Woman Shares Cool Facts About the Exotic ‘Micro’ Squirrel
Have you ever heard of or seen a 'micro' squirrel? I never had, so when I stumbled across @Amanda's Exotic Animals video introducing them to us, I had to stop and watch it. She posted the video on Thursday, February 15th, and these little guys are cute!
Micro squirrels, also known as dormice, aren't actually squirrels at all. They are rodents native to Africa that just happen to look a lot like a little squirrel...just check out that tail! In the video, Amanda goes on to explain why they're not as easy to take care of as a regular mouse, and some other differences between the two.
At the end @Amanda asks if you'd want to own a micro squirrel and the answer is a big yes from me! If they stay that tiny - it's only a little bit bigger than her index finger - I really want one! They are even smaller than cute little chipmunks! Commenter @Cait agreed and got more than 6 thousand likes when she replied, "“Would you own a micro squirrel” You didn’t even have to ask!!!" And I couldn't agree more with @Burt who admitted, "I will now spiral and find out everything I can about these little guys", and Amanda's reply was the best, "Hehehe I love starting an obsession with a species!"
Related: Video of Squirrels ‘Street Fighting’ in Guy’s Backyard Goes Viral
Facts About Micro Squirrels
Down the rabbit hole I went as soon as I finished watching the video to learn more about these adorable little rodents. The first thing I wanted to know was how big they get. The information I found was vague - anywhere from a few inches to about 12 inches at most and weighing a few ounces to a pound at the most. They stay pretty tiny and are much smaller than regular squirrels. Because they're climbers, they have very sharp claws, which could mean that they wouldn't make a good pet. And because they love to climb and be up high, you'd have to have lots and lots of things for them to climb and hang on to.
Something else that's good to know, according to HandsHedgehogs.com, "BE AWARE: Dormice can also drop their tails, which will allow the tail to break off in order to avoid a predator in the wild. If this occurs, DO NOT PANIC, they will be fine, and it will heal on its own." Could you imagine that happening and not knowing they were supposed to do that?!
Next, I wondered how expensive they'd be to buy. Not all states allow people to keep squirrels as pets, so make sure to check to see if yours is one of those states. I found a few websites selling them, and they were priced from about $75 - $250, depending on coloring and sex of the squirrel.
I'm still not sure that micro squirrels are the right pet for me, but they are super cute though!
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