Here are their harness.  They are a figure 8 type.  My sister, Fran, made these but the origional ones were Feather Tethers.  They are used for birds but work well for pds.  If you can't find them in a pet store you can contact the company by calling (804) 379-4702 Or writing PREMIER PRODUCTS-527 Branchway Rd.-Richmond, VA 23236              These can also now be ordered online 
Before you actually go out and buy your new babies you will need to get their home ready for them.  A 2 or 3 tiered ferret cage works best.  I have a 3 tiered cage .  But they don't spend much time in it.
A large aquarium such as a 55 gallon or larger will also work but it will have to be cleaned more often. If it is deep enough you won't even have to use a wire lid.
You will need a food dish that fastens down, a water bottle and, perhaps, a hay rack.
You will also need food, a mineral block and things to chew on.  They will happily eat fresh grass and grass or timothy hay.  I buy a good grade timothy hay from The Ferret Store but mostly feed them fresh grass.  One caution though.  It must be fertlizer and pesticide free.  Also it must never be cut by a power mower or picked near a road..  The toxcins from these sources will quickly kill them.
I  buy them Prairie Dog Chow  and apple pellets from Brisky (www.brisky.com) and PRAIRIE DELIGHT FROM THE FERRET STORE (www.theferretstore.com)
Pds do not shed like most animals.  They moult twice a year in the Spring and in the Fall.  At that time they seem to need more protein so I give them small pieces of a biscuit put out by Oasis.  It comes 2 to a package and lasts quite awhile. ( In the wild they satisfy their protein needs by eating bugs.  I tried offering them crickets but they weren't interested in them.  (Tansy did catch herself a big fuzzy moth though and ate it.)

Thinking about getting a Prairie Dog for a pet?
First ask yourself some questions.
1) Will I have enough time to spend with him/her (them)?
Prairie dogs need a LOT of attention!
Prairie dogs are social animals.  They are active during they day.  If  always left alone for long periods of time they will pine away and die.
If you want a prairie dog but know that you will be gone most of the day get 2.  That way they will have each other for company when you're not there.

2) Do I have room for them?
Pds need a place to excercise out of their cage every day for at least an hour.
Mine have a room in which they are allowed to run loose from 8 am until they decide to go to bed at night.  This can be anywhere fron 4 pm in winter until 9 pm during the summer.  However any room that has been made safe for them (all cords and other harmful things out of reach) will do.
The bathroom works well.  Just sit on the floor (with the door closed) with them and let them enjoy themselves.

3) Am I willing to have them spayed/neutered?
Unless you plan to try to breed them (there have been very few successes in this area) you and they are much better off if you get them fixed.
When pds mature at 2 years they suffer from PMS (Prairie Dog
MONSTER Syndrome.) I have been told by several who are attempting to breed them that the first year they are grumpy and the second they are dangerous!  Some must be distracted by someone else so that food and water can be put into the cage.

4) Am I willing to understand that they are just doing what comes naturally when they chew on everything in sight and sometimes bite?
Being rodents their front teeth grow constantly and need to be worn down.  So they chew and chew and CHEW !
Some pds never bite; some bite while playing and an angry or scared pd goes for blood!

5) Am I willing to put up with the mess they make?
Pds love making a mess!  Also although they use  a specific place to urinate they will leave their droppings everywhere.  They eat mostly roughage so there are a lot of droppings.  They also love to chew up things and make a mess that way.

6) Am I willing to monitor their diet?
Pds get fat easily so you must make sure that their treats are few and very low fat.  They are good at begging and are very hard to resist.  But if you give into them they will soon be very fat.  A fat prairie dog is a sick dog.  Obese pds only live 2-3 years.

7) Am I willing to make a long commitment to their care?
A well cared for prairie dog can live 8-12 years or longer.

8) Am I willing to trim their claws and/or teeth when necassary?
Un - trimmed claws can lead to all sorts of trouble like torn and shattered claws which require a vets treatment.  Teeth that are too long prevent them from eating.

9)You must find a Vetrinarian who specialises in treating exotics One that has experience with pds is the best.

Above all else you must remember that no matter how tame they get they are still WILD animals.  It takes 10 generations born in captivity for an animal to be considered domesticated.

So you see there are a lot of things to be considered before deciding to get a prairie dog.

Before you actually go out and buy your new babies you will need to get their home ready for them.  A 2 or 3 tiered ferret cage works best.  I have a 3 tiered cage .  But they don't spend much time in it.
A large aquarium such as a 55 gallon or larger will also work but it will have to be cleaned more often. If it is deep enough you won't even have to use a wire lid.
You will need a food dish that fastens down, a water bottle and, perhaps, a hay rack.
You will also need food, a mineral block and things to chew on.  They will happily eat fresh grass and grass or timothy hay.  I buy a good grade timothy hay from The Ferret Store but mostly feed them fresh grass.  One caution though.  It must be fertlizer and pesticide free.  Also it must never be cut by a power mower or picked near a road..  The toxcins from these sources will quickly kill them.
I  buy them Prairie Dog Chow  and apple pellets from Brisky (www.brisky.com) and PRAIRIE DELIGHT FROM THE FERRET STORE (www.theferretstore.com)
Pds do not shed like most animals.  They moult twice a year in the Spring and in the Fall.  At that time they seem to need more protein so I give them small pieces of a biscuit put out by Oasis.  It comes 2 to a package and lasts quite awhile. ( In the wild they satisfy their protein needs by eating bugs.  I tried offering them crickets but they weren't interested in them.  (Tansy did catch herself a big fuzzy moth though and ate it.)
Lily had to have special care.  She was very tiny and too young to be away from her mother.  In the above picture she is drinking out of an eye dropper.  She is getting boiled water with a little honey mixed in to encourage her to drink.
It's a good idea to teach your PD to wear a harness.  They may not like it at first but they will get use to it if you put it on them every day.   Gentle persistence works the best when trying to put it on them the first time.  Once they do get use to it, make sure to put it on every day for at least an hour.  That way they don't 'forget' they are suppose to wear it.
  You will notice that both Lily and Tansy are wearing a harness.  This lets us take them places when a cage would be awkard to be carrying.   A ferret pouch also works to carry them but they don't like it very much.  They would rather ride in your coat or shirt.
To
KEEPING PRAIRIE DOGS
The information you find here comes from my experiences in having pds as pets.  I have learned a lot from watching how they inter act with each other.  Prairie dogs are very much individuals so your experiences may be quite different from mine.
Pds like to look out the window.  Mine spend a good part of each day doing so.  Lily likes to watch cars and people going by.  Tansy watches for danger.  She quickly sounds the alarm and vanishes if she sees a large bird or a dog coming her way.  Notice the WELL CHEWED windowsill in this picture.
Here are their harness.  They are a figure 8 type.  My sister, Fran, made these but the origional ones were Feather Tethers.  They are used for birds but work well for pds.  If you can't find them in a pet store you can contact the company by calling (804) 379-4702 Or writing PREMIER PRODUCTS-527 Branchway Rd.-Richmond, VA 23236              These can also now be ordered online 
This is a picture of their cage and their digging tank.  Notice the water bottles.  The top one is for when they are locked in the cage and the bottom one is for when they are loose.
The digging tank has  60 pounds of corn cob bedding in it.  I tried using dirt but that turned into a real mess.  They were able to build it up in the corners and kick it out  and spread it all over the room.  Also it was hard to keep it moist enough so they could build their tunnels.  They loved to turn themselves into 'dirt puffs' and then come and flop on our chests or run down our shirts.  So we tryed using the corn cob bedding instead.  They can't make tunnels but they enjoy digging in it any way.  This helps to keep their claws trimmed down so I don't have to clip them so often.  Pds do NOT like having their claws clipped.  I have to trick them to get it done.
This is  one of our PD shirts.  It is made from Polar Fleece.  We have discovered that it holds up pretty well against all the chewing they do.  My sister Fran added the pocket as a way to eaisly carry them around as babies.  Now they think that all shirts should have a pd pocket.  They will poke and digg at the right spot and then give you a look as if to say " Well, where is your pocket?"   The second pic is Lily sleeping in my prairie dog pocket.  She considers this one of the best places to take a nap.
Prairie dogs need toys to keep their minds and bodies active.  Here mine are playing in ferret tubes.  Tansy is chasing Lily to pounce her .  It is one of the games they play.
One of the things I give them to chew on is a lage cardboard box.  Tansy is 'hiding' in this one so she can eat her apple pellet treat in peace without Lily trying to steal it.  They love to steal from each other.  They seem to believe that the other one has the best treat.  Notice how they have chewed this box after only having it for an hour.  They go through periods when they hardly chew on their things at all.  Then there are times when they chew up a box this size or larger within a couple of hours!
HOME
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You are the                         to dig into this site!
If you have questions please e-mail me.
Here are some of the toys my girls have.   They  like snack cans.  These are fun to roll, push pull, pick up, dig in and chew on. Most  ferret toys are great and so is a large rat ball.
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