Meet my lil mice!

by katieomms Tue 28 Nov 2017, 7:21 pm

I'm very new to the world of owning mice- but in my dorm I have 4 little girls. I got the two pink eyed whites first, then a few weeks later, I got the black one and the grey one. The black and grey are still very new. Here's some pictures and descriptions. Maybe you guys can help me out with a few of their personality issues, lol.

This is Popcorn (nicknamed Puta for valid reasons). She's the largest, and the most dominant. She's currently in "time-out" in the travel cage because she keeps attacking the two new mice and has drawn blood a few times. She's also the most willing to take food from my hand, but she's hard to catch most the time. Once I've successfully caught her and had her out of the cage for a while and I try to put her back, she will readily try to leave her cage and go back into my hand again.

This is Doorknob! I adopted her and Popcorn together. She's the sweetest. I can tell her apart from Popcorn because Doorknob has a notch in both ears. She's also slightly smaller. Doorknob gets along with everyone- even Popcorn doesn't pick on her that much. She is still hard to catch at first but she is making the most progress with taming so far. She seems to actually enjoy being pet.

This is Oreo. I'm still trying to get to know her personality a bit more, but she spends a lot of time sleeping next to Doorknob. She actively avoids Popcorn. Oreo is the smallest of the four mice, and has a lot of little scabs on her backside underneath her fur because of Popcorn. She's very sweet, though, and the easiest to get out of the cage. Any advice on the most effective way to tame her?

This is Cookie! I bought her and Oreo together. She's sweet, but hard to catch and needs to be tamed more. Today I noticed she kept biting my fingers while I was holding her, which concerns me even though it didn't hurt at all.

I'd love to get my little mousies to the point where they all get along and they are able to sit with me and not be so nervous. They pee and poop so much when they're nervous! What's the most effective way to tame a mouse? How long should each taming session be?

by Blessed Tue 28 Nov 2017, 11:25 pm

Hey, there, @katieomms! Nice to have you. And, Welcome Sign

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What cute little mice. Cookie is very pretty!
Now, in answers to your questions, I may not be a whole lot of help, as I don't have experience (I don't believe so) with mice attacking each other and drawing blood (but plenty of other people should show up and have better advice).
That's rather odd, though.
I will say this, though: If she's drawing blood, definitely keep an eye out on those two together. We don't want somebody getting seriously injured or worse. Maybe...give it a few weeks? And if nothing else changes, I'd advise separating those two.
I'm sure Popcorn is just trying to show who's boss, but she may be taking it a little out of hand!

And regards to the taming thing and them being nervous...well, that's totally normal! My mice did that, too, and still do sometimes even though I've had them for months now. Smile

It's just a mouse thing. Even if they end up getting comfortable outside of their cage, they will still most likely leave behind droppings, which is annoying, in my opinion. Laughing

But there was one exception for me: My first mouse, Danny, after months of having him, and even when I had him out of the cage for quite a while, he eventually stopped going potty on me.
Okay, I have to go to bed now, but hopefully I can talk to you tomorrow and finish up answering the rest of your questions (though by then other people will probably have answered).
Good night! Mouse Wave

by CucumberMouse Wed 29 Nov 2017, 12:19 am

by stephlisa Wed 29 Nov 2017, 1:37 am

Welcome to the forum! Cute mice!

How are you taming them currently? My first step I'd usually to put my hand in the cage and leave it there for a while for my mice to explore it. Then when they are happy with that, I start lifting them for playtime on me. I make sure to give them a treat they go back home so they get used to coming out for playtime.
Other methods are using a tube or similar to get them out, then put them in a bathtub and sit in with them and let them explore. I like this method too but my current boys were strange and freaked out at the space so we don't use that at the moment.

For Cookie, I was wondering if you handfeed them treats? This might be why she's nibbling on you because she's mistaking you for food. If that's the case I'd recommend not handfeeding treats until they are tamer, you can leave them round their cage for them to find when they go back home.

by CallaLily Wed 29 Nov 2017, 8:24 am

Oh they're so cute! That pic of Popcorn is really good. That face! It's hard to believe she's the meanie. Laughing

I tame similar to what @stephlisa described, though I get them out of their tank and move them to a big storage bin that I have decked out with toys. I keep using it for bonding (with me) and extra play/exercise even after I'm satisfied with their taming. Most of my mice have seemed more curious of me outside of their home. When they're new and super nervous, you could start out with short sessions (5-10 minutes maybe) and then increase the time as they become more comfortable with you. Just remember not to let them go longer than half an hour without a water source.

Once they're climbing on my hand I add movement, usually first just from one spot in the play bin to another and then letting them climb back off. Most of them think this is a fun game and run back to the starting point for another ride. With more skiddish mice that won't climb in my hand, I play the same game but with a tube (always the same tube, so they can choose it) but they have to step onto my hand to get down. At first they dash past barely touching me but in time they realize I'm not a threat and start taking their time. Then eventually they're climbing on my hand too. Usually. I had one mouse who never had much interest in me (Bacon) and a current mouse, Eulyn, who's still very nervous with me even though we're coming up on a year. I just take it for what it is and let them do their thing, still getting them out for play time with the others. Most mice come around or at least learn that you're not a big scary monster.

After they've mastered that game, I start lifting them up to hang out on me. My little boy, Daryl, came to love hanging out in a backwards hood or shirt sleeve. Most of my girls have just liked climbing around on my hands and arms and then want back down - only to ask to do it all over again. They never really like hanging out on me for lengths of time like Daryl did. But I've seen others on the forum with more snuggly girls, so it just depends on them.

Good luck. I hope things go smoothly when you reintroduce Popcorn. Please let us know how it goes.

by Blessed Wed 29 Nov 2017, 11:09 am

Good morning, @katieomms!

Referring to Cookie biting your fingers, just so you know, that is totally normal for some mice. People say mice aren't biters...but in my experience, they are! =P Every single mouse I've owned (all eight), and even three other mice that weren't mine, have bitten me at some point or another, lol. So, just stating my reason why I say they are biters. Now, some probably really aren't... Well, most of the time they bite gently and don't draw blood, but occasionally they have (the two times two bit me really good was because both of them were upset/scared). I personally don't get fear biters, but I did sort of one time, so I returned her to the pet store, as I sort of had an 'inward' reaction, for lack of way better wording! Razz

But I don't know how to stop the biting, per se, but I suggest moving your hand back and firmly saying 'NO' (honestly, I'm not even sure that'd help). Or, if you don't already, wash your hands with soap and water before handling them, in case she smells food on your fingers. You don't want her to get to the point of drawing blood. I had another very brave mouse named Allie who was kind of a biter, and I liked her, but eventually she made me nervous, so my mom and I both agreed I should return her. And then I ended up with a wonderful mouse named Rachel who I sadly only had for twenty days before she died.. Sad

Anyways, moving along...
Make your taming sessions as long as you want. But a minute or two or so-many seconds should be good to start off with. That might seem like hardly anything, but a minute to a scared mouse is probably like an hour to them, lol.
If you handle your mice frequently enough or daily, they should get 'tamed down' in not too much time at all, with the possible exception of your more skittish mice taking a few extra days/sessions. =) You really just have to be real patient with those ones especially.
And, if you have to chase them around the cage to get them out, I'd suggest not having many things in their cage to make it easier to get them without moving around the objects.
Better yet, don't chase them, as that will probably take them longer to get comfortable with you, and just wait--even if you have to wait minutes upon minutes, if you have the time, of course--for them to get onto your hand. They should, as it sounds like you've already held them a little. Very Happy

Anyways, enjoy your mice!! Love

by Peachy Wed 29 Nov 2017, 1:28 pm

I think most things have been covered, and you had another thread addressing your bully problems. I only wanted to touch on the biting thing. It's usually curiosity or some smell/taste, but occasionally you get a brat who bites for attention or because they're territorial. I had one girl who would chase my hands down and bite them if I didn't say hello to her first thing upon opening the lid. Rolling Eyes

Mice CAN learn to associate words with meanings, so saying "no" sternly and then giving a gentle puff of air on their head/back (not in the face) is a good method for teaching them to knock it off. They hate getting puffed at so they learn quickly to either stop, or close their eyes and bite harder. Teehee

If it's territorial or she wants you to put her down or something, the best reaction is no reaction, as that way she learns that she can't get what she wants from biting.

Good luck!

by Mice Are Cute Wed 29 Nov 2017, 3:11 pm

Aww they are so cute! Little Oreo is adorable!

by Rodents rock! Wed 29 Nov 2017, 9:00 pm

Welcome! Beautiful mice! Wanted to add, to keep in mind, if a mouse is just "nibbling" your hand and there is no pain, she could be grooming you, which is a wonderful thing. My mouse, Mickey, has groomed my hand a few times and it makes me feel loved Love

by katieomms Wed 29 Nov 2017, 10:18 pm

Hey everyone! I reintroduced Popcorn back into the big cage after only a day of her being in the travel cage. She seemed so lonely in there. She did seem to bond with me more during that time, though! She's a lot more eager to hop onto my hand now. I started off by putting Oreo and Cookie in the travel cage with Popcorn, and seeing how they interact. If Popcorn tried to bite one of them, I'd give her a little poke and she'd stop. If she went a few minutes without bothering them, I'd give her a cheerio (her favorite treat). It seemed to work. I put her back in the original cage with all the other mice, and I've never seen her so excited. When I came back to check on them after class, all four of them were sleeping together! I've Everything seems pretty good so far. I'm still hearing a little bit of mouse squeaking here and there when they are all awake, but it has calmed down significantly I think. I'll keep checking to see if any of the mice develop new wounds. Thanks so much for the help, everyone!

by Blessed Wed 29 Nov 2017, 10:32 pm

That's good to hear! You sound like you're doing a great job with your mice!

by CallaLily Thu 30 Nov 2017, 8:01 am

On nibbling... One of the channels I subscribe to just put up a video which shows a similar method that I've used (minus the hand feeding, which I don't do with new mice and rarely with tamed ones even). I thought I'd share it here. With Daryl it only took like two days of curling my fingers back and saying "no bites" for him to catch on. Thankfully I've never been full on bitten by any of my mice. I don't think it's in their nature. But new mice will sometimes try to nibble fingertips or fingernails out of curiosity. But you still want to discourage the behavior because it could get out of hand and lead to more serious nips. Of course there are always exceptions and like Peachy mentioned, sometimes you come across a bratty or overly territorial mouse.

Here's the video: