# Anyone Keeping Native Dormice (Hazel Dormice)?



## Luxy (Mar 31, 2010)

I know they're a protected species, but I was just curious to see if anyone kept them. They're just gorgeous.


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## Bassy1019 (Jan 21, 2010)

Very nice looking dormice protected for sure.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

glis glis some places sell them but very expensive last pair i saw for sale were £300


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## Matt Harris (Aug 21, 2007)

bosshogg said:


> glis glis some places sell them but very expensive last pair i saw for sale were £300


I think the op was referring to the native Muscardinus avellanarius; you get Glis glis in the wild (Bedfordshire I think) but they're not native.


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## Snake_bite (Apr 10, 2010)

I think they are protected in the UK, you have to have a license to own them. You can get the little African dormice which are like mini grey versions of the hazels. Probably only round £40 a pair!


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## Luxy (Mar 31, 2010)

A licence? I suppose that's fair enough if they're protected. I wasn't actually looking to get any, I was just wondering if anyone had ever kept them & what they were like to have.

It' be great if people could set up something similar to what they did with harvest mice, a kind of conservation effort. It'd be a shame to lose another native species.


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## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

i kept one not long ago, was only for a couple of days the cat brought it in and i placed it in a small enclosure once i know it was OK was walking fine eating OK and wasn't hurt i let it go, most of its tail was missing tho that was done before my cat got hold of it, my friend was amazed he had never seen one in real life before


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## Luxy (Mar 31, 2010)

Gemificus said:


> i kept one not long ago, was only for a couple of days the cat brought it in and i placed it in a small enclosure once i know it was OK was walking fine eating OK and wasn't hurt i let it go, most of its tail was missing tho that was done before my cat got hold of it, my friend was amazed he had never seen one in real life before


lol, your cat has exotic tastes!  Well done for caring for it & releasing it though, I'm sure plenty of people would've been tempted to keep it. When I was younger one of my neighbours used to set up traps in the garden for wild birds etc. and try to keep what he caught. I remember sneaking in a setting a baby blue tit free!


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## DanAtter (Oct 3, 2011)

*Captive breeding scheme*

There is a captive breeding scheme for hazel dormice which is used to provide the population for reintroductions (now extinct in half of their former range in UK). There has been 13 re-introduction sites some have been successful. It is fully legally protected in UK and you need a licence from NE or CCW to have one.

On the side note of Glis this is an invasive non-native species found in the Chilterns. Therefore they are covered under Schedule 9 of WIldlife and Countryside Act, so you would also need to be aware of the legality of having these should anyone get some.
Regards,
Dan


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