Rhabdomys pumilio/Rhabdomys dilectus

Family

• Muridae
  

Lifespan

• Wild: Unknown
• Captive: Unknown
  

Size

• Length
• 18-21 cm
• Weight
• Wild: 30-40 grams
• Captive: 80 grams or more
  

Range

• Southern Africa, extending into Eastern Africa

Habitat

• Mountain, scrub land, forest edges, grasslands, desert, and semi-desert regions
  

Diet

• Wild: Omnivorous eating green plant matter, seeds and grains, and insects
• Zoo: Mazuri brand rodent pellets, mixed produce, and waxworms
  

Reproduction

• Breeding season in the wild occurs in the spring and lasts about 3 months.  Females can breed again as soon as 23 days after giving birth, resulting in 2 to 3 litters each breeding season.  Gestation lasts 22-23 days.  Wild females typically give birth to 5 pups while captive females will have larger litters, usually 7-9 pups. Juveniles reach sexual maturity around 6 to 8 weeks old, but do not typically breed until their 2nd year since the breeding season is finished or almost finished by the time they reach sexual maturity.  Maturation age can vary depending on specific habitat, social cues, diet, and individual developmental history.

Special Adaptations

• Striped mice occupy a large, although fragmented, wild range surviving in drastically different habitats
• These mice are diurnal, unlike their domestic counterpart, and forage during the day while resting at night
• During winter, wild mice will be active during the day.  During summer months they will be active in the early morning and later evening, resting during the hottest parts of the day to conserve energy

Facts/Info

• Social groupings can vary in the wild, depending on what specific habitat the mice live in
• Captive and wild arid-dwelling males will care for young as much as the female, but males from scrub and grassland habitats are more solitary and only seek females for breeding
• Coloration will vary depending on what habitat the individual mouse is from.  This appears to be more environmental than genetic since captive populations revert to the same coloration, even if originally from different regions.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Least Concern
• CITES: Not listed 
  

Sources

1. Feldhamer, George A. et al., Mammalogy: Adaptation, diversity, and ecology. 2^nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
2. Striped Mouse. November 2011 http://www.stripedmouse.com/site1_1.htm
3. CITES Appendices.  Accessed December 2012.  www.cites.org
4. IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.  Accessed December 2012.  www.iucnredlist.org