New Mouse Owner!!

by brianna.love Tue 17 Nov 2020, 8:35 am

Hi all! I just registered for this forum because I just got a pair of female mice, I did my research and all of that. Besides that I have owned a male Syrian hamster in the past so I know a little bit about rodents in general. I was wondering if anyone could give me any uncommon care tips about mice that I might not find with a quick google search. I will be sure to post pictures of my mice soon but they are not ready to be handled yet as I only got them a couple days ago Smile

have a great day everyone.

by Oreoandfriends Tue 17 Nov 2020, 9:14 am

Welcome!! Mice are amazing, you’ll love keeping them Smile

Something I didn’t know about mice when I got them is that they need LOTS of toys. I was also used to keeping hamsters before I got mice and I assumed they were similar with their cage setup, but mouse cages really need to be packed full of toys at every step.
Also make sure that they’re diet has the proper nutritional values. There’s some great threads on this site that go over what they need exactly, it’s definitely not fun to end up with malnourished mice.
Good luck! Smile

by SarahAdams Tue 17 Nov 2020, 10:01 am

Unlike hamsters, mice are excellent climbers, so should have climbing toys, ladders, etc hanging from their cage tops. I gave mine a small hanging Sputnik each and they love them. And as stated above, they don't care for open spaces so should have cages jammed with hideouts and tunnels to make them feel secure. Despite their tiny size, they are very active and need the largest enclosures you can manage to hold all their stuff. Most of them love chewing cardboard - I made mine some hanging cardboard foraging toys for a tiny fraction of the price of ready-made ones - and mine adore running in their wheels. Smile

by brianna.love Tue 17 Nov 2020, 11:22 am

@oreoandfriends @sarahadams, wow I had no idea that toys were so important. I currently have my pair in a ten gallon tank connected with tubes into a few different critter trails since I heard they like to climb on the bars. it seems like they are enjoying the aspect of climbing through tubes to each cage. the only thing risky about critter trails and my setup is escapees. they haven't even seemed to try to escape yet and seem quite content. but just incase something goes wrong I do have my backup 45 gallon tank to switch them to if need be. the food I got is the oxbow young rat and mice food, from what I've seen the ingredients and nutritional values are pretty similar to their nutritional needs. I have a white mouse that I named luna, she is a bit timid and only sniffs to nibbles my fingers when I lay my hand flat in the cage. my brown mouse with a white belly on the other hand seems to really love playtime outside of the cage. whenever I put my hand in there when they're awake she either sits in my hand or immediately tries to climb up my arm. I'm working on getting more toys, especially hanging toys and more hang bridges.

by brianna.love Tue 17 Nov 2020, 11:39 am

@oreoandfriends @SarahAdams I'll be sure to upload some pictures here when I figure out how. thank goodness none of my mice have bitten me yet except for a few nibbles of investigation but no real bites which im hoping is a good sign. the bonding was my biggest concern because with my past hamster I rushed the bonding which was NOT a good idea whatsoever. it delayed the bonding process significantly and in the end it took months upon months for him to trust me. so I am trying my best to go at my own mice's pace even though it is so so tempting just to scoop them up and hold them since they're so cute. the ten gallon tank I have has lots of bedding because I tried to make that one meant for burrowing, that one also has the most toys including an 8 inch wheel, a bendy bridge, a "puzzle playground", a long bridge that I hang from the top to the bottom to climb on, a toilet paper roll, with their food and a water bottle. that cage leads to my one level orange critter trail which has a wood hide house, and a wooden tube, then that cage leads to my two level critter trail with a six inch wheel (their favorite wheel surprisingly), two bendy bridges filled with bedding so I could try and convert them into hides, and all around all of the cages I've scattered chew toys. another place they have kind of made themselves a hiding spot when they're scared is the tiny space between the long wood bridge and the puzzle playground. I also wanted to ask about mice's tolerance to smells and sounds. I have friends over somewhat often and I want to know if the noise and new smells would bother them. It doesn't seem like it but who knows. If it would possibly bother them I am always able to move to my basement to spend time with friends to reduce smell and noise for the mice. I know I might seem so cautious my friends tell me I am but not only am I trying to prove responsibility to my parents I also want to have a good relationship with my mice because I know they are very intelligent but also very small animals not to be handled roughly.

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