First off, you will need to provide your pet hyrax with plenty of grazing time or substitute this with some snacks throughout the day. Hyraxes are well known for eating pretty much anything vegetarian and aren’t as phased by plant-based chemicals such as theobromine, caffeine, or cocoa as a cat or dog evolved for carnivorous diet might be. Even avocados might serve as a tasty occasional treat for the animal.

However you should be mindful of the fact that their diet should be primarily composed of branches of leafy greens and with the occasional lettuce or carrot. Biting through bark and branches helps them keep their teeth healthy and reducing their sugar from fruits and vegetables will help them avoid long-term oral and weight problems. They also prefer to migrate in the wild and their dietary preference might dictate that. While you can continuously feed them the same food they strongly prefer to eat different things throughout the year. The only exception seems to be black eyed peas (preferably sprouted in a little bit of water!)

Hyraxes are also a prey animal. To feel comfortable they absolutely need to have space to hide away from the world when they feel anxious or threatened. This includes the ability to seclude themselves from even their favorite people or companions. Many ranchers in the middle east keep hollowed-out logs or little enclosures made of cinderblocks for wild or livestock hyraxes happy. Meanwhile organizations and wildlife rehabilitation centers that rescue and care for hyraxes will often build small structures of brick and corrugated metal for them to run around in. Usually hyraxes can find good hiding spaces even in homes, but when given the freedom to roam around outside it is vitally important to provide them with these options to reduce long term stress.

In addition, you should provide them with the opposite. Their instincts necessitate that they stand guard for threats and scout atop high rocks or good vantage points. “Pet” hyraxes such as Squiggy and Inari have been seen hanging out on refrigerators and growling at anyone who approaches them while they’re doing their job. They don’t want to be unexpectedly attacked and you should make sure they can verify their safety while living in your enclosure.

Lastly, hyraxes absolutely must have access to heat. While they can survive cold and rainy days in their home environment, they cannot handle it for extended periods of time. Hyraxes naturally live throughout Africa and in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. They are not accustomed to the cold.

Worse yet, hyraxes are very bad at managing their body heat and when exposed to water, extensive rain, or dropped into pools, ponds, or toilets it is very easy for them to die of hypothermia. Even in their own habitat, I’ve heard of hyraxes dying from water exposure very quickly so imagine how badly they might suffer in a colder climate.

Hyraxes can stay outside in warmer climates such as in the western United States, but otherwise you may need to provide them with their own enclosure and heating implements to keep them healthy.