Johan's spiny mouse is recorded in western and central Africa. A specialist book describes spine-like hairs among the back fur and daytime shelters in rock crevices and termite passages.
The specialist book describes a gray, brown and rufous back, paler sides, a sharply defined white underside and spine-like hairs toward the rear of the back that become more evident with age.
The book describes it as terrestrial and nocturnal, sheltering by day in rock fissures or termite passages. Its field diet is described only as probably partly insectivorous, so no firm diet is assigned here.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.