped in a towel so that only the part the vet want to examine is visible, that is the least stressful method for them. Escaped mice can be caught with a live trap or a spoon net.

peaceful family group

Although grass mice are very social, the balance of the group is very delicate and if disturbed, it may devolve, resulting in fights or even in the death of one or more animals. Sick individuals are attacked and excluded from the group. If they cannot avoid the others, the rest of the group continues to attackn until the animal is dead. Nevertheless, grass mice need company and mice kept alone usually die at a young age.

Striped grass mice breed rapidly and often without problems, despite their reputation of being hard to breed and only groups of the same sex should be kept unless you absolutely nkow what you are doing. Male or female groups are not very different in their behaviour. Male groups should not be bigger than 10 individuals and must not be able to smell females. Females can be kept in bigger groups, 15 individuals lived together without problems and it's also possible to mix females and neutered males. There are lines who are more peaceful than others. If you buy grass mice from a breeder, take some time to watch the interactions of the breeder's groups and of the animals you plan to buy. That will give you at least a clue as to how social the line is.

They are cathemeral, being active both during the day and the night, although they are most active during the day. There are also reports that the animals go to sleep once there is no more light in the room, but I can only confirm that to some extent from my experience. Usually, phases of activity last about two hours and are followed by longer periods of rest.

awkward balacing on thin branches

Striped grass mice love warmth and should have temperature of no less than 20°C at night and 25°C durnig the day. They can deal with lower temperature, but if the temperature in your house drops below their range of comfort, you should offer them a red basking spot or heat stone to keep them from catching a cold. The temperature must not drop below 15°C, the mice are visibly uncomfortable then.

A small enclosure means stress for grass mice and they should have a minimum size of 100x50x100 cm (length, width and height) for 2-4 individuals. They can be kept in terrariums, which need to be well ventilated, or homemade enclosures/converted furniture since they gnaw very little. Keep in mind that they don't climb very well and prefer to run. Offer them a lot of storeys, hiding places, ramps and thick branches and avoid small branches, ladders or rope. You absolutely need to offer at least one elevated space (for example a big branch or root) that is used as an observation deck by the mice, they will often gather there. Also very popular are woven bird nests and coconut halves, nesting boxes are rarely accepted.

grass mice in a hay nest

Nesting material can be any fibrous material: hay, straw, Kapok, coconut fibres and even jute bags are made into nests and tunnels. Wood shavings are gnawed into tiny pieces and used as padding for the nests. Wood shavnig produced while planing a piece of wood are a great toy, if you can get them (make sure the wood isn't treated in any way and the wood shaving shouldn't be very dusty). A sand bath can be offered, but will probably be used as a toilet.

Wood shavings, potting soil (untreated), bark mulch (no cocoa mulch!) and flax bedding are suitable as bedding. You don't need a very thick layer since the mice rarely dig.

feeding grass mice

Grass mice are best offered their food in bowls of a diameter no more than 5-7cm, since they will use bigger bowls as a toilet. Water should be offered from bottles. The daily food should be a mixture of a variety of small seeds, for example a mix of parakeet/budgie and canary seeds with a small part of grain mixture. Pumpkin seeds may be added as a treat since grass mice are not very susceptible to obesity, but take care not to add too many fatty seeds.

Additionally, the mice readily accept a variety of vegetables and leafy greens. Fruit should only be fed rarely or not at all since it is not a part of their natural diet. Animal protein is an important part of their diet and can be offered in form of insects like mealworms, superworms or boiled egg. With some practice, the mice will be able to catch like insects such as crickets or locusts, but roaches are not very popular. Striped grass mice drink a lot and you need to check on the water bottles regularly.

mother carrying a baby to safety

A breeding cycle is between 3-5 days long. The female will run restlessly through the cage and will stop in the same place frequently to allow the male to mate with her. A sure sign that the female is in heat are the screams she utters while mating, normally grass mice don't make any noises audible for humans.

After a pergnancy of about 21 days the female will give birth to a litter of 4-6 babies weighing 2-3 grams, with the typical striped fur. Three litters per year are normal, but there may be more. The babies will open their eyes after 12-14 days, but will be weaned only at 4 weeks. Males are able to breed with 8-10 weeks, females often months later, but they are fully grown only at six months and should not be bred before that. Striped grass mice reach an age of 2-4 years in captivity.

It is often said that grass mice won't breed with related individuals to prevent inbreeding. I have not found this to be true, with grave results for the offspring. In the case of this particular group, many babies were born with a severe deformation of the pelvis and an increased susceptibility to diabetes and internal organ diseases. The group attacked and even killed animals that were affected. Owners who do not have sound knowledge of genetics should refrain from breeding this species for that reason alone.

male on the left, female on the right

grass mouse after a fight

If kept under correct conditions, grass mice are very healthy animals. The most common problems are colds/respiratory infections due to drafts or low temperatures as well as wounds from fights. Those are often areas of open flesh the size of a Euro/Dollar coin where the skin was pulled off, but serious fights may even result in broken bones. Inbreeding often results in malformed animals or animals prone to certain diseases like diabetes. Apart from that, there are no other common diseases, but you should still have an reserve of about 100 Euros for medical emergencies.

Juveniles who are not yet ready to breed are best suited for introductions. Only very experienced owners should try to introduce adult animals since this may result in the mice killing each other. For juveniles the step by step method has been proven successful. Put the animals in the bathtub to give them plenty of room to avoid each other, this will prevent aggressions and injuries. If things are peaceful in the bathtub, the mice can be moved into a small cage (at least 60, bettr 80cm long) and should stay there for 1-3 days. After that, they can move into their normal cage, but toys or furniture should only be added slowly, one item every day or even only every 2-3 days if the group is not completely peaceful. The old bedding should be kept at every step of the introduction, even when you have a new group that has been already introduced, ask the former owner to give you some of their old bedding.

With adults, the step by step method can be used as well, but it has better chances of success if it's combined with the split cage and the scent method. It's also advisable to leave the mice longer in each enclosure: 12-24 hours in the bathtub, 3 days to one week in the small cage and only then in the normal cage.

Mice chasing each other can be a sign that serious fights are about to happen that may result in injuries. Keep an eye on the mice durnig the introduction.

grass mouse portrait

Striped grass mice are rarely found in shelters, but it's worth asking. If there are none, try to find a good breeder. Sometimes, you can find striped grass mice at hrp or exotic animal expos, but make sure the breeder is reputable. Pet shops don't often sell striped grass mice. But since pet shop aninmals are very often sick, have parasites and/or are pregnant, you should avoid buying them there anyway. Most pet shop employees are also not able to sex the mice reliably. Depending on the form of the enclosure and the furniture, you should estimate a price of 200-300 Euros for cage, furniture. bedding, food ect. The mice will cost about 20-30 Euros in monthly expenses, depending on the size of the group.

Only very experienced owners should attempt a co-habitation. Co-habitating two species also needs more room than keeping both sepcies separately. Striped grass mice can be co-habitated, but there are restrictions. Never attempt to co-habitate them if you don't have the room to separate the species if it doesn't work out. You should have a few years of experience in keeping each species you want to introduce and be knowledgeable about the needs of each species. The requirements have to fit, you can't make a compromise or one or both of the species will suffer. Striped grass mice can be co-habitated with species that don't climb very well and have a similar diet, to prevent the grass mice from growing fat. The requirements concerning temperature should be similar as well. If you want to co-habitate with a species that climbs more, you need to find a way to offer the other species the opportunity to climb, but at the same time the grass mice must not be in danger of falling off branches or high perches. Typical striped grass mice (Lemniscomys striatus) are not suitable for co-habitation with African striped grass mice (Lemniscomys barbarus). The enclosure for co-habitating should have floor space of at least 3-3,5 m² (including second levels). If you cannot offer the mice such a big enclosure, then you should not co-habitate species.

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Sources:
Rodent Info Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder, (Hrsg.): Mammal species of the world Vol. 2, 3. Auflage, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005