African Dormouse

The African dormouse, or African pygmy dormouse, is a tiny climbing rodent from Africa. Graphiurus murinus, also called the woodland dormouse, lives in woodland and scrub across much of Africa south of the Sahara. It weighs about 23 to 34 grams, has soft fur, large eyes and a bushy tail, and is nocturnal and highly arboreal. It eats insects, buds, seeds and fruit, can drop into torpor when food runs short or the air turns cold, and lives about 5 to 6 years in captivity.

Dormice were caught up in the 2003 US monkeypox outbreak. In April 2003 a shipment of rodents from Ghana carried the virus into the US pet trade, and later tests found it in nine dormice from that shipment. Since November 2003, 42 CFR 71.56 has barred importing rodents obtained from Africa or native to Africa without written CDC permission, which is limited to scientific, exhibition or educational purposes. The FDA lifted its separate ban on selling these animals within the US in 2008, so dormice offered here should be US-bred, and state rules vary. Ask the seller where the line came from. Keep them in a tall, fine-mesh enclosure with branches and nest boxes, steady warmth, and food that mixes plants with insects.