Ron Hines DVM PhD 4/29/06

One of my first pets as a child were white mice. It was my grandfather who introduced me to pet mice. Back when he was a child in the 20’s mice were common pets. People then appreciated finding so much personality in such little packages. The domestic mouse originated in Asia. Mice are intelligent, curious, gentle animals that make great pets. I do not know why they inspire an innate fear in some people. Once one overcomes that fear , you will be glad to know that there are almost one hundred strains of the common mouse, Mus musculus . Most were bred for biological research. For some reason, London exhibition mice are larger than most US mice. Mice are, by nature, timid, social, territorial and very unlike dogs and cats. They have two speeds, on and off. Most live approximately 740 -= 1000 days. Mice weigh between one and two ounces. Wild mice are active at night, but domesticated mice can be active throughout the day. They love to hide and burrow and, more then anything, they love to busy themselves build nests. Wake a sleeping mouse gently by stroking it and it will rarely bite.

Mice are, by nature, clean animals. They wash and groom themselves constantly and pick a discrete corner of the cage for eliminations. Mice are comfortable in a wide range of household temperatures. They do not suffer from cold but do not tollerate temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit well. Unlike dogs and cats, mice will not compensate for high temperature by drinking more. Because they are social animals, two mice do better than a single mouse. Mice do not like to live alone. They get board, lonely depressed. This leads to aggression and extra time sleeping. So plan on getting two mice.

The sex of the mice you obtain is also very important. Two males kept together tend to fight. Neutering the males helps. This situation is worst when two older males from different litters are suddenly placed together as roommates. It is still a problem but less so when they are housed together from weanlings. This is why I suggest you obtain two immature female mice as pets. Female mice are also gentler and less aggressive and their urine smell is less intense. Female mice also live longer than male mice. The best source of healthy mice is a laboratory.. My favorite research strains are the BalbC and C57Black6. Most of us must obtain mice from a pet store where they are destined to end up as snake brunch. When you go to a pet store to obtain your mice, do not pick the largest or smallest in a litter. Look for the ones that are curious and come up to sniff your fingers. Don’t pick individuals that are scratchy, scruffy or have crusted or discolored noses or squinty eyes. Be sure their stools are well-formed pellets.
Female mice have genital openings resembling - o whereas boys resemble
o o. That is, there is more distance between the openings of boys and both openings in males are circular. You can pick them up by the bases of their tails to look.
Baby mice begin to eat sold food at two weeks of age. Mothers wean them at four weeks of age. Plan on purchasing them at eight weeks of age. If they are weaned too young, they may suffer separation anxiety and become jumpy and hard to socialize. Mice are fully grown at twelve to sixteen weeks of age.
Mice are very territorial. Some have even been taught to live, unrestrained, on the top of a table. I like to keep two in an aquarium/terrarium with a screen lid. Eighteen inches by 10 inches is a good size for two mice. In this size cage, two mice rarely fight or have a falling out. Singly kept mice are more prone to escape than two. They will only do it a few time before decide life in the cage is better than the freedom of the house.
Adding tin cans, paper cups and ropes to the cage is a must. An activity wheel is a real treat. For bedding, I like pine chips, shredded paper or dust-free corncob bedding. Cedar chips have a pleasant, aromatic odor that masks urine smell. But some say that cedar affects mouse livers and I cannot imagine that this intense odor is healthy for mice.
Change the bedding at least twice a week. This prevents ammonia build up, which is hard on their lungs and exacerbates respiratory disease.
The proper way to hold and pick up a mouse is to grasp the base of the tail gently and slide it into a cupped hand. Sunflower seeds are good training treats to teach the mouse to go onto your hand unassisted and to come when called. Eventually, when it realizes it has nothing to fear from you, it will climb out of you hand and up your arm.
Most of the non-infectious diseases that affect pet mice result from improper unbalanced nutrition. Mice ought to be fed a diet that consists of eighty percent rodent or lab blocks. The only problem with these rodent blocks is that they are rather boring. So I give them hamster seeds for treats. It is accepted in England that mice that itch often have food allergies. Because their teeth continue to grow throughout life, mice also need a block of hardwood, bone or antler to gnaw on to keep their teeth the proper length.

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baby pack rat - also nice