Maintenance, Reproduction and Growth of the Least Shrew in Captivity

Published accounts describe the nest and young of various species of shrews. Usually such young are of unknown ages, so that little information about growth and development is available. Similarly, little information is available concerning breeding and gestation periods of most soricids. Some observations upon reproduction and growth of Cryptotis have been made by Hamilton (1944) and Walker (1954). Additional information about growth, reproduction and behavior, obtained from a laboratory colony of Cryptotis parva, is given here. Maintenance in captivity.—During September, 1956, a laboratory colony of Cryptotis parva was established with 11 animals captured in sunken tin cans. The animals were maintained under conditions found satisfactory for soricids by other workers (Rudd, 1953; Crowcroft, 1951; Pearson, 1950). They were kept in 10- and 15-gallon aquaria with an inch of wood shavings and dry soil added to cover the bottoms. When wood shavings alone...