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On the 25th January 2009 we welcomed a reverse trio of Dwarf Mongooses to our family.
The Dwarf Mongoose is the smallest of the African Mongoose family. The are slightly bigger than our
Red Squirrels but are much stockier and more powerfully built.
The Dwarf Mongoose are social animals and like to live with their own kind. I personally do not believe
they should be kept as single animals under any circumstances. I think they should be kept in small groups if possible.
Housing.
The Dwarf Mongoose are kept in a self constructed enclosre. It is 5ft long x 5ft depth and 4ft high.
Within the enclosure we have constructed a number of different levels whish the Mongoose can access via
tubes and runs. These differing levels add to the overall space quite considerably. The Mongoose use all these levels and
appear to play by chasing each other around all these levels. It is quite fun to watch.
A separate sleeping enclosure has been built and again is accessed by a plastic pipe / tube. I thought this
would simulate a more natural sleeping area where they would go down into their burrows. They do appear to to feel secure
with this arrangement and if startled they run for the tube into the sleeping area.
The picture below is one of the Mogooses having a cuddle. Not really, he is scenting my wife.
Feeding.
Dwarf Mongooses are omnivorous but the majority of their diet in the wild consists of insects, spiders,
scorpions, locusts, beetles, reptiles etc.
However in captivity they will take a higher percentage of fruit and vegetables in their diet.
These are some of the foods we have fed since we have got them. We will add to the list the longer we have
them.
Chicken wings
Chicken legs
Mice ( defrosted )
Chicks ( defrosted )
Quality dried Catfood
Quality wet Catfood
Moreo Worms
Meal Worms
Black Crickets
Brown Crickets
Cualiflower
Broccoli
Carrots
Corn
Peas
Mange tout
Butternut Squash
Mango
Passion Fruit
Apple
Banana
Fresh water is available at all times.
The picture below shows the teeth of one of my mongoose. As you can see they would make short work on any
of the food moted above.
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