Pet Mice advice (that rhymes)

Funkyspunkball

I am getting two mice (Both female, I hope) next week and know nothing about keeping them. Can I please get some help with this.

Whats the best cage/tank?
How often should they be fed, and what's the best thing to feed them?
What should I use to help them keep their teeth shortened?
And naming ideas would be cool too
Can I take them outside the house without them running off at the first sight of daylight?

....oh and most importantly!!! How do I teach them tricks??? Ive been studying "The green mile" but it was no help what so ever!!!!! Stupid Mr.Jingles :P

Interceptor

A large fish tank is best - I've tried wood, perspex and mesh enclosures but I find glass is easiest to contain them and to keep clean. Females aren't AS smelly as males but will need cleaning at least weekly.

Feed them a dessertspoonful of good dried food and a small amount of fresh food daily. Chopped apple, carrot, broccoli or celery are all firm favourites around here (I have ten mice). Make sure they have fresh water, preferably in a drinking bottle to keep it clean. Keep peanuts and other oil-rich treats to a minimum as too much can cause skin problems. They like raisins too.

If you feed them a decent dried mix, they will keep their own teeth in order. They grind them anyway but I leave plenty of cardboard tubes and boxes which they chew into tiny pieces.

Name them after European capital cities or adjectives (start a thread in After Hours if you really can't come up with something original)

Once you handle them regularly, ideally carrying them around the house in the top pocket of a shirt or front pocket of a hoodie they are very easy to bring with you. I don't do it so much anymore but I used go everywhere with a pair of mice in my shirt. Cinemas are a no-no as they will climb out of your pocket if you sit still for too long.

Tricks? What do you have in mind? I'm not a fan of making animals do 'tricks' - stick to handling them regularly and they'll reward you with much more then tricks.

'cptr

Funkyspunkball

Excellent!!!! Thanks a mill. Ya gotta me thinking now...How many times have I sat on a bus or in a bar beside someone who's carrying a mouse or rat in their pocket.

Interceptor

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

Excellent!!!! Thanks a mill. Ya gotta me thinking now...How many times have I sat on a bus or in a bar beside someone who's carrying a mouse or rat in their pocket.

Probably not that often, but if you are included head lice then it would be a lot more. I prefer mice to lice...

My wife used do the hoovering with a rat on her shoulder - she answered the door to the milkman and frightened the bejaysus out of him. Be careful - not everyone is animally.

'c

ashlingm

I had my rescue mouse in a large cage with a plastic base and wire sides (typical small rodent) however had to upgrade this to a perspex type cage with a small wire opening and lots of tubes (with airholes) as she kept escaping! I only noticed mine had escaped by pure fluke - she came into the room I was in. I cleaned her out once a week using diluted dettol and hot water. Wasnt much of a smell off her really (I only had one as I had such a hard time finding other mice for sale at that time, and when I did find more she was old. I did have 2 pet rats in a cage beside her so she could see them so atleast that was something)

I fed her specialised mouse food, as well as some fresh fruit and veg. I used to put in a bowl of food and she never seemed to eat more then she wanted. It was never empty but she was also very slender. For her teeth I recommend a branch off a fruit tree that has not been treated with insectiside etc. She LOVED raisons too Drinking bottle is a good idea too, also lets you monitor how much they are drinking.

Carboard tubes with a few layers of toilet paper left on is great fun for them as are strings, branches, clean rocks and stones.yoghurt pots are another good toy. Use some toilet paper for bedding in the house. I wrote about how NEVER to use that 'cotton wool' stuff pet shops sell as it is quite dangerous. It can get caught on limbs (or tails) and turn rope like and cut off the blood supply. (Im a vet student by the way, Ive seen this first hand). Make sure the cage has a wheel with no spaces between the bars...far to easy for tails or limbs to slip through!

Names..hmm ...totally up to you! My rescue mouse was originally called Huzzar...renamed as Angelina (after Angelina Ballerina the kids cartoon mouse...we had a mouse in the garden for a while...he was called brad :P)

One thing I learnt about mice is that they are far far quicker then i thought, if you do have it outside I recommend keeping it in the cage and out f direct sunlight. That way they get fresh air, without being preyed upon by birds...or even lost! Try to handle them daily - it really will pay off (perhaps give them 2 days to settle in first though).

Tricks? Actually Im a fan of teaching animals tricks - once its done humanely of course! It keeps their brains working and active. What kind of tricks did you have in mind?

Hope that helps...give me a shout if you need any more help. Good Luck!

Original_Sin

I used to have 2 male mice which i kept in a large perspex enclosure which had a wire lid, they got a complete clean out weekly and spot cleaned a couple of times a day if needed, i named one dangermouse, he was white with a black eyepatch, and the other penfold as he was fawny coloured!

They couldnt do any tricks as such but they would always try help if i was doing something with their cage, ie, whilst putting up strings for them to climb on they would be there on the string making sure i was putting it in the right place or they would be holding the string for me, was very cute of them

Funkyspunkball

ashlingm wrote: »

Tricks? Actually Im a fan of teaching animals tricks - once its done humanely of course! It keeps their brains working and active. What kind of tricks did you have in mind?

Maybe a little light house work, ya know, cleaning dishes, hoovering. I figure- if i'm gona be feeding them the stuff you recommended then they should do a little to keep my apartment clean in return

Thanks for the cool advice btw!!!

Funkyspunkball

How long do they live- ideally?? Im such a novice with this pet thing

ashlingm

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

How long do they live- ideally?? Im such a novice with this pet thing

My one lived to be 2 years - Ive read most places that the average is 1.5 to 2 years.

I found these 2 websites for keeping mice. Might be worth a look before you take it home - I think they cover everything. Ooh will you do me a favour and post a picture when you do get them?? Id love to see them!

http://www.miceandrats.com/miceas.htm
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/careofmice/Mice.htm

Funkyspunkball

2 years... Ok so expect a thread in July 2011 entitled "how to get over the loss of a pet"...
I will post a pic indeed! keep an eye out

Those sites are really good

Interceptor

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

2 years... Ok so expect a thread in July 2011 entitled "how to get over the loss of a pet"...
I will post a pic indeed! keep an eye out

Those sites are really good

Part of pet ownership is getting used to the fact that you outlive them - buy a male and two females and you will always have more mice than you lose. You'll need a bigger apartment in two years though.

Funkyspunkball

Interceptor wrote: »

Part of pet ownership is getting used to the fact that you outlive them - buy a male and two females and you will always have more mice than you lose. You'll need a bigger apartment in two years though.

I don't like the idea of my pet mouse gettin more action than I do so Ill stick with two females

ashlingm

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

I don't like the idea of my pet mouse gettin more action than I do so Ill stick with two females

hahaha! LOVE it!!

Funkyspunkball

ashlingm wrote: »

hahaha! LOVE it!!

:mad: Yeah yeah it's all very hilarious for YA! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Funkyspunkball

Say hello to Ash (on my hand) and Frankie (at my elbow) They kick ass!!!!