# What I went to Hamm for... (Greater Egyptian Jerboas)



## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Thought I would post up some pictures of my newest additions to my family.. (from Austria!)

A good few weeks ago, after perusing the German classified sites, I came across a 1.3 group of Jaculus Orientalis (Greater Egyptian Jerboas). I was ecstatic that I had finally found some Jerboas- but the only problem was.. they were in Austria !! 

No problem I thought- and a quick decision was made, that we were going to go to Hamm.

So tens of emails back and forth to Mario (Austrian Guy) with the Jerboas- I convinced hgim to drive the Jerboas to Hamm, to meet me !! The google translator is a wonderful thing!! 

Weeks of waiting finally came to an end, when we went to Hamm! 

Apart from the slight problem of Mario not knowing a single word of English, and me not much better with German.. the Jerboas were finally handed over to me !! 

Arrrrgh, I had to carry the little guys round the Hamm show all day- as they were not allowed in the holding area as they were rodents!! So after hours of getting bashed about, they were finally placed into the hold of the coach- all nice and toasty with heat packs.

Arriving back into the UK, they had decided to chew their way through the heat packs- but they were fine. 

On closer inspection, the poor little guys were not in great health. I noticed when I first was handed them, but i was so excited to be getting them, I was not going to refuse them!! Im a sucker for taking runty ill animals hmmmm.

Anyway, you can see the before and after pictures- and this is only a few days difference !

They are looking so much healthier now, and I have high hopes for them.

Fingers crossed they will one day, be one of the very few groups of Jerboas to breed in captivity in the UK.

These pictures are of when I first received the little guys.. in poor condition I have to add  >>>

































































You can see how greasy they are, with bald sore patches and allsorts..


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

A couple of pics of their new home and when they first set foot inside it!! 
































































































A few more days later, and you can see the difference in their fur


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

The male (or so I believe), I have called Mario! Hehe, after his previous Austrian owner... 



Mario is the Jerboa I have took most pictures of, as he is so inquisitive and just gets in the way of the camera lol!!


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

Oh, bless 'em!:flrt:They look so much better already....had a good dust bath and all that:2thumb:

Even though they're cute as, they do look a bit like they should be in The Dark Crystal or something like that. Kind of Hensonesque. Maybe you could call one Gelfling.


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

They are so weird looking yet cute with their big bug eyes :lol2: you can see a massive difference in their coats. 

And that is a LOT of sand! Do you get it in bulk? I used to get charged about £4.50 for about a litre (think it was a litre - not much anyway) of that from the pet shop :gasp:


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## kirksandallchinchillas (Sep 29, 2009)

They look cute in a weird way - the hind legs look like they don't belong to the body:blush:


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

They're bloody adorable ! :flrt: 

I would love some of these, i've never come across these before, what kind of care do they need?


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

mrcriss said:


> Oh, bless 'em!:flrt:They look so much better already....had a good dust bath and all that:2thumb:
> 
> Even though they're cute as, they do look a bit like they should be in The Dark Crystal or something like that. Kind of Hensonesque. Maybe you could call one Gelfling.


Hehe I agree 100% ! 



Jamiioo said:


> They are so weird looking yet cute with their big bug eyes :lol2: you can see a massive difference in their coats.
> 
> And that is a LOT of sand! Do you get it in bulk? I used to get charged about £4.50 for about a litre (think it was a litre - not much anyway) of that from the pet shop :gasp:


Lol yes, a lot of sand!! I bought two 20kg sacks of the stuff!! The Jerboas need at least 5-6" of substrate so that they can leap through it, basically with it having a cushioning effect underneath them, so no pressure is put on their delicate hip and other joints. So they have about a 7" thickness of sand!! - infact more than that as it is in hills in their enclosure lol! 



kirksandallchinchillas said:


> They look cute in a weird way - the hind legs look like they don't belong to the body:blush:


Hehe they are weird looking creatures, but certainly are very cute!


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

stephenie191 said:


> They're bloody adorable ! :flrt:
> 
> I would love some of these, i've never come across these before, what kind of care do they need?


Not many people will have really come across these before. A few years ago, they were more popular as a huge number had been wild caught and imported over. But nowadays, because of the difficulties in captive breeding these animals, there are not many left in the UK it would seem. 

A lot of Jerboas are now wild caught, but there are a couple of people whom have cracked the captive breeding of these animals- a couple of which I have spoken to. So fingers crossed that in the future, my group too, become one of the handful of Jerboas that manage to sucessfully breed and rear their young in captitvity. It certainylwould be the most amazing experience if I do crack it too. I have read a lot of scientific journals on the stuides done on them in the wild, and have a good few ideas to try  

The kind of care they need- its a hard one to answer, as really, there is not an awful lot of research done on them as captive animals. A lot of people have had them, kept them, and unfortunately the animals died without breeding etc etc. so it is hard to say what care they need. 

For me, they are only a display animal. I do not want to handle them too much, stress them out etc. But their inquisitive nature allows you to stroke them if they feel like coming over. Dietary wise, I am experiementing with a couple of peoples ideas- but time will tell.

Sorry I cant be more specific. If my group do produce young, then I would feel more confident and happier stating my methods of husbandary- but at the moment, I am learning about them in their group (as my single Jerboa, Jerry acts totally different to the group as a whole)- even in his eating habits, the time which they are most active, etc.


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## vintageprints45 (May 13, 2010)

As you say a lot of Jerboas are wild caught imports which I am fairly certain by the look of them, sores etc yours are as well.

They are imported in vast quantities by a company in the Czech Republic and sold to pet shops and private individuals in Austria and Germany etc.

I hope you do well with them.


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

vintageprints45 said:


> As you say a lot of Jerboas are wild caught imports which I am fairly certain by the look of them, sores etc yours are as well.
> 
> They are imported in vast quantities by a company in the Czech Republic and sold to pet shops and private individuals in Austria and Germany etc.
> 
> I hope you do well with them.


Although this is most probably the case with my guys- the previous owner had them for over 6 months- so unfortunately the state of them is I would say- more as a result of how he kept them.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

I love looking at these oddities of the rodent world they are strangely cute. Their legs look very fragile are leg injuries common?
Do you have any updated photos of Jerry?
Good luck with them and keep this thread updated please


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

They look a hell of a lot better in just the short time you've had them! Definitely keep us updated on their progress... Such interesting critters (something I wouldn't mind keeping in the future)


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Just wondering if you have had any update on these. 

Any luck on breeding? what information have you got on bearding these guys? Do you provide any extra heat? What sis viv have you got them in?

These have been an animal of interest for a while now. 

Jay


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## Postcard (Aug 29, 2010)

Never seen these before but they're absolutely beautiful, huge congratulations and good luck getting them breeding!


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

good progress there already with the needs given :no1:
now not to take anything away from the husbandry you seem to do well with, the concern would be the enclosure in which they are kept. they have an enormous activity level and will need a lot more space than what you are providing now. the ones you have here (north african) are known to leap upto :gasp: 8' at a time, being predominantly nocturnal and needing burrows/tubes etc in the sand to rest. the sand would be better being actual sand coloured too, the reason being the coat they have!! (it all helps lessen the stress methinks)
so if keeping indoors an outside pen would be an ideal scenario for them to utilise often.
out of interest what temps, lighting, (vegetarian)diet etc do you employ for their care?

good luck with the upkeep :2thumb:
:cheers:
nic


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

s6t6nic6l said:


> good progress there already with the needs given :no1:
> now not to take anything away from the husbandry you seem to do well with, the concern would be the enclosure in which they are kept. they have an enormous activity level and will need a lot more space than what you are providing now. the ones you have here (north african) are known to leap upto :gasp: 8' at a time, being predominantly nocturnal and needing burrows/tubes etc in the sand to rest. the sand would be better being actual sand coloured too, the reason being the coat they have!! (it all helps lessen the stress methinks)
> so if keeping indoors an outside pen would be an ideal scenario for them to utilise often.
> out of interest what temps, lighting, (vegetarian)diet etc do you employ for their care?
> ...


Do you keeper of these then? Breed them?

As im after a few questions answered? As i've been offered some and want to see if its worth breeding. 

I've found a very intersing PDf from a european zoo from the 1980's, about how they were succesful at breeding due to hibination and then only succesful at raising the young when the male was removed. This is the only documented case of breeding i seem to be able to find. 

jay


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

Spikebrit said:


> Do you keeper of these then? Breed them?
> 
> As im after a few questions answered? As i've been offered some and want to see if its worth breeding.
> 
> ...


i guess they were an asiatic species due to the hibernation state.
if you can source a species?, get them and see how you progress with regular updates on the husbandry after plenty of questions/queries thrown everywhere :2thumb: esp' if you want to breed them for everybody to benefit from (a source).
good luck with your intended project


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

s6t6nic6l said:


> i guess they were an asiatic species due to the hibernation state.
> if you can source a species?, get them and see how you progress with regular updates on the husbandry after plenty of questions/queries thrown everywhere :2thumb: esp' if you want to breed them for everybody to benefit from (a source).
> good luck with your intended project


I may well. However, i'm after more first hand expereince before i throw my money away. 

Have you kept these yourself?


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