anyone keep Prairie dogs? (pics)

[justinO]

Hey.. anyone else here keep these neat little critters? I just got a few and i'd be interested in talking to people who have some.

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1849pd7.jpg

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1849pd4.jpg

[spidergecko]

I saw a show once where over in the Prairies where livestock walk around and break their legs in prairie dog holes the farmers took "humane" action. They use this vacuum-type thing that they attach to the holes and suck the prairie dogs out. Then they sell the animals to China. Don't worry, the Chinese keep them as exotic pets. They are cute, though (the prairie dogs, I mean. Okay, and the Chinese, too. I don't want to insult anyone).

[justinO]

most prairie dogs in captivity are wild caught using such methods.. i'll assume that mine were w/c as well.

[spidergecko]

Maybe you should get them debugged or something. Wasn't it the prairie dog that spread the Bubonic plague?

[justinO]

these have been in captivity for a while, i'm sure if they had anything it would have surfaced already

[Cruciform]

Fleas on rats spread the bubonic plague across Europe. :)

[spidergecko]

Originally posted by Cruciform
Fleas on rats spread the bubonic plague across Europe. :)

(The fleas actually carried the plague but the rats spread it. Without the rats the plague would not have been epidemic.
TOUCHE!) ;)

[Cruciform]

The fleas carried the actual disease, and got about on the rats. They would feast on whatever warm blooded creature was on hand, and often these were the tenants of whatever house the rats were infesting.

This was an unfortunate byproduct of superstitions in the middle ages. Cats were made the scapegoats for many ills. They were linked with witchcraft, the devil, and crib death, among other things. As cats were tortured, killed, or driven out of areas, the rat populations skyrocketed and the fleas increased in turn.

It didn't take long for the plague to take hold.

It still pops up now and then, primarily in South America.

(Did a study on it for high school) :)

[spidergecko]

Yeah, there are pockets of plague still. According to CDC the major cause of infection is from handling infected prairie dogs (I mean rats). It only really affects the poor (and the ignorant). Apparently antibiotics are very effective but some countries don't have the money. But there is no excuse why there are reported fatalities in the USA.

[lostwithin]

Your right about the bubonic plague, being spread by rats way back when. Are you possibly thinking of the more resent small break out of monkey pox in the United states?? There were cases in 2003 and pet prarrie dogs that had been in contact with a giant Gambian Rat spread it. I don’t believe there were any cases in Canada though.
Devon

[spidergecko]

I was only joking about prairie dogs spreading disease. I was trying to be funny but I think my sense of humour (or lack thereof) was lost in the post.

[justinO]

it is possible, however it did turn into something somewhat educational.

[lostwithin]

Hey, I did catch the joke, but since it sparked a convo I thought I'd through in that little fact.

Devon

P.s. they are sort of neat though.

[BellyDraggers]

Very cool Justin! Cute little critters. :-)

Scotty & Les

[HeatherK]

Congratulations on the new friends :D They are very neat little pets. Not the type for everyone, however a friend of mine had a couple of them, so endearing! She liked them more than having dogs.

[Classic]

Offer your finger to one of those little sweeties sometime. I was in a pet store one day and one got loose from the good looking girl working the rodent department. Strong, helpful Brian grabed it by the neck and lost a nice chunk of flesh out of my finger. They have very sharp incisors. It was funny. I gave up alot of blood in the store that day.

Brian
hwh

[icequeen]

Fleas and rats were the culprits for the plague, but recently prairie dogs were blamed for another disease.

Prairie dogs were the supposed origin of Monkey Pox in humans. The prairie dogs in question came from a "pet swap" in Milwaukee.

Anyone who is interested can read about it here:CDC article on Prairie dogs and Monkey Pox (http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030607.htm)

[icequeen]

Oh, and by the way, I want to say: The opinions expressed by the CDC are not necessarily my own.
;)

[Burium]

We have HUGE Prairie dog "villages" in the western part of North Dakota. They sell them as pets here in the Netherlands. I find it amazing. They even sell skunks here as pets. Of course they are de-scented.

Kelly

[Wilma]

Hey! Well to get back on the prairie dog convo... here is some info!

-The most popular method of "capture" is to flood the tunnels with soapy water, killing off the pups too young to be moved and capturing the other young ones as they try and escape. Usually colds and pneumonia killing off some and making them weak, others that survive get sold to pet stores. Another method is the vacuuming, where a high power vacuum is put down a burrow and sucks the prairie dogs up and throwing them at high power against a metal wall with an inch of two of padding. Again there are fatalities and broken bones, as you can imagine.
A few caring people use humane traps and keep the youngest of the pups who have just emerged from the burrow for the first time.
Now in most cases I have heard from it is up to the collector to get them flea dipped, dewormed, vetted, etc. If you got them from a petstore chain, this was most likely a priority before they took them on. Where you given any papers?
Very important hea;lth information... now you have them DO not have them on shavings AT ALL. It cases respirotory problems, use old sheets or tee shirts (nothing with hoopes that could catch claws) and or hay. Set them up with a big clay pot on its side in a corner and they should figure out to use that as a potty area only. Also, take away any dog food! Pet stores give this to them as a suppliment for mothers milk that they normally would of been on. They need a timothy hay based food available all the time, plenty of good timothy loose hay, and dark greens as treats. Canadian pet connection and most exotic vets will be able to order in Oxbow Prairie Delight for you, a cubed hay based food for everyday feed. Failing that use Oxbows Timothy hay Bunny Basic pellets. Do not use lab blocks, corn, seeds, or alfafa. Think of how they just eat dry grasses in the wild, their digestive tract has evolved for this and a richer diet causes many internal problems where they die painfully around 2 years of age. One vet commented upon disecting a prairie dog who had died this way that his organs had turned to jelly.
Next very important issue, this august/september you MUST get your prairie dogs neutered and/or spayed. During winter they go through RUT where they are VICIOUS and pretty much have to be left alone till spring. Fixing them keeps them friendly and loving all year round.
You may need to work on taming them if they are from a petstore as there only interaction with humans up to this point has been painful scarey trapping and poking and prodding, crating and shipped off. You need to be patient and earn there trust. Do not give them floor time right away, these are very intelligent animals who will try and get there own way and they will not put up with snuggling when run time is more fun.
Lets see, there are a lot of good sites, but check out this group LUV_R_PDS at yahoogroups.com.
Also the Links Road Animal Clinic in toronto is good for vet visits, operations, and neutering.

Good luck with your babies! If you have any questions feel free to pm me!

[justinO]

Hey.. thanks for the information. I'm not sure if they have already been fixed or not. I cannot see any testicles on the male. Its unfortunate, as i would have been happy to breed them and raise a pup from a baby. I can deal with their seasonal aggression. I am feeding them oxbow cubes and loose timothy, which they seem to enjoy.

I had forgotten about Links Road animal clinic.. thank you for reminding me. If i have any issues, that is where i'll take them.

[Wilma]

glad to here it :) If you got them from a petstore most likely they are not neutered. You can't really tell if they have been previously neutered by eye balling them, a vet could tell you though.
Females arn't as bad as males but you mentioned you had more than one? If so you need to have seperate cages for them during october to march as they will attack and hurt each other with their agression and need to breed. In the wild a female can get away from a male unable to breed, and vise versa, but not so in captivity.
To breed prairie dogs you need several square yards of floor space for each prairie dog and build tunnels and burrows to stimulate natural environment with heat lamps on an 8 hour winter timer.

Good luck with your new pets!

[huhet]

Originally posted by Burium
We have HUGE Prairie dog "villages" in the western part of North Dakota. They sell them as pets here in the Netherlands. I find it amazing. They even sell skunks here as pets. Of course they are de-scented.

Kelly

you've got a couple different heres...do you perhaps suffer from omnipotency? i'm a western north dakota native and i also definately can vouch for the praire dogs towns.

anybody ever play prarie dog hunt? classic windows game...

cute pets, though. :D

[NewLineReptile]

I use to have a few when i was younger They are pretty cool little pet's

Brandon

[Burium]

Huhet (tyler),

I was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota(24 years). I moved to the Netherlands almost 3 years ago. I consider both places to be home. I'm sorry if it gets too confusing for you to seperate the "heres". It still gets confusing for me too. But thanks for pointing it out to me. I shall endevor to make them clearer in the future.

Kelly

P.S. they (the prairie dogs) are cute though. :)