<p>Environmental pressures, such as habitat alteration and interspecific interactions, affect community structure and wildlife health. In small mammals, body condition is commonly used to infer individual well-being, yet it may not fully capture internal physiological stress levels. To overcome this limitation, in this study we assessed both body condition index (Scaled Mass Index, SMI) and stress levels (hair glucocorticoid metabolites, hGCM) as complementary metrics of physiological state of chronic stress, modelled independently across 11 sites in northern and central Portugal. Using Bayesian generalized linear models, we evaluated how habitat composition, vegetation structure, and the presence of predators and wild herbivores shape these physiological responses indicators in three small mammal species – two rodents (<i>Apodemus sylvaticus</i> and <i>Mus spretus</i>) and one insectivorous (<i>Crocidura russula</i>). We found that both body condition and stress levels showed group-specific variations, being influenced by habitat features and ecological interactions. While some species benefited from increased herbaceous cover and habitat diversity (e.g., rodents), others exhibited reduced body condition or heightened stress under the same conditions (e.g., insectivorous). Notably, body condition and stress were not significantly correlated, highlighting their potentially independent roles in reflecting different aspects of physiological state. By revealing species-dependent effects of ecological pressures, these findings underscore the need to integrate multiple physiological metrics to accurately assess wildlife responses to environmental challenges.</p>