9.15.2008

Keeping Voles as Pets

Hi!



If you are like me and think that mice, rats, voles, and the like are cute! You probably either would own or want to own one, if you thought the above was true. I like catching wild voles for pets. We have managed to catch one so far, and I hope to catch more. look for the burrowing under mulch or in fields. Either set humane traps, or go the cheaper way that I do. I find some in the winter runnign around in snow tunnels and I catch them then, or they are easier to catch when you mow down a field or garden, we caught ours, dubbed 'Junior', when my mom mowed down the garden and several ran out. We used sticks to herd it into a bucket, then transfered it into a small cage while we prepared the tank. A good vole house would be a 10 or 20 gallon glass tank with a lid that fits completly over the top, snugly. 5 gallons can be used for temperary houses, such as keeping for several days at a time. The bottom should be lined with gravel, about and inch or two, to keep water from collecting in the tank. Then up until about a couple inches from the top fill it with mulch. The vole will make tunnels in this. Put in a bowl of water, and also food. The food mix that works for me is equal amounts of 2 different brands or cat food, a cob of corn, and equal amounts of bird seed, rabbit pellets, and dog food, as well as cat treats and some hay and grasses. This way there is a lot of stuff to chose from, but high protien food of either dog or cat, and seeds and some type of grasses or hays. Make sure that the water dish is shallow so the vole won't drown. Also, put some sort of hide away in there, I used a old, small, bird feeder gourd, which our vole loves!!! As well as a hide away, put in some cloth and/or fur. They will use this to nest. Also, I haven't put more than one vole together, so you would have to check up on that. These instructions are for a meadow vole. Also, I would be happy to answer any other questions I could.



A Girl

98 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think its cruel that you catch them and keep them as pets they are used to living in the wild, i have no problem with keep animals which have been breed in to captivity thats all they have known but catching them like that is cruel and inhumane , i hope you realize that one day

Anonymous said...

doing that do dogs, cats.. its just as inhumane... oh wait. thats 'ok' in today's society,so is experimenting on rats etc... oh.. yah and the pest control people probably call to get rid of bugs and such.. thats ok their just pest

;_: at least she giving a voles a happy home... and they don't live long anyway... better than them getting eaten by the many predictors they have.. ^.^ i just caught one today ;_; he was trapped..

Anonymous said...

Voles are cool. I found a nest of babies and mother that had been destroyed. Only one baby was alive and was so young that it's eyes were hardly open. I fed it goat's milk and raised it. It's now too cold to release it so we'll probably keep it. They only live for about a year or so and besides it's a way better pet than a hamster or mouse. My vole comes when I call it and it wrestles with my finger! It's so cool. I've thought about catching more at some point? Good luck with yours. :) Vole Lovers Unite!!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe anythig came up when I typed in "voles as pets?" but here you are. Wow! I have a vole that I rescued from our cat after a long chase through the field next door and under a few cars in the driveway but I eventually wrestled the vole out of the cat's mouth and into a cardboard box. Do not know how injured is was but have kept it alive for two months now; I assume its OK. Never see it though, it only comes out of its nest once a day around 1:00am. It has been too cold here to release it because I am beginning to think it would normally be hibernating or at least buried deep in the ground for the cold of winter (?). Can I keep a vole as a pet? Can I touch it? Will it bite? I did not even know what it was for the first week I had it in the house, in fact we immediately called it "Brown Thing" and the name stuck. Do they make good pets???

Anonymous said...

My cat just brought it's second in. The first was four years ago and I cared for it easily. It is wonderfully tempered and doesn't bite at all. It's a neat specimen, particularly for a classroom.

Anonymous said...

well i was also looking for voles as pets on google and found this site i dont know if anyone checks this anymore but i was walking my dog one evening and i saw a tiny rodent running down the road it wasnt moving fast so i went up to it and put it in my boyfriends hat and carried it home. when i did get home i realized it was hurt the left side of its face seemed to be crushed his little eye was shut i dont know what had happened to this little guy but what i did what put him in a tank with hamster bedding game his a small water dish and fresh food like roots sprouts and berries i treated his injury with anti-bactirial ointment and he seems to be doing ok now we will see how things go.

Anonymous said...

I have two Voles Living in my Basement window well. I don't know if they fell in there, (it's about 3-4 feet deep), or if they tunneled in there, because on the corners are two openings to tunnels. They are darn cute, one is about 4" or 5" long, the other is smaller about 3".
I have been giving them some hamster food and fresh salad greens. Also water in a lid.The base of the well is little pebbles.
Should I try and get them out of there, so they can be free. Or make them pets. They sleep together almost all day in the well. I don't know what they do at night, but they seem to always stay in the well.

Anonymous said...

I have 2 voles. The oldest is called Roli. My girlfriends cat caught him but she rescued him :) He had a big cut down his back, his rear left leg was damaged and his front left leg was bad. He made a full recovery but felt he was to fragile to be let go so we kept him. He is now 2 years old!! I repeat 2 YEARS! so to all these people and say they only live a year then I'm afraid to say you are wrong which I am glad about as he is gorgeous :) My other one is called Tiny and she was very tiny when rescued from the cat..again. She was so so small. My girlfriend brought her round in a yellow duster and she was just wriggling around in it. OMG so sweet :) anyway she had a small puncture in her side but she also recovered. But she has always walked a bit funny. But she has such a personality, always doing funny things. Nothing like Roli, He just likes to eat sleep n wee. They both get fed gerbil food and love it. They also love fresh veg, lettice, carrots. And they love blueberries. Tiny is over a year old now. They are not tame as such so we are not able to pick them up.( but when they were both 1st injured they would just lay in your hand and take food from you. Oh one last note Tiny loves a hamster ball. Runs around all over the floor when I get her out to clean her, so funny. Anyway just wanted to tell you about my voles :)

Andy

Peter said...

Wow a vole Blog! The cat brought us our first vole "Voli" about 9 mouths ago. Soon after Scampers turned up in the cats' mouth. They where both very young and lived quite happy together, until Turbo , a female with a manic passion for the wheel, came on the scene. The two males fought and we had to separate them. Voli now resides by himself, he has never quite got the hang of the wheel thing. He is extremely friendly and likes being petted. Scampers is also very tame but Turbo was much older when she came to us and has never liked being handled. About a month they had a single male pup. He is very cute, very active, and totally tame. He has never bitten. All three ride the wheel together. The little one gets flung off at high speed, and is great fun to watch their family antics. Voles seem to be amazingly clean, with no smell. I'd highly recommend them as pets with a lot of personality.

Anonymous said...

my cat caught a vole the other day. I thought that it was someones pet gerbil at first because it let me pick it up.well i bought a hamster cage for him. he hasnt moved much except to eat and drink, but i cant believe other people have kept them as pets too. will he actually run on a wheel,like a hamster or gerbil.

Peter said...

A quick update on my Vole family. The young pup is now quite grown up. We've called him Einstein. He's quite the smarty pants and extremely tame. He still has never bitten even once. If you put him in a strangers hand he dashes up their sleeve. This can be quite amusing since he moves so quickly. I had to move him to his own place at about six weeks old. Scampers turned on him one morning and I have no doubt that he would have killed him otherwise. Today, Turbo and Scampers had another pup(s). It's very small and I'm a bit concerned since it's so lethargic. Voli is now one year old. He has mastered the wheel, except that he stands up and turns it from the outside. He does this for an hour or more. He also only likes the steel wheel and will not have anything to do with a plastic one. One final thing of interest is that Turbo can jump and catch flies. With the cold weather coming they have been trying to get into the house. Well one got into their gage. She chased it up and down, then in a flash she jumped, caught it between her front paws and promptly ate it. She is not called Turbo for no reason, and all while pregnant.

zac said...

that was tuching:)

Anonymous said...

I found one in my catch and release mouse trap under my kitchen sink....Had no clue what it was..My son found it on the web..Would like to keep it but hubby said no,,,I watched to see what it ate and noticed it likes fresh fruit and vegetables. Its really cute..Not sure why it was inside or if it has a family..Did not want to release it since it is snowing...Maybe it will be ok. Great site..Nice to know others who do not HAVE to kill every thing they find...

Anonymous said...

Can you handle these little guys? I have one but he rolls on his back and sort of growls at me. And some place said to always wear gloves? Why?
Tried to sign up here but dont know how
Cyndi In Nevada

Jackie Trotter said...

I'm so tickled I found you and the other crazy lovely souls out there who love voles. I'm in a tizzy because a neighbor complained to my Alderman that "rats" were seen on our property. He called and I explained that they are voles and not rats. I've never seen more than one at a time but I'm sure there must be a family of them under our back porch. I did some further research and the only thing negative I could find is that they can ruin the landscape by digging holes, eating bulbs and tree bark etc. but they do not carry diseases any more than rabbits, squirrels or other small mammals. I don't believe in a perfect lawn or garden (and I'm an avid gardener); if they eat a few tulip bulbs or whatever it's alright. They are very cute and I don't in the least consider them a nuisance. I found out they are actually "protected" in some states (such as Utah). Well, today I received a notice of violation from the City of Milwaukee giving us 3 days to correct the problem or a number of bad things could happen (penalties & fees for not complying within a certain amount of time up to $10,000 (can you believe it?) and even threatening a lien on our property if we don't comply. We were also told to remove all food sources (we have a squirrel feeder with peanuts and several bird feeders). I'm insulted by the tone of the violation notice and feel these cute & harmless critters are discriminated against just because they have "rat-like" tails and like to eat vegetation. It's my personal philosophy that we are not necessarily the "supreme beings" of this planet. There's something horribly wrong with the majority believing they have the right to exterminate voles simply because their manicured lawn is more important. Should we exterminate all things that are considered to be a nuisance? Barking dogs? Nests of baby bunnies? Our in-laws? It's unfair that I cannot afford NOT to comply. They are on MY property-no one else's and if I choose to feed the squirrels & birds and the voles want to partake it should be my right to allow it (and my pleasure). Sorry for the long rant. I know you can't help me but I needed to vent. I'm also pleased to find others who think the way I do (actually I'm SHOCKED). I thought I was all alone on this. You're NUTS and I love it.

Unknown said...

ok Guys just for your information I am going to court for owning a vole. Someone turned me in to the department of fish and game.According to California penal code 3005.5 it is illegal to own any wild species of california. Doesnt matter what it is...Just a warning...

Anonymous said...

I just rescued a vole from one of our cats minutes ago. At this point I have no way of knowing if it will survive. Can't believe something so tiny can squeak so loud, or bite so hard! The poor thing was obviously very scared.
Glad I found this site, most every other article was about extermination of these "pests". I was trying to find out what to feed it, and it's currently being kept in a mouse habitat.
Curious to hear how things are going with the two posters who were being taken to court?

Tracy Callard said...

My kids just caught a baby vole in our fireplace here at our summer place in the Catskill Mountains! We heard its loud squeak & saw it just sitting in the living room - He didn't even seem scared of people! He's in their former "tadpole" tank with some walnuts, birdseed, some blueberries, & an ear of dried corn that we feed to the squirrels... He loves those walnuts!
We'll probably release him tomorrow, but the kids are excited to have "Desperaux" stay at the house tonight as a sleepover guest!
Thanks for the tips! Gotta love Google that leads you to a site like this when you type "vole pet" into the search box :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy to have found this site! About two months ago, my brother ran into a voles nest and killed two baby voles and maybe even the mother(we never found her). But we did find two of the babies that were still alive and unharmed. The babies seemed just weened so we stuck them in a 10 gallon tank with some soft bedding. They burrowed down into the bedding and fell asleep. My Dad told me not to pick them up because it would make them unhappy. I gave them some lettuce and other veggies and they ate it all so I just kept feeding them different vegetables. Yesterday, my Mom's cat killed Trouble, my favorite vole. We found out he could open the cage so now we have the top duct-taped down. So now we only have Nibbles, my other vole. He's very sweet and he doesn't seem to be lonely only a little frightened. Should I let him go? He's gotten very big and fluffy and he lets me pick him up. He loves people and gets along with my dog, but he hates cats! I didn't try to let him near my rats or rabbit and I'm not going to. I'm glad to see there's other people on here that actually care about the sweet little creatures.

Anonymous said...

My dad saw my cat with a little vole hanging in her jaws,a little saw dark brown one(SO CUTE!!!!!!)and i cleaned it up and i was a male one named Miikki but sadly he died the day after since he was so weak and injured(my cat clawed his ears off and you could see the bone and he had a gash in his side)but just for you vole lovers out there who need vole diets and needs Miikki liked lettuce,soup nuts(crinkled brown berries that look like nuts),WALNUTS!(alot!),leaves,grass,flowers,juicy leaves(small fat leaves with juices inside) and for a temporary habitat was a carboard shoebox with wet dirt at the bottom with grass,straw,twigs, and i planted some small weeds in there and took a branch of a bush(well a few branches) and put them on the sides of the shoebox and then folded a leaf and put juicy leaves and cotton in the leaf for a nest for him and cleared an area off the side for him to poo.VOLES ARE CUTE I RECOMEND THEM AS PETS!

Anonymous said...

i need help catching a vole ive put out live traps with bait,digging at tunnels,putting bait in their tunnels, and can't catch ANYTHING!i miss Miikki(ya im the person from the last comment) and i need a new vole and ive been sitting traps for almost a week now and the only things ive caught are cochroaches,slugs,ants, and crickets whitch are useless to me oh and i also we have mowed the lawn and no voles came out!please tell me soon!

Anonymous said...

Use a water hose to get them to come out of their tunnels. They will come to the top for air. If you are patient enough, they will eventually go onto the top of the grass where they can't run so fast. They are easy to catch there.Use a water house to get them to come out of their tunnels. They will come to the top for air. If you are patient enough, they will eventually go onto the top of the grass where they can't run so fast. They are easy to catch there.

Anonymous said...

How do you tame them???? My mice never bit, but i know nothing about handeling voles except for the fact that they bite, HARD!!!!

Anonymous said...

two questions
can u take voles to the vet?
how do u tell the gender of them or sex them?do u do it the same way as mice or hamsters?

Anonymous said...

need help catching vole again(comment craze!)plz i really need help ive tried everything and im really angry i can't catch one!:(

EMglad said...

For the person who misses Miikki- Voles don't like live-mouse traps. Get a Havahart type rat trap. Bait it with peanut butter, chocolate or cut tomato (they have strong, attractive smells). Put the traps along quite outside walls where voles scurry from place to place, or near a burrow or beaten vole path. They don't like stopping out in the open, so don't stick a trap in the middle of the yard. Remember too, it's November, they are less active on the surface right now. Or latest Vole had been in the garage for a few days avoiding the cold when my son picked her up. Last winter, it was a Kangaroo rat that walked in the garage and proceeded to sit on my foot! So if all else fails, a warm garage may tempt a cold vole, set the trap against the wall, right inside the garage door and leave the door up a few inches.

Anonymous said...

I used to take the voles out of my cat's mouth when he caught them, I had two but my oldest one which was around 4 yrs old died yesterday. Now the other one is all alone and I don't know what to do with it. My cat doesn't bring any around anymore so I probably won't be able to add another one. I wish I could just let it go, but winter is setting in. I wonder if it would know how to survive in the wild?

Anonymous said...

I caught a vole on my porch a number of years ago. Really strange, but he let me pick him up while he was eating out of the dog food bowl. I was a Zoology major so I was not afraid to pick him up, lol. I kept him and called him Nipper. Contrary to his name, he never once bit me. I had Nipper for a year until he died. I housed him with a pet rescue mouse and they got along great. I would let him run around my bed and then hold my hand out and he would immediately come jump into my hand where I would give him treats. He was an awesome pet!! The only thing I noticed was that he needed extreme amounts of water. I do not think I could ever have this experience again- he was very unusual! I wish there was a way to post pics on here.

Anonymous said...

In November I had a random hamster obsession, then it was gerbils, then rats, now it's mice!! I had a pet mouse over the Summer (wild-caught) and I felt bad for keeping the poor thing; it was terrified of me! But he escaped after a day xD
My mom will let me get a rodent because I'm pretty sure she's afraid of them, though she thinks they're adorable. But, then again, I already have a dog, 2 cats, 2 birds, 2 goldfish, a betta, a horse, and 2 ghost shrimp xD Voles seemed pretty adaptable and adorable, so I decided, "Hey, why not catch one??" and I looked up "how to keep a vole as a pet" and I gasped when I saw there was an actual site with this! Anyway, they're PESTS, like MICE, so I see no harm in keeping them. After all, if they're tame and eat what you give them, it should be OK. I'm thinking of using a bin cage for a vole. Basically a plastic storage bin home with gravel, sand, then potting soil lain over that planted with some flowers and weeds. My cousin had a hamster so he'll give me a wheel. Cat and dog food are easy enough to come by for, so I'm also thinking of feeding these when I catch my vole...
1. Carrot
2. Broccoli
3. Strawberry
4. Budgie food (the little pellets mixed in with the seed)
5. Budgie food seeds
6. Oats as in dry oatmeal
7. Spinach
8. Turnip
9. Basil
10. Cabbage
11. Apple
12. Banana
13. Peanuts
14. Grape/strawberry Jelly
15. Grapes
16. Cauliflower
17. Green pepper (also yellow and red)
18. Cucumber
19. Cheddar cheese (not sure because hamsters can't have cheese, so voles might not be able to either)
20. Small soda-cap-fulls of organic vanilla yogurt as a daily treat
21. Hamster treats
22. Acorns
23. Hard-boiled eggs
24. Walnuts
25. Sunflower seeds
26. Sweet, human-consumption almonds
27. Dandelion flowers
28. Cantaloupe
29. Whole wheat bread
30. Corn (cooked, dried, unsalted)
31. Frozen peas (defrosted, and warmed up)
32. Raspberries
33. (For those of you that live on a farm, near a field, or on land with fields) Find wheat and chop off the wheat-heads
34. Maybe a DROP of molasses.
And for a warning to all of you... this is hamster info but just be careful. There are food that are dangerous. Check hamster hideout forum for a list.


A wildlife website says voles can carry rabies. Overly friendly voles probably have it. They can also have fleas, mites, ticks, etc which can bite people and get them VERY sick.

I'd probably end up taming the vole and sitting with it on the couch watching TV lol. Hopefully I'll get a 1. Baby or 2. Pregnant female so I can be sure it won't try to bite me!!
Some foods I might try together for a daily meal are..
1. Dry cat food
2. Dry dog food
3. Budgie seed mix
4. LOTS of budgie food pellets (my birds don't like them anyways)
5. Oatmeal
6. Cabbage, spinach, lettuce, etc
7. Chopped sunflower seeds (wild bird seed)
8. Hamster water bottle with Avitron bird vitamins. The bottle says for birds 2 drops per tbsp. which is a lot... I give like 4 drops for a whole dish.
"Rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs: 3 drops per day.
Mice: 1 drop per day"
And I hope it'll keep my little vole healthy ^_^
Anyway voles live barely a year in the wild, but someone here had one live 4 years! Maybe we'll lengthen the life span by adding vitamins and such? :)
Also hamster food seems like a good bet. Or rat food.

Remember that they might also like bedding instead of dirt!
http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=65559&st=15
the link teaches how to MAKE bedding.
So make sure you keep them away from your cats, too. I'd say whatever is safe for a hamster is safe for a vole! hamster hideout forum is probably what I'd use to check food safety.. I'd also say that the same cage setup for a hamster could be used for a vole!

Anonymous said...

We caught a wild Vole and now my kids want one as a pet. Do you know where or how I can purchase a vole for them???

Thanks

M said...

Just yesterday, we heard a squeaking on a hike. Saw a snake. Snake saw us, so it left. But, we still heard the squeaking. A baby rodent-looking thing was found and we moved it away from the "snake area," telling ourselves if it's still alive when we hike back, great. If not, oh well, that's nature, right?

Well, we saw it on the way back, upside-down and gasping. I couldn't leave it there, so we've "rescued" what looks like a prairie vole (based on photos online) that doesn't even have its eyes open yet. Its mouth is so small, I am only able to rub KMR on its lips with a syringe as it tries to avoid it or lick it off. For the most part, it wants to sleep, curled up in the small towel we've given it in a tupperware container. It poops, pees, and has enough strength to move about, but doesn't seem old enough to walk yet.

My question is, if it survives long enough, what do I do with it!? It's illegal to keep it in California, and we really don't have money to invest in a habitat like a tank and whatnot. Especially for something that only lives for 1 year or two?? =\

This is the only place I've found any pertinent info on even keeping a vole. Everything seems to be about it's mating habits, geez.

Curtis said...

I was outside working yesterday with my dad im 17 years and anyway we live on a farm type property and we were in the dryshed and i seen 3 of them, at the time i thought they were moles. Each one was just lying there with there eyes closed or very close to so i put one in a container and brought it inside and put it in my tank, there was nothing in it anyway it has the rocks that are in the bottom of fish tanks so i layered down paper towels on a section and put him/her (i cant tell) there. At the time i didnt know what it was so i tried putting down warm milk, i think it drank some i dont know for sure but its mouth is also barely open and its not able to walk on its legs but when im not paying attention it seems to move around, not by much but im guessing it uses its body. Im curious on if the milk i gave it will harm it because im at school right now just finding out it is a vole and im really hoping i could keep it as a pet seeming as how everyone has good things to say, i am just hoping that it is not passed away when i returned home. I have pet it and it seems fragile ish its body hasnt developed much i am assuming, i did have to pick it up to place him in the tank but i tried to do so as gently as possible. When i pet it it starts moving his legs a bit but like i said i dont think its strong enough to move with them, so i am wondering if theres anyway i can kind of nurse it back to health and also try to max out its lifespan so i dont have to see it pass so soon... If anyone could help out you can reply on here or shoot me an email at: curtisgivlin@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

My sister found an abandoned baby vole outside of her school the other day. She was in tears because she wanted to save it and our mother said no.. long story short, I now have Lucky (the baby vole) at my house. When I first got him he was extremely dehydrated and his bottom half was shriveled. Poor Lucky's eyes aren't even open yet. Anyway he is doing great now and here is what I've done....
BEDDING: I took a breathable closing container, layered the bottom with hamster bedding then warm fabric and then layered grass around where Lucky lays. I put the container on a heating pad (lowest) setting with a light kitchen towel in between.
FOOD: I got kitten formula and use an unopened syringe my fiance got when he had his wisdom teeth out (the tip curves) Lucky gets fed every two hours except ay night. His last regular feeding is at 10 pm then again @1,5&8am then back to every two hours.
Potty/CLEANING: After every feeding I take q-tips dipped in warm water, and clean his whole body( like a mother licking). He is not old enough to potty on his own so I take another q-tip dipped in warm water and massage his lower stomach and genitals. He now pees every time and poops every second or third time. (He was so dehydrated it took over a day for him to go).
I was really worried that he would not make it, he was in bad shape but now I have no doubts he will be ok. If I put him down he will scoot to my hand and nuzzle up to me. I love this little joy so much! Hope this helps!
berfields05@gmail.com

melro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
melro said...

I also have a vole I rescued before its eyes were open. It was so tiny I had to wear #300 glasses to see it clearly enough to feed with an artist’s paint brush. I found a website called Deer Mouse Ranch with videos on how to care for a baby. I just made it. The little thing would have died. Its eyes opened in about a day and a half. I weaned it off on its own quickly. It ended up having a wound near its genitals and abcessed. What a mess. I used Hibicleans, Neosporin, and had antibiotics from my cat. It healed fine. She's clean, fat, and sassy now. Started her out in a stainless cake pan with a dome that was a mesh wire colander. I lined the bottom with felt I change a lot and gave her a TP tube with a paper towel in it to nest. I set the cake pan on top of a heating pad for 2 weeks. When she was about 3 weeks I transferred her to a 5 gal container. I use wood pulp for mulch, enough for her to burrow and included cotton disks for makeup she shreds for a soft bed. She managed to make it look like a cloud with an opening. I use soda bottle caps as food and water containers sitting on a plastic lid from a container. She loves peanuts, sunflower seeds, millet, my parrot’s leftover cookable mash with all kinds of fruit/veggie/nuts in it. Voles have to chew to keep their teeth down. I added a wood block my parrot chewed on and a little piece of driftwood she loves to sit on while eating. Oh and they will arrange a paper towel tube so they can run from their nest, grab some food, get to their wheel and water without being seen much. She loves it. Drags her fave foods in there to eat and buries the rest for later in a certain spot. I think she's even set up a latrine area (one of the cotton clouds.) At 4-5 weeks, I added a wheel and she was thrilled. Voles travel 1/2 mile per night and need exercise. I didn't intend to keep her. I live near a DNR game reserve. But it’s cold outside and she's kind of spoiled now. Comes out to see what new gourmet feast I have for her. Stands on her hind legs to touch my finger, but seems to want to bite. I quit handling her, thinking I'd let her go. But now that I see so many others with voles, she's a pet. But I still think I'll let her exhibit as many natural habits as I can, and not touch her so much. She's way too quick to handle and I have 3 cats. Too bad because I had a white pet mouse when I was young that would cuddle by my ear under my hair. Might want to read up on viruses and voles. They can carry them, but outside of getting bit, slim chance. As far as problems from feces and urine, if you change their cage as you should, there shouldn’t be a big problem. Will be back. Thanks for the website fellow vole keeper.

melro said...

I was just at my local Pet Supplies Plus and noticed a tank full of white mice like I had as a pet when I was young. I'm keeping a vole right now. So I was delighted to watch them. One jumped up on the ledge of the tank to me. They looked in bad shape, overcrowded, and injured because they are fighting with each other. Then I looked down. $1.58 feeder mice. I was so instantly sad. Those didn't look like feeder mice to me but what used to be sold as pets. I just wrote a threat to Pet Supplies Plus HQ in MI that I will not shop there and will put what they're doing on Care2.com a network of over 20 million advocates. The thought of the those bigger than my vole white, what should be pet mice as food for a cold blooded, usually illegal snake is disgusting. Maybe voles aren't the way to go. Little white and CHEAP breeder mice need rescuing fellow vole keepers.

I'm waiting for a reply from Pet Supplies Plus and will be back in that shop. The little mouse that jumped up there does it again, it's mine. Two mice are just as easy to keep as one.

Ravioli said...

I'm the Anonymous commenter from January 30th, 2012. So just as an update, I was mowing the lawn for the last time before it snows (I was doing this yesterday) and I saw some voles scampering about the front yard, where they seem to be plentiful. Today I got a small rodent/rat Havahart trap so I think I'll have some fun with it, catching voles and such. I'll update eventually on my progress.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever considered the fact that when a vole is caught for a pet they will generally live longer, have more food, better shelter and be healthier than in the wild? That same vole might have frozen to death or been snatched up by an owl the very same night if it wasn't captured as a pet.

Anonymous said...

I have a vole, that if all go's well i'll keep as a pet i just helped her out of shock and well all she's doing is sleeping and i don,t know what,s wrong I've never had a vole before i specialize in wild mice not voles, i plan on keeping her in my cages that i kept my mice in....but i think she's a baby , just opened her eyes i guess and i,m sort of hoping i dont have
to give any formula i have to go somewhere this weekend.gue

Anonymous said...

I have a vole, that if all go's well i'll keep as a pet i just helped her out of shock and well all she's doing is sleeping and i don,t know what,s wrong I've never had a vole before i specialize in wild mice not voles, i plan on keeping her in my cages that i kept my mice in....but i think she's a baby , just opened her eyes i guess and i,m sort of hoping i dont have
to give any formula i have to go somewhere this weekend. What do i do?

Unknown said...

My 12 yr. old daughter just bought a vole home with her. I asked her what was it and she thought it was a mouse at first until she looked it up in one of her animal books. She says she found if in the ally and that a cat was chasing it. I went to Wal-Mart to get a plastic cage for it for now. My husband said it was so cute that she was allowed to keep it. I have done looked it up online and have found different ways to have a cage for it. Now, I have had hamsters before and it doesn't look much different from that. So will a hamster cage and tubes be good for it? An how do I tell if it is male or female or even how old it is?

Anonymous said...

This is for Brandy Robinson:
Plastic hamster habitrails won't last long with Voles.
They are CHEWERS and will gnaw the plastic edges away in no time.
Better to have a large glass aquarium as stated in other posts.
A wire cage would work well IF you can find or build one with 1/4" hardware cloth.
Anything with larger holes would allow the voles to squeeze through.
Good Luck !

Anonymous said...

There is a vole who was coming up to our porch occasionally looking for bits of food. The other day I was sitting outside and he came up not even 2 feet from me and started eating a bit of strawberry the kids left on the ground. We started putting out bits of fruit and bread for him and he now comes everyday and will let us feed him and get close but if anyone tries to touch him he runs. He really likes pumpernickel bread and will choose that above anything else.

Purrfit said...

My cat Batman, who is an indoor cat with strict backyard privileges (the pool takes up the whole yard, the rest is concrete with some gravel stones around the edges of the pool). He's been quite the mouser, even with such limited access. There are plenty of mice who often get trapped in the pool filter and drowning :o( Anyway, in the last week Batman has caught three voles. One he injured a back leg slightly and when I went over to scoot Batman away I reached down to pick him up and he immediately tried to run up my sleeve. I got him in my hands and released him on the other side of my fence. Interesting to note he did not bite me during the whole ordeal! I checked an hour later and he was gone. The next one, a couple days later, I didn't get to save. I was in the house for a bit and when I came back out Batman had already killed it and left it for me at the top of the stairs (I'm in a basement apt). Today, Batman was out for just a few minutes when I heard him scream/growl. I ran outside to see he had caught another vole but dropped it presumably because it bit him. I scooted Batman away and managed to catch the poor thing. Its injuries are quite severe. The skin around his neck and chest area are ripped open. I suspect a puncture in his neck area. I put some Polysporin on the wound and set him up in a box with a dry cloth a mini gift bag to hide in, a face cloth and some weeds and grasses from where they frequent. I don't expect him to survive the night but at least the cat torture is over. Will keep you posted. Voles really are adorable. I'm surprised they haven't been "domesticated" yet like just about every other rodent...

Purrfit said...

Update... sadly the little vole died. The injuries were too severe. RIP little guy :o(

Anonymous said...

I have 2 Vole girls I rescued from the dogs.they are much easier to hold than my pet nice.really nice little animals.No biting at all.they don't look distressed about being captivity.quite happy in the tank.even have a mouse wheel for excerise!

Megan Berger said...

I saved two newborn voles after my cat tried to eat one. It ended up dying but the other is doing great, super friendly, loves being held.

Megan Berger said...

Well the other one died, the vet said it was sad after losing it's companion.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I live on a island in Scotland. My children rescued a vole (I think it is a bank vole) from a cat. Now it is over the shock it seems very happy and content. My children are keen to look after it as there are lots of cats where we live (not ideal for releasing it!). Do you think it will be lonely for the company of other voles if we keep it? He seems to like it when we talk to him and he approaches us. Any advice would be appreciated :-) Ellie.

Alexandra said...

so i saved a vole yesterday from the clutches of my dads lawnmower and i know this thread is really old but maybe one of you can answer my qestion. so i put this vole in a small container (around 7 gallons) for the night it had a cloth some grass a toliet paper tube it liked to run through and some cat food. it was running in circles the whole time i had it and it would climb up my arm and up my back and play with my fingers but when i woke up and went to move it to its new 20 gallon home it was in a sleeping position and not breathing so i pciked it up and its body is like a rock. any ideas on why it died? i still have it and didnt even get to name it :(

Anonymous said...

I also saved a baby vole after discovering a nest of babies. All of them were dead except one. His eyes were not open yet and he was very tiny. I feed him goat and cat milk for orphaned kittens out of a dropper. He opened his eyes two days later. I also gave him vanilla yogurt. Today is is strong and healthy and a pet. He is about seven months old. He is kept in a 20 gallon glass tank. He loves tons of veggies and fruits and grasses and plants like clovers. He adores his blueberries,carrots,apple slices,dried bananas,walnuts and yogurt. Clovers seem to be a favorite also. He is the sweetest baby I have owned in a long time. And I am a rodent lover. I have pet rats and mice. But this vole is so different. He comes when called. Loves to play with me on the bed and tunnel threw the blankets and wrestle with my hands. He is potty trained and doesn't poop or pee while out for play time. He loves to eat and sleep a lot in his hidebox in his cage but let's me know when he wants out to play by standing on top of his box on his hind legs and reaches and jumps for the opening of the cage. He has never bitten me or even attempted to. He does give love nibbles but they are very gentle and affectionate. Once he got off the bed and lost in the room and I called him and he came running back to my hand. He was so scared and so happy to be found. He loves to run up my sleeves and pop out in various areas for a peek. He is not lonely being an only vole. I introduced him to a pet mouse which he likes but does not want to share a house with. So they play in a common area then go into separate homes. My vole is my best friend and I am so glad I got the privilege of raising him and knowing how sweet and special these intelligent little creatures are. Please do not release a vole in the winter. They need to have an underground tunnel system dug to survive the winter which they fill with food weeks before. They also eat their weight in food daily. That's right ever day! So if you plan on releasing it must not be in winter. And once they are a pet it is very difficult for them to adjust. Remember most people considered them a pest and will kill them. My vole will go up and jump in peoples hands,fully trusting them. I could never release him after getting him to trust people because most people do not see them as pets. I don't think its OK to go out in the wild and capture any wild animal but rescuing animals that need it is our job as humans.

Anonymous said...

I've had about 3 dozen pet voles from the years 2009 to mid 2012. Two or three different species. They can nip at first, only one of them ever bit me a lot. Eventually I got good enough that I didn't have any more bite me. They need to get used to your scent first of all. Three others stood out as really distinct personalities, one was a mother who squeked whenever she saw my hand and would just slap it. Her baby just loved to sit in my hand and grew up. Another mother liked to lick my hand.

For Alexandra, voles are fragile creatures, it's possible it had some internal injuries from the lawnmower or that it was too cold for it to survive with what was supplied (if it was really young).

wingedshadowwolf said...

I unearthed a rather suprised vole from a snowbank today. I' shocked my skidsteer didn't squish it! I picked it up and put it in some grass by the building since it didn't seem injured, but if it's still there(and alive) after work I think I'll take it home.

Anonymous said...

i got one todAY AND DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO:/

Liv said...

Where do u find the cute creatures?

Anonymous said...

My name is Josephine. (Not really but I can't tell my real name, so just call me Josephine... I have a few YouTube accounts which I post videos on, MyZoo42 and ThePetCareCollab)

I have owned 6 voles in the past and I am currently caring for a vole and her 4 babies. :D They are so cute! <3 I love voles and it has been my dream for several years to be the first person to actually domesticate voles! I would start now, but I don't know how my parents would feel about that...

JR said...

Okay, I'm leaving another comment... Sorry, It's me, Josephine... The one who has had 6 voles and has a mom and babies...


My voles love carrots, millet seed and clovers.

I have a blog too! HamstersMinecraftAndMore and a third YouTube channel, also called HamstersMinecraftAndMore, but I just comment with that channel... Anyway, I just wanted to tell you what my voles like. bye!

Anonymous said...

I have one vole and it is pregnant it loves to burrow in cedar bedding

Tricia said...

Hello! I'm glad I found this and I hope that people still use this. Im hoping someone can help me... 3 nights ago, I was taking a walk when I heard crying. It sounded so sad so I stopped and investigated. I found a Gardner snake with something in its mouth. When I got about 4 feet away I saw it had something in its mouth, the snake freaked out, dropped it and took off super fast. Apparently I interrupted its meal. Oops! When I got close I realized it was a baby vole with its eyes still closed and super small. ( honestly it took a lot of googling to figure out what it was) I can't find any information on how old they are when their eyes open or how much to feed them. I have been feeding it a mixture of raw goat milk and puppy formula every few hours during the day but only a few drops each time. He is a wiggly little booger! Thanks everyone!

JR said...

Tricia, I'm glad he's doing good! I would love if young me pictures!!! I have a blog, Hamsters Minecraft And More. And a youtube MyZoo42.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of that I caught a vole today , I used to think its cruel but its really not , my little girl I have now was in my inground pool drowning , she was most likely in there all night and day , I went in and picked her up and I still have her .. I don't want to risk her getitng in my pool again , and if you think about it , when they are kept as pets we are offering more food shelter water etc..

Anonymous said...

Very good blog site - I too love to take care of the helpless set of creatures in this world. I had taken care of 5 pet mice already. I dread to see the people buy them at Petco and feed them to their pet snakes. Not my type, I hate it. So here am I, after a very short study, I started to promote them, and always buy another pet after one passes away every 2 years - this happened to my very 1st pet in 2012. My late Troy successfully lived to the optimum 2 years life expectancy for pet mice. Mikey and Cinnamon passed away recently this year after 2 yrs life with me too. I cherished my past experiences and learnt a lot from them, how to take care and love them during their very short life span God had bestowed them.

Anonymous said...

Very good blog site - I too love to take care of the helpless set of creatures in this world. I had taken care of 5 pet mice already. I dread to see the people buy them at Petco and feed them to their pet snakes. Not my type, I hate it. So here am I, after a very short study, I started to promote them, and always buy another pet after one passes away every 2 years - this happened to my very 1st pet in 2012. My late Troy successfully lived to the optimum 2 years life expectancy for pet mice. Mikey and Cinnamon passed away recently this year after 2 yrs life with me too. I cherished my past experiences and learnt a lot from them, how to take care and love them during their very short life span God had bestowed them.

Unknown said...

Hi! I'm from Philippines and I wanted to have one we don't have prairie voles here but they're really just cute and i love their personalities since they're one of the animals that mates for life. Do you know anyone there who could sell them here in the Philippines or would give them here? I promise to take care of it forever!!! oh pls. pls. help. :D

Wild thing said...

On the farm we were grinding feed and a "rat" fell out of the grinder, dead on the ground. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was not a rat, and still alive. The poor vole probably lost an eye, we're not sure how it will turn out yet, but I will say, when the shock wore off and she realized what was going on she did bite. 1 bite, did not break the skin, not painful. She was very frightened so I don't think that they will bite unless provoked. Handle with care :)

Unknown said...

Cats eh? Got a lot to answer for as pets... sure they're furry and pleasing to own but the price you make the local wildlife pay when you have a cast is usually considerable. You're essentially bringing in a non-native predator that will cause often immense harm to the local populations of birds and small mammals.

Anonymous said...

Yesterday I was sitting outside in my Grans garden when I noticed a baby vole. Because I knew where the vole nest in the garden was I knew there wouldn't be far for it to go. Plus I decided the mother would come for it anyway. I left it wondering around not wanting to touch it in case my scent made the mother abandon the baby. After a while I looked out the window and noticed the baby still outside. I decided to watch to make sure it could reach the nest. After a while it managed to make it. I carried on reading. I happened to glance up and see it again. As I kept an eye on it I was witness to an adult vole attack the baby. So I took it inside. It was so small and still had its eyes closed and kept shaking. The baby is drinking goats milk because I don't know where to get formula. Fingers crossed it lives.

Unknown said...

"Wild animals have evolved over the course of millions of years as independent, free-living beings. They have needs, instincts and behaviors that are inseparably tied both to their appropriate habitat, and to a free-living state. It is inappropriate and inhumane to force a wild animal to live the captive life of a pet.

No matter how well designed a captive habitat may be, it can never replicate the freedom that wild animals require to be complete beings. A permanently captive wild animal is doomed to a life of confusion and stress as he attempts to reconcile instinctual urges with foreign surroundings. Wild animals belong in the wild.https://www.paws.org/library/wildlife/keeping-wild-animals/

Unknown said...

"Wild animals have evolved over the course of millions of years as independent, free-living beings. They have needs, instincts and behaviors that are inseparably tied both to their appropriate habitat, and to a free-living state. It is inappropriate and inhumane to force a wild animal to live the captive life of a pet.

No matter how well designed a captive habitat may be, it can never replicate the freedom that wild animals require to be complete beings. A permanently captive wild animal is doomed to a life of confusion and stress as he attempts to reconcile instinctual urges with foreign surroundings. Wild animals belong in the wild.https://www.paws.org/library/wildlife/keeping-wild-animals/

Anonymous said...

I have a pet baby vole called Truffle that my cat brought to me. I have revived it and am keeping it as the vet said it cannot go into the wild. this website really helped!!!

happy said...

I found one in a guys window well the other day. I am an exterminator but i feel that not every creature must be killed.They are all part if the ecosystem. I took him down the road about 5 miles and released him into a huge field with lots of tall grasses. I wanted to keep him but that wouldnt have been fair to him. That made my whole day seeing him scurry off into his new habitat.I do kinda miss him though and hope he is well. He was so cute and i took pictures of him before I released him. I hope he finds a new family of volea to hang out with.

Anonymous said...

A few days ago I was fishing out at a pond and heard some squeaking. While looking for the source of the noise (which was moving) under some brush, I spotted a king snake that looked like it was getting ready to attack something. I couldn't see what it was looking at, but it was in the direction of the squeaking. Without thinking about it i kicked dirt at the snake. After it slithered away I found the source of the squeaking, a baby vole that wasn't even able to open its eyes yet. Since there was no other voles around or any other squeaking I could only assume It's mother was eaten by the snake, or had abandoned the baby. In either case i had to take it. How could I leave this little one inch squeaking furball to die. I bought kitten formula that I heat slightly to imitate the heat of its mothers milk and give him a few drops every 2 hours followed by a drop or two of water and a bath with a warm towel. I noticed during the bathing process that it was a he and have since then named him Horus. I usually have to rub his bum with the warm towel to make him go to the bathroom. He loves his baths, at least I like to think so because he always sits still while I bathe him and curls up in my hand afterward. He finally opened his eyes yesterday while I was feeding him, it was so adorable. I felt like a proud parent lol. I've let my roommates hold him and he seems restless and constantly moving, but when he's in my hand he just curls up and goes to sleep. Also whenever I put my hand in his cage and rub his back he jumps on my finger and curls up in the middle of my hand. This makes me think that he recognizes me and likes me, or at least feels comfortable with me. I'm definitely keeping him until he passes which will hopefully be over 2 years like an earlier poster had claimed their vole was. But until that day, Horus and myself will be fam. If anyone has any extra tips, I'd love to read them.

- Ben Blazen

Fallon Marie said...

I takeit you dont likezooseven tho were saving some species from potchers or fur ttading or all the other cruel things peopl do to all our beautiful animals in the wild... uh dumb of you to make such remarks about a little fricken mouse. I actually caught two baby voles today because their mother has been ruining our front lawn and there are two inch wide tunnels all through our yard and shes nesting in our bush. But we had to buy a new tree last year because theone we had died because we didnt know the vole was eating it we just put in a new one and the bark on the bottom is already being messed with so i dont think me capturing them and giving them a loving home with all the food and happiness and protection they need is wrong what so ever considering they could have been poisoned for ruining my yard and tree and costing us alot of money.

Gosh theres way more bad in this world to worry about lady.

BrokenRecordRanch said...

So I'm a large animal Vet & a Texas rancher. We don't keep pets unless they have a job, dogs herd cattle, guard property from predators, chick make ehgs, cattle beef & profit, horses help us work cattle. HOWEVER my 11 yr old daughter was in the garage getting ready to ride her horse when a tiny little Vole ran up to her foot & climbed her leg. I told her to put it down & get back to work. She did & it chased her. She started to ask if we could keep it. I said no it's a wild animal. My daughters face said it all it was Love, as the Vile continued to try to crawl up her leg. He followed her while she tacked up her horse back/forth. As she begged I said look if you can catch him yes, thinking when she reaches for him he will run. She put down her hat, he jumped into it. She reached down and he jumped into her hand. So "Dewey" has now been with us for a year. He lives in a large tortoise box with sawdust, a couple plants, being fed fresh fruit, grains, peanutbutter, etc. Dewey does come out of his box, he travels outside in my daughters shirt pocket but when she puts him down he will not leave her side. He also sits on her desk while she reads and does homework never leaving her side. Dewey has escaped from his box a few times and every time my daughter has woke up in middle of the night with him curled into her long blonde hair, snuggling with her. This little Vole "Dewey" chose my daughter, why I don't know...he was a baby when we found him, maybe separated from his nest. But he has found a home where he is happy. So before knocking every situation know the background

Anonymous said...

Who are you to decide how the Vole lives it's life? To steal a child from its mother shouldn't be in question.

Unknown said...

I have never heard of a Vole until yesterday. I went for a jog to do some rehab on my knee after a big thunderstorm passed. I ran alongside what is normally a mild creek. But it was almost to the top full. As we were running I see my dog had something in his mouth. I told him to "Leave it" on my way back I was curious to see what he had. I see what looked like a field mouse that was drenched and still. But I see faint breaths. So I picked it up and see its slightly moving.. I take it to my car and dried it off with some napkins and put the heater on and put it in front of it. Slowly I see more signs of life. As it dried, it moves more and more. I cut a grape in half and instantly it starts munching away on it. Kept falling asleep eating. Till finally it would hold the food to eat it on its own. So I check it's gender. Her name is Storm. My roommate the rodent expert finally figured out what she was.. She's a young Vole. She loves grapes, hay and chinchilla pellets and treats. She's now full of life, doing very well and full of life. She's very docile, only gives me a nip when she doesn't want to be held anymore. But she now has a home and plenty of food. And doesn't have to worry about another flash floods almost drowning her.

Unknown said...

It's inhumane if she misstreets it. But if it's given good Carenough and a loving home. Not to mention kept safe from predators and not having to worry about where it's next meal is coming from. Either way, your argument loses validity considering every animal that's a pet was at one time in its species a wild animal that humans decided would make good pets or great to breed and use for meat. Look just because you don't personally want one as a pet, doesn't give you the right to judge others. You have your own opinion stuck in your head and don't even want to try seeing other ways of thinking. We were all wild once.. and in captivity with the proper care they can have a greater life. Personally, mines just grateful she's alive. Without a human intervention she would have died, slow, wet, cold and alone. Now she's happy, healthy and we'll fed. And she only chirps when I wake her up. And you can judge me too if you like but she would be dead right now if I hadn't done something. And I want to protect the life I saved.

Anonymous said...

What about taking a mother from her children? What then? How do you validate that? Sure they only live to about a year in the wild and l9onger in captivity, but what about the possibility that you are taking away a nests provider for food for the coming winter.

Unknown said...

I have seen many voles running around our bird feeder and just today I saw one running along the snow. I have a trap out and a 40 gallon tank in the basement. Is that a big enough tank? Or is it too big?

Anonymous said...

I’m frankly shocked at this post and many of the comments. How can you possibly think it’s ok to kidnap an animal from the wild to keep as a pet?? Do you really think a vole is happier to be in a box in your house instead of out in the meadow with its family? I guess you don’t care, clearly. And, no, it’s not at all like having a dog or cat as a pet. Dogs and cats are not wild. They are not taken from their homes in the wilderness and from their families to live in our homes. That’s why dogs and cats are referred to as domesticated. They couldn’t survive in the wild if they wanted to. Shameful and selfish to take an animal from the wild like this.

Cruddog said...

Actually voles live shorter lives in captivity when in captivity they are Chao diseases illnesses and improper diet. They also can't move and forward as they once did and therefore that actually slows them down and stresses them out shortening their lifespan. This is true for almost every wild animal caught to be put in captivity.

And it's impossible for you to say an animal in captivity that you caught without specialized equipment actually lives longer. You know why? Because you literally have not studied voles for at least 20 years. You cannot determine lifespan in captivity vs. Natural unless you actually study them in the field. So hopefully you go to college and actually do that because what you're doing right now is extremely inhumane and in fact illegal. It is highly illegal to take these animals out from the wild mainly because just so you know voles can in fact carry many diseases and they will not show up on the whole meaning of one decides to escape 1-day invite one of your other animals one of your animal is going to go bye bye. Your animals don't have the immune system or digestive system to actually handle wild animals if they're eating much less if attacked.

So not only are you probably shortening this creatures lifespan you're not giving it the proper diet you're not giving it enough room to actually go where it's supposed to go you're not allowing it to breed or have a family you're literally cutting off all its ties to being a happy animal instead you can find it in a tiny little cage give it improper diet which trust me is causing it internal distress even if it's bowel movements seem regular. And the fact that you have already caught multiple means that some have died in your care if they live longer you would not have to keep going out and catching them


Please stop abusing animals it's f****** disgusting. And I really hope someone gets the police on you soon so you can be handled accordingly for disrupting not only a natural habitat but illegally removing animals from that habitat

Cruddog said...

You must be extremely stupid. Evolution of dogs and cats have literally made them adapt and capable to live in captivity. In today Society this is okay because if you let a cat go out in the wild it will die eventually if you let a dog go on the wild it will die eventually do you know how I know this? Cuz I'm the person that hasn't taken your animals whenever someone dumps them in the forest


You are a complete idiot to think taking a wild animal that has not had any Evolution as a domesticated animal putting it in a confined space and giving it the wrong diet not allowing it to breed normally during mating season is a Better Home and no way shape or form is that a better home in fact it is showing that when an animal is taken out of the Wild and Mead into a pet they are more likely to be distressed and they die at an earlier age. This stupid twat up here can't necessarily say her animals live longer she doesn't no reason? She hasn't actually study these animals for over 20 years and she gets these voles keep some in a tiny cage where they're don't run their natural spam and once they died she goes out and captures more not caring if they have a nest dumang and killing upwards of 12 babies

She doesn't care the fact that it actually disrupt the habitat all around them when there's no more voles in the area because vegetation needs these guys in the wild and even a decline in 2% of the vote population means less forging plants for the animals in the area

No I don't know if you know anything about voles but the more you take out of the wild unless there are because they literally mate like crazy and not a lot of their baby survive

My other question how she know that they last longer if she already captures them when they're adults. She has no idea how old they are when they become a captive in her home but she claims they last longer that's b*******


And b**** don't talk about saving species from poachers people who take wild animals out of the wild are poachers you are a f****** poacher

Poaching isn't just to kill an animal illegally poaching is to take that animal illegally and you're not supposed to take voles from the wild you are disrupting their lives you are just ripping their habitats you are disrupting literally their livelihood because they can no longer make they can no longer feed their babies they can no longer do the things that made them happy

You and people who think like you are f****** poachers if I ever saw you on my land I would do what I do to the rest of the poachers and you would not walk off this property you f****** poacher

Cruddog said...

1.
If you catch voles as an adult how can you say they live longer if you don't know how old they are when you catch them. Also you can't known animal lives longer in captivity because 95% of animals put in captivity actually don't live longer they live half their lifespan. And you do not know if they live longer unless you've been studying the whole population for at least 20 years in your area

2. You cannot possibly feed this vole the correct diet which means you're causing it internal distress even if an animal has regular bowel movements it does not mean the insides of their stomachs are not burning. Much like feeding a slow loris rice feeding a volt anything but the required strict diet actually puts in huge amounts of pain that it can't even show you

3. You're taking animals from the wild for your own pleasure and gain you are a poacher

4. The reason it's illegal to take animals out of the wild like this is because it's abusive because you don't know how to actually take care of it you put it in a small cage when these animals have hundreds of miles to dig tunnel. You took all of its mating rights away you took mothers from their children so that their children starve to death slowly. You're taking away in generations of the next voles that would allow more vegetation to grow for wild animals in your area.

5. Don't ever compare something that has evolved over thousands of years to be able to eat a certain diet and be housed in small spaces to a wild animal that you caught randomly in your backyard.

You're an animal abusing poacher that's it

No you're not giving these voles a better life in fact you're taking away everything that made their lives better

And how do I know this? Well I studied animals literally my whole life I've run for rescues for wild and domesticated and I have even gotten my degrees in Humane law animal behavior and environmental science


Stop being a f****** poacher it's against the law these animals do in fact carry sicknesses and you're abusing them and you're cutting their lifespan in half. If they lived longer with you you would not have to keep going to your backyard to get more ;)

frankly if you live near me we would do to you what we do to all poachers who illegally kill or take our animals from the wild

PC Tech MO said...

Voles in captivity live 2-3xs their normal lifespan and can lead happier lives in captivity. I'm a pest co tell tech and have to go and poison them for clients and I feel that's more inhumane than giving it a good home.

Lifespan in captivity credit goes to Missouri Botanical Garden Science for taking the time to research this.

Anonymous said...

A mole got in a bedroom in my home by accident. I've ordered a live mouse trap to catch it - I hope it works cuz the vole is a little stockier than the average mouse and I felt kinda sorry for the vole as it ran back and for disoriented and not caring if I saw it. My mother is elderly and wondered if the mole was still trapped in the house so I put a piece of broccoli out where I'd seen it and since then he and I have been playing a game where he snatches the food away in secret sometime after I've put it down. Mom feels like she's got a new friend in the house since our 15 yr old dog passed and we can't afford a new one. I'm not putting water down, as he normally wouldn't have water available in the winter here anyway with the ground frozen. He's probably getting enuf water from the pieces of apple and frozen broccoli or brussel sprout that I leave for him. I hope to relocate him once I've caught him, though I'm not sure to where. There's a big possum out my back door so that would mean certain death. I'd drive him up the road..oh heck I don't know what to do when I catch him! This is crazy cuz I usually just use snap traps to kill the mice - I had tried humane traps and none worked - but I had to do something because they chewed through the wiring in our stove and almost caused a fire shorting out the stove. Humans over rodents. Maybe if this new live trap works for the vole, I'll try it for the mice.

Cruxblog said...

I found a vole the other day squeaking his head off with a very small cut on his tail and he seemed disoriented so I scooped him up and have been caring for him since. The first day he could barely stand up he was so wobbly, he looked like a hamster that just had a stroke. I’ve been giving him pedialyte with a dropper and he’s more active now, able to walk but still has bad balance. The thing is he doesn’t seem to want to eat. I got him to eat a tiny piece of grape yesterday but that’s it. All he wants to do is sleep in my hands and he comes running to me whenever he sees me. Immediately curls up near me etc. any ideas how I can get him to eat? He ate a weird part of a grape and ended up choking on it so I had to gently pull it out which was scary. OH and he keeps rolling around. any ideas what might be going on?

Unknown said...

You literally came to a page about how to take care of a vole to bitch

Aight then

Anonymous said...

Facts are that generally voles live 3-6 months in the wild. And have been known to live up to 3 years in captivity. Just like mice, they have a lot of predators. Not to mention that most people look at them as pests and kill them. I think its great that she is providing a safe and loving environment for a few.

Peter said...

I posted way back in 2010 about my experiences with voles that were brought into the house injured by our cats. Some interesting tidbits about voles. They are extremely tame. In fact if you see one in the garden the chances are it will stop and let you pet it. I don't advocate catching them however. I concur that in captivity they do live for 3 years or more. They love the wheel. So much in fact that if you loose one in the house, just put down a wheel and it will be on it in the morning! But remove all cats from the house. They hate toilet rolls. Don't know why, they just do. They will carry it around vertically and mercifully attack it, finally tearing it into pieces. Some voles have the talking gene. Perhaps one out of 10. When you find this rare breed of vole you can have a complete conversation with it! Never permit a friend to stick a figure in a voles face, they will likely bite. They seem to go on sent to recognize you as a friend. On the issue of biting, don't reach down and pick up a vole, rather place your hand palm up and let it jump on. Got to be a hawk thing! Female voles form close loving relationships with their fellow voles, not so much the males, best to keep them separated. Voles can develop affectations and repetitive behaviors. Fore instance, if you have several female voles in the same cage, they might decide one day to a lineup and start spontaneously jump off a log or something, then run back round to get in line to do it all over again. When they are in this frame of mind its hard to get them to stop, but hilariously funny. And then there's the window washer where a voles stands on it's back legs and starts waving at you through the glass tank. Sadly our vole family are no more and the cats longer bring them into the house. I think they have generally left our area. So glad to see that the blog is still actively going.

Unknown said...

My son started with mice. He loves mice! Then a vole ran out in front of our car. I didn't know what it was. We found out it was a vole and it only had 3 legs. So my son decided to keep it. He has it in a 20-gallon fish tank with wood shavings a water dish and he feeds it seeds, dried fruits, nuts, hay and packaged hamster food. We had it for over a year and then it crossed the Rainbow Bridge. My son decided to humanely catch another vole or two as pets since his 1st vole was so entertaining. He actually caught 3 voles- 2 females and a male. He was hoping they would breed and today he woke up, he went to feed them and found a baby vole in the tank. The mother had 3 more babies in the morning. He now has 4 babies total. We have the other female and male in a separate tank. Our voles love running on the wheel, going through toilet paper tubes and gnawing on wood sticks.We have found that only the male voles squeak (at least ours is very vocal!). We can keep you posted in the future of our vole family.

Anonymous said...

Hey all. I'm the original author of this post. Wanted to clear some things up as I recently remembered I had this blog as a kid.

Yep. As a kid. 12 years old.

12 year old kids aren't "fucking poachers." And other slurs that have been thrown my way.

In the other 12 years of my life since writing this, I've earned multiple degrees in biology, zoology, and public health. On the bachelor's and master's levels.

To a 12 year old, "keeping a vole as a pet" meant keeping the critter for a day or two and watching it's behavior and then letting it go. I never killed a vole (or any other animal for that matter).

Those of you worked up about it, again. I was a kid, under the guidance of my nature camp counselor, catching fun critters (safely) and observing them for a day or two before releasing them where I had found them.

I wish I could take this blog down so I wouldn't have to worry but about it anymore I don't know my log in credentials.

Just some perspective as you try and decide what's worth your battles.

Unknown said...

I love your blog:) if it weren't for this site so many animal lovers would miss out on all the live and guidance offered here. My girls rescued one from our neighbour kitty... all God's creatures deserve a chance at life...I've gained do much knowledge just reading all the comments. Be blessed for caring, bless all those who keep caring... the world is rough at times but can also be beautiful.it feels wonderful to finally able to rescue one that wasn't fatally maimed by a kitty. Love is a gift big or small :)

Unknown said...

I love that my daughter's have huge hearts for loving even the smallest of God's creatures. This page has so much to offer... thank you original poster <3

Anonymous said...

My husband spotted a my cat playing with something in the front yard. Turns out it was a female vole. Put her in a cardboard box in the garage with a blanket, some food, and a water stopper. She seemed to have survived the night and is pretty sleepy today. I’m grateful for this blog because there really is no information for vole care on the internet. I think she is still pretty young. I offered her some kitten milk on a paint brush and she enjoyed it. When she is healthy enough I’ll be letting her go in a field, but I’m definitely sad just thinking about it. She is very cute.

Tiffany said...

I caught a vole wandering about on my deck and trying to get in the house. It was pretty hot out so maybe the little guy wanted some cool air. I thought it was a mouse, a very tame mouse. But I looked it up and it’s tiny little vole. I have terrarium on a stand that is enclosed with glass and a pretty wire mesh top. So I caught the little guy and put it in there with a little plastic birdseed house. He sits in it and eats away. I got him a shallow Wecks Jar top to hold water, a stick to sharpen his teeth on, a bit of carrot and some paper towel bedding for now. I tried to let him loose outside because I thought he just needed a little respite and was a tired mouse. But after reading all of this I see that voles behave very differently. They stick around, are brave around humans and seem to like a good thing (lots of food) when they can get it. So I’ve been having trouble releasing this fascinating animal. I don’t pick him up because they carry disease so I cart him out in his little plastic birdseed house and set him down and of course he doesn’t want to leave. He likes that birdseed. So I tried tipping him out and sending him on his way but my darn cat was out and she snuck up on me. I quickly put him right back and didn’t have the heart to take him back out there even after I got my cats back in. After reading through this blog, I think we need to remember the relationship between animals and humans is much more complex than we make it out to be. It’s not so black and white. I thought I could just release him but I don’t want him to be the next victim of my very good mousers. We should marvel at the human capability to love a little animal like that. I especially enjoyed the story of the girl taking care of the horses who had a vole choose her. I’ll probably keep trying to release this little guy because I’m due to leave town for over a week and doubt I’ll be able to get someone to care for him. But if I do find someone, I imagine this little guy will delight me and I hope I can extend his life a bit longer in exchange. I do feel he belongs in his home in the wild though. Glad I found this blog!

Unknown said...

This post is for all you people on your soap boxes bitching
My neighbors cat brought her a 2in half to 3 week old live baby Meadow Vole.She went and got kitten formula for it and tried feed with no success so asked for my help because I have baby rabbits kittens hampsters ect.So I went down and got her to eat.After feeding her we called 10 different local wildlife rehabilitators and none of them would take her.2 of these places actually told me to just put her back outside to live or die on her own.I couldn't do that to a baby so I set up an old fish tank for her and figured I'd atleast try to save her.Amazingly she wasnt injured at all by the cat. The day after I got her is was cold enough for a freeze warning in my area.If I had put her back out she would definitely be dead by now.I have had her for 4 days now and after hours and hours of research and videos she is doing great.Eating baby cereal and water on her own running playing and tunneling. She will come out when I go to check on her with fresh food and treats and will climb right into my hand.She curls up in my hand and falls asleep with total trust that she is safe with me.So now I have a new pet because it is way to cold for this baby to have time to prepare for winter.
I do believe that wild animals belong in the wild and you should not purposely catch them for pets.with that being said if I hadn't taken this baby would be dead. I really saw no other choice as a caring person when all of the so called wildlife rehabilitators refused to take her in.It wouldve been way more cruel and inhumane to put her back out side to freeze than to keep her safe warm and from what I can see happy . If you do your research you will also find that Voles are closely related to and in the same sub species as a common pet hampster but they do have different dietary needs.

ProudMum6 said...

AMEN!!!!! I HAVE A MINI FARM. I HAVE A CAT THAT SOMEONE DUMPED OUT ON ME JUST 6 MTHS AGO. IF PEOPLE WANT PETS THAT BAD, GO GET SOME THAT PEOPLE DONT WANT ANYMORE AND THROW OUT!! I HAVE AN EASTERN BOX TURTLE THAT WAS INJURED AND NOW I CANT LET HIN GO. LAST HIBERNATION PERIOD HE DIDNT HIBERNATE. THANK GOD I MADE HIS HIBERNATION BOX AMD WATCHED HIM CAREFULLY, PRAYING HE WOULD HIBERNATE SO I COULD LET HIM GO. SAD!!! I TRY TO GIVE HIM A HUGE AREA AND FOOD SOURCES HE SHOULD BE GETTING IN THE WILD, NOT STORE BOUGHT CAPTIVITY CRAP.

Anonymous said...

Hi all! I am so grateful for this post as it is now 2023 and still no information on the internet about how to keep a pet vole. My son and I were walking and this vole came right up to us and onto our hand. It was also walking in circles and I assumed that it was lost or distressed or something. We kept putting him into the grass (he was in a parking lot) but he would continuously come back to us. So after 30-40 min we made the decision to take him home. I set him up in a glass tank, gave him some birdseed and fruit at first and later bought gerbil/mouse food. I give it water with a syringe as I see he doesn’t drink it out of the bowl. He is very tame and cuddly. I am really worried he is sick because its eyes were shut closed and one is really swollen. I’ve been doing the best I can to help him survive and I’m so worried he is going to die because I love him so much already. Today I’m going to call some vets and wildlife rescue and see if they can help with antibiotics or something. To the person who wrote this post or any other vet that reads this- can I give antibiotics to a vole? What can I do to promote his health and survival? He wouldn’t have survived another day outside the way he was when we found him…