Many of the rodent species have cheek pouches, which is used for the storing of food and nesting material. Some rodents have external cheek pouches and others have internal cheek pouches, the hamster for instance has internal cheek pouches. The pouches are very substantial often allowing for a huge quantity of contents and reaching past the shoulder when full to capacity – manipulating from behind with the hand will then empty the pouches.
The largest rodent is the capybara but many rodents are comparatively small mammals such as the hamster, rat and mouse.

All rodents are plantigrade (they place the full length of their foot, including podials and metapodials, on the ground during each stride) although the faster ones are able to lift up onto their digits. The sole of their feet are usually bare. The characteristic rodents have short limbs, showing 4 or 5 digits on each hand and 3 to 5 digits on their feet. In addition to the plantigrade rodents there are others such as the saltatorial rodents (hoppers). Most rodents use their hands as actual hands, although there is no thumb but the controlling capability is good.

Some rodents live in trees (arboreal), some live under the ground in tunnels and some live in and out of water and of course many rodents are able to exist effortlessly in close contact with humans.

We don’t mean wild rodents, like rats or mice, if you see this kind of animals you better look for mouse repellent and get rid of them as soon as possible.
A rodents diet is very varied but most are in actual fact herbivores (plant eaters only) and most eat seeds. You will find that many species eat insects and bugs and some rodents are omnivores (obtaining food from plants and animals).

To a greater or lesser degree most rodents are herbivores, therefore it is important that they have a digestive system that can manage the almost hard to digest cellulose of plants.

Finding the good ones For obvious reasons we recommend patronizing pet stores that do not sell animals. Some stores we DO recommend: Ani-Mall (Morrisville) All Pets Considered (Greensboro) Phydeaux (Carrboro) We realize that this is not always convenient, and sometimes you have to choose among the ones that do sell animals. When this is theRead More

3R Raleigh Rodent Rescue Adoption Guidelines Please ensure that you have filled out the adoption application below fully. We cannot respond to you if you do not include your full address and email address. For fastest response, we need complete information for all questions. That includes past pets and where-they-are-now pets’ spay/neuter status, etc. WhenRead More

The Wodent Wheel has been recommended by many people and it seems that our pet rodents love the wheel’s entrance holes & feel more secure because of them. They also avoid the threat of damaged limbs & broken bones, which comes with unsuitable wheels. Although the Wodent Wheel can be provided for many species andRead More

It is very important to make subtle inspections of your pet rodent on a daily basis, to help notice any pain, distress or injuries in time, so that prompt action can be taken. The following signs are a handful of indicators that your pet is not feeling well: Showing little or no interest in foodRead More

Housing Gerbils need to be adopted in pairs or groups, since they become very stressed when housed alone. They will usually sleep in piles and have a fabulous time playing together. Since they are burrowing animals, they require at least 3″ of substrate (litter) to be happy. Beware of litters that contain pine or cedarRead More

Need help with an animal? We will do our very best to help, but remember, we have limited resources, little money, and an all-volunteer staff, so if we don’t get back to you immediately, its not because we don’t care! We do our very best for the animals and will do our best to getRead More

Position a bucket or similar such as a storage box on the floor in a room that you think your pet rodent is in, making sure that the bucket is escape proof, you could also add another bucket to other rooms. Next, construct an access ramp that leads up to the rim of the bucketRead More

Have you ever thought about adopting one of the cuddliest rodents around? Guinea pigs are larger than most rodents, slower, and easier to handle. Also known as cavies, guinea pigs are quite communicative, with a number of different ways of “talking” from an excited “wheeeeet wheeeet” at mealtime, a warble in response to music orRead More

Pauline tells her story: That reminds me of something that happened to me with a teddy bear hamster I had when I was a kid. My parents had just renovated a garage into a bedroom by knocking a hole into the wall and joining it to the house, and as a result, the poorly insulatedRead More

Gerbils do not like to live their lives as a solitary gerbil; they long for for the company of their own kind. In the wild, gerbils will live in groups and we should try and echo this as best we can – two or more gerbils, same sex and from the same litter is perfect.Read More

May 11, 2009 We love Cody our Classroom Hamster!! I adopted a hamster back in July. He is very much loved by our classroom. Even the other teachers and our custodian like to see him. We go for visits in the morning, and he loves to roll the hallways in his ball, (before the studentsRead More

April 09, 2017 Melody and Lyric In late September of 2016, two lovable guinea pigs that came to be known as Pig Pen and Fern were surrendered to our rescue from a local animal shelter. These two abyssinian pigs were both friendly and comical, and obviously closely bonded. They had been housed together at theRead More

The Commitment Good care begins before you ever get an animal. A conscientious prospective owner will learn as much as possible about the animal’s species and their requirements ahead of time. This ensures that proper supplies will be in place when the new pet arrives. Learning in advance also permits the caretaker to make anRead More

Rodents have a large post digestive caecum, which contains intense bacterial flora. Being post digestive means that the valuable nutrients of food would be lost given that the absorption must take place in the small intestine. Most rodents have a way of dealing with this; they practise a specific form of coprophagy. Once the foodRead More

December 19, 2006 Sylvia Sylvia was a shy girl, but she was SO good for her nail trim and cage cleaning. She was never a biter. When strangers came over, she would run into her tinder box to hide. After about their third or fourth visit, she somehow knew their voice and smell, so sheRead More

  Not the expensive kind, just 1 or 2 ply toilet paper, plain white, no colours, scent or fancy patterns. Andrex toilet paper for instance would create quite a bit of dust.   Safebed is a good quality paper based nesting, although it does give the impression that it’s made of cloth, it is inRead More

Syrian hamsters are rodents and the unique distinction of this species is ‘Golden’ and they are found in countless homes across the world kept as pets and they make great pets for both children and adults. Regrettably, this species of hamster has also had a great many other names bestowed upon him such as Fancy,Read More