How to Care for Vole

A vole is a stout-bodied, small rodent, very similar in size and nature to a mouse. Voles are among the shortest lived rodents, usually living anywhere from two months to one year. When not in captivity, voles live in mountains, tundras, trees and grassy areas. They can survive in both warm and cold climates. Voles make reliable pets and taking care of them is considered relatively simple.

Things You'll Need

  • Cage (12-by-12 inches or more)
  • Bedding
  • Dropper
  • Milk substitute or green food
  • Water
  • Heater
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill your vole's cage with soft material for bedding. Because the bedding must be washed or changed often in order for your vole to be healthy, the bedding that you choose should either be washable or disposable.

    • 2

      Add a heater to one end of the vole's cage and make sure that the heat setting is not to high. The heater should only be so high that it keeps one end of the cage warm. This way, the vole can choose whether it wants to be warmer or cooler by moving about the cage. The overall temperature should remain around 73 to 90 degrees.

    • 3

      Fill your baby vole's dropper with a milk substitute that is 75 percent Esibilac and 25 percent colostrum so that it gets just a few drops of the substitute every feeding; feed it a few drops of water every feeding as well. Feed the baby every two to three hours during the night and every hour from 6 a.m. to midnight. If your baby vole is already furry, you do not need to feed it at night.

    • 4

      Feed your pet chickweed, clover, dandelion or other similar green foods when weaning your baby vole off of the milk substitute at nine days old or if you have an adult vole.

    • 5

      Place a water dropper in your vole's cage if it is old enough to be weaned and show it how to drink from it by putting its mouth to the dropper until it drinks. If it is not old enough to be weighed, feed it a few drops of water using a teat or water dropper.

    • 6

      Spend time with your vole daily so that it becomes accustomed to you. Keep your vole's living space clean and play with your pet whenever you can.