Can Mice Have Tea?

by Quirkyvictorian Sat 07 Oct 2017, 11:33 am

Got a random thought in my head, and google was unhelpful, so I thought I'd see if someone here knows. Can mice have tea? Giving a mouse a drop of tea in a miniature teacup is quite possibly the cutest thing I can even imagine. But does anyone know if that would be okay for them? I didn't see it on the safe foods list or on the unsafe foods list, probably because normal people don't daydream about having afternoon tea with a pet mouse. Rolling Eyes

I know I'm a strange one.

by The4Mouseketeers Sat 07 Oct 2017, 2:24 pm

I doubt that they can, but I don't know for sure. You never know what kind of harmful stuff is in food. I don't think that it would be the best thing for mice or if they would enjoy it. I would probably replace the tea leaves with something on the safe foods list and see how that works. (Sorry I don't know anything, just trying to have my input.)
If you wanna go back to the safe food guide here's a quick link: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t2-safe-foods

by Quirkyvictorian Sat 07 Oct 2017, 8:11 pm

The4Mouseketeers wrote:I doubt that they can, but I don't know for sure. You never know what kind of harmful stuff is in food. I don't think that it would be the best thing for mice or if they would enjoy it. I would probably replace the tea leaves with something on the safe foods list and see how that works. (Sorry I don't know anything, just trying to have my input.)
If you wanna go back to the safe food guide here's a quick link: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t2-safe-foods

I kind of doubt it too, which is why I wouldn't try it unless someone says it's safe... It's nice of you to attempt an answer even though you're not sure, thank you! And yeah, I have that page bookmarked---super helpful!

by Peachy Sat 07 Oct 2017, 8:51 pm

A tiny tea party for a special occasion does sound cute! On another forum, mixing oatmeal with a bit of camomile tea and honey was recommended for one thing or another that was upsetting a pregnant mouse. Mice are tiny though, so just a tiny portion. I haven't seen anything about any other sorts of teas, though.

Edit: If you're still interested, you could try googling camomile tea and mice. Takes a bit of reading and looking around to find what you need, but that's the fun of researching, right? I love coming up with new questions to answer! lol

A couple of my boys (rarely) get Cheerios with a dab of my coffee in the morning. Not enough to be worth putting in a tiny tea cup, but they still gobble it like it's something special. Laughing

by Artistwolf Sat 07 Oct 2017, 9:03 pm

I know that cats can't have tea or coffee because caffeine can kill them.. so if it's dangerous for a cat, I think I'd play it safe and give them water instead. Maybe some decaf herbal tea thing would work; I'm only really thinking actual British type teas, lol.

by Quirkyvictorian Sat 07 Oct 2017, 10:15 pm

Peachy wrote:A tiny tea party for a special occasion does sound cute! On another forum, mixing oatmeal with a bit of camomile tea and honey was recommended for one thing or another that was upsetting a pregnant mouse. Mice are tiny though, so just a tiny portion. I haven't seen anything about any other sorts of teas, though.

Edit: If you're still interested, you could try googling camomile tea and mice. Takes a bit of reading and looking around to find what you need, but that's the fun of researching, right? I love coming up with new questions to answer! lol

A couple of my boys (rarely) get Cheerios with a dab of my coffee in the morning. Not enough to be worth putting in a tiny tea cup, but they still gobble it like it's something special.

I'll have to look into that, I really enjoy researching things. Aww, what a cute treat for your boys---like miniature coffee and doughnuts. I was thinking more along the lines of black tea, as that's what I'm usually drinking. Who knows whether or not that's safe, though. But now that I think about it, I think I do have some rose hip tea. And I remember seeing rose hips on the safe food list, so I'm sure that could work! I'd just have to check it to confirm it doesn't have anything else in it.

by Quirkyvictorian Sat 07 Oct 2017, 10:18 pm

Artistwolf wrote:I know that cats can't have tea or coffee because caffeine can kill them.. so if it's dangerous for a cat, I think I'd play it safe and give them water instead. Maybe some decaf herbal tea thing would work; I'm only really thinking actual British type teas, lol.

Eek, I've never owned cats so I didn't know that! If it can actually kill an animal the size of a cat, I won't even mess around with it. "British type" black tea was what I had in mind as well, but I'm sure an herbal tea brewed from something that is safe for mice would be suitable, and just as cute. Smile

Thank you!

by Artistwolf Sun 08 Oct 2017, 7:39 am

Haha, I only drink black tea with milk, too. I'm a South African and we're very British that way, lol.
Note that I've no idea how much caffeine it takes to kill a cat. But I did read that it wasn't safe and was part of what made chocolate dangerous for them.

by CallaLily Sun 08 Oct 2017, 9:32 am

I'd personally only stick to herbal teas that are known to be safe. Though I'm honestly not sure if black tea is safe or not. I think I remember reading somewhere to avoid caffeine though.... Thinking

Artistwolf wrote:Haha, I only drink black tea with milk, too. I'm a South African and we're very British that way, lol.

This is how I grew up drinking tea too. I didn't realize it was considered a British thing. Of course we also drank a lot of iced sweet tea too....pretty sure that's very American. Laughing

by Quirkyvictorian Sun 08 Oct 2017, 9:59 am

CallaLily wrote:I'd personally only stick to herbal teas that are known to be safe. Though I'm honestly not sure if black tea is safe or not. I think I remember reading somewhere to avoid caffeine though....

Artistwolf wrote:Haha, I only drink black tea with milk, too. I'm a South African and we're very British that way, lol.

This is how I grew up drinking tea too. I didn't realize it was considered a British thing. Of course we also drank a lot of iced sweet tea too....pretty sure that's very American.

A quick google search says that caffeine is poisonous for dogs and cats, so I shouldn't think it would be different for mice, and not really worth the risk. I'm not too big a fan of herbal tea myself, but it will be interesting to see if a mouse would like it.

It's funny how tea is such a regional thing. I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and have always had a strong preference for black tea with milk and sugar. A while ago, I had a friend who moved up from South Carolina and had only ever had sweet iced tea. I wanted her to try what I consider proper tea, so I was boiling some water for us, and she was terribly frightened by the whistling of the kettle! She'd never heard such a thing before! Laughing

It's such an everyday ritual for me that I never would have thought to warn her.

by CallaLily Sun 08 Oct 2017, 10:04 am

Quirkyvictorian wrote:
It's funny how tea is such a regional thing. I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and have always had a strong preference for black tea with milk and sugar. A while ago, I had a friend who moved up from South Carolina and had only ever had sweet iced tea. I wanted her to try what I consider proper tea, so I was boiling some water for us, and she was terribly frightened by the whistling of the kettle! She'd never heard such a thing before! It's such an everyday ritual for me that I never would have thought to warn her.

That is funny. I wonder if it's just my family or if here in Delaware both are common. I'm not really sure...

Edit: I asked my mom and she said it's just the way she preferred hot tea. That her family didn't drink it that way. The only way I remember my dad drinking tea (rare) was unsweetened iced.

by Artistwolf Sun 08 Oct 2017, 7:55 pm

When my mom first moved to America, she was at a lady's house and the lady offered her tea and she was like, "I'd love some!" Then the lady brought her iced tea and she thought it was horrible... and gave it to the plant when the lady wasn't looking XD Now she actually likes iced tea.. but yes, definitely an American thing. Laughing

by Quirkyvictorian Sun 08 Oct 2017, 8:19 pm

Artistwolf wrote:When my mom first moved to America, she was at a lady's house and the lady offered her tea and she was like, "I'd love some!" Then the lady brought her iced tea and she thought it was horrible... and gave it to the plant when the lady wasn't looking XD Now she actually likes iced tea.. but yes, definitely an American thing.

That's funny!

by joanamara75 Wed 06 May 2020, 6:02 pm

Quirkyvictorian wrote:Got a random thought in my head, and google was unhelpful, so I thought I'd see if someone here knows. Can mice have tea? Giving a mouse a drop of tea in a miniature teacup is quite possibly the cutest thing I can even imagine. But does anyone know if that would be okay for them? I didn't see it on the safe foods list or on the unsafe foods list, probably because normal people don't daydream about having afternoon tea with a pet mouse. I know I'm a strange one.

I used to give my little fancy mouse tea in a very small dish but it wasn't hot, it was cool enough for him to drink, I started giving him small amounts as he first started to drink it out of my cup so to stop him climbing into my mug I made him some of his own, and he loved it. but wasn't interested in coffee.
you're not strange if I gave my mouse tea, just don't give your mouse fizzy drinks as that will likely kill him as he will get filled up with gas and mice can't burp.

by AmyLynn Thu 07 May 2020, 7:19 pm

I was curious too so I did a little digging and may look further into other types of I get the time. Based on a research study on the effects of green tea on mice and rats, I would suggest keeping green tea on the NO list. It said it caused increase in tumors and eye issue along with a few other things. Study link below.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3175604/

I by no means am ok with studies done on animals but I do use what is posted when it helps me care for my cute little friends better.