REPRODUCTION AND BREEDING TECHNIQUES FOR DOMESTIC
MYOMORPH RODENTS IN FRANCE
NAME and Surname : DOUMERC Gersende Morgane
SUMMARY :
Exotics animals represent two thirds of the pets in France and the market is growing rapidly.
SOFRES estimated that 5% of French homes possessed at least one rodent or lagomorph in
2000 and 6.2% in 2003 with a population of 4.1 millions pets.
My thesis covers all aspects of breeding such as husbandry, nutrition, reproduction and
genetics for the myomorph rodents : rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters (Golden, Chinese,
Russian, Siberian and Roborovski). Moreover, my work presents some solutions for the most
common problems that a breeder can encounter and is aimed to be as practicable as possible.
Each species has some specificities that a breeder should know about in order to be successful
in breeding. Moreover, some rodent pets are difficult to breed (in order of difficulty : Chinese
hamsters more difficlut than Roborovski hamsters which are more difficult that Golden
hamsters) and are reserved to experienced breeders.
Key-words : rodents, myomorph, breeding, husbandry, nutrition, reproduction, genetics,
welfare, rat, mouse, hamster, gerbil.
JURY :
President : Pr
Director : Dr FONTBONNE
Assessor : Dr ARNE
Author’s Address :
Miss Gersende-Morgane DOUMERC
157 allée de la Clairière
91190 Gif-surYvette