Trouble bonding with mice

by Aceisalive Sat 30 Mar 2019, 10:00 am

I’ve been gentle and loving since I got my mice. I have never touched these hiding places, chased them, etc. Everytime I go near the cage they run and hide. I’ve tried putting my hand partially in the cage and they okay with that, but I’ll put my hand as still as possible gently in the cage for 30 minutes-1 hour and all they do is hide. I did get them from a good local pet store due to the fact that I have no mouse breeders near me and, no shelters within an hour of me have small animals of any kind. They are around 2 months old. There cage has not been cleaned in any way for the week I’ve had them out of respect for there privacy, but it’s starting to smell and become a mess. I want to clean the cage but I’m scared moving the mice who are already scared of me will set me back even more which is the last thing I want. Please help everyone has these stories of there mice slowing starting to bond with them in a few weeks and I’ve never even touched mine.

by CallaLily Sat 30 Mar 2019, 4:05 pm

I’ve always found taming works better outside of the cage. You can carefully use a box or tube to transfer them out and over to a safe play area until they’re used to you. I always used a big storage bin for taming sessions. They always seemed more willing to interact with me there while they were still getting used to me. Then eventually they came around even in their home but I still used the bin for play time. I also used the bin as a safe place for them to play while I cleaned.

by Sparrow Sat 30 Mar 2019, 4:18 pm

When mice are not tame yet, the best time to show them that you mean no threat is when you're cleaning the cage. Leave the mice in there while you slowly take everything out of the cage one by one. Mice are curious little animals and they will want to investigate what you are doing. When there is nothing left in the cage, they should start to climb up your arm. Make sure you have a long sleeves on, since most mice are not overly comfortable with climbing onto skin (I have no idea why).

Move them to a bathtub or a play bin and leave your hand in there. Because their scent from the cage is on your hands, they should be more willing to sniff it and interact with it.

It is good that you have them a week to settle in and are not pushing them to interact with you. It is a very good start.

After you take them out of the cage for the first time, do it again every day (minus the cage cleans) and each time you put them back into the cage after a bonding session, leave some tasty treats around the cage. When removing them from the cage, use a paper tube or a mug/cup, at least until they are willing to climb onto your hands by themselves.

When trying to tame them inside their cage, you could try covering your hand up with your sleeve. I have a special hoodie that I only wear when playing with my mice. They recognize it and climb onto it right away because they know it is playtime. When I am working at a desk, I also like to sprinkle some food around and leave toys to play and let the mice play on the desk while I work away. After the first 10-15 minutes, they start to climb on me, sooner if they are already tame. They have great depth perception so they wouldn't jump off.

Try giving them time one by one too. 15-20 minutes each is a good amount. I started out with that and it soon became 2-3 hours of playtime.

You have to be consistent and patient, practice this every day. Talk to them by their names, use word commands when doing stuff. Like if you are giving them food, you say food. If you are giving them water, you say water. When putting a new toy in, you say toy, when coming out to play, you say play time. and so on... Use this when you do absolutely anything around them, and always talk to them by their names.

It worked with every single one of my mice and one of them is even half wild. It got to the point where the most tame of my mice start to spark when on top of me... Mice are very social so they will love the attention, and they will seek it out very quickly.

by SolaceKeep Sun 31 Mar 2019, 8:27 pm

I have several Mice who are that way they want nothing to do with me. It can for some just take extra patience and time. The Prior responses are techniques I am employing myself to work with those few who are refusing to be "tame"

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