First Time Mouse Owner

by Reila Fri 09 Jun 2023, 6:09 am

Hello,

I am about to get Fancy Mice. i have everything I need for them already Set-up (Cage, Playpen etc.). But I still have a couple of questions regarding bringing home Mice and the first days with Mice. Googling just brought up a couple of contradigting answers so I just thought I'll ask Mouse Owners here ^^. I'll try to put everything in one Post, hopefully I remember it all.

So first of all: the Cage: I have the MAXI 120 with solid multiplex body 120 x 60 x 64 cm from Petgarde. I have it already fully Set-up. But I was told from Someone that you shouldn't fully Set the Cage up bringing home the Mice. Only put in the basics and then slowly add on to it. But from Pet Youtubers I saw them Completely setting up the Cage beforehand and then putting the new Mice in. So I'm no kind off confused as to what to do. I would prefer to let the Cage fully set up cause it was a lot of work an I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm also not introducing new Mice to an existing group! Just getting Mice for the first time. So I'm not sure if the "slowly adding in Stuff" method is neccessary.

I'm also worried about Parasites/other common illnesses. That's maybe me just being paranoid but I would prefer to Quarantine the Mice in a Bin Cage for ... maybe 7-14 Days to make sure they are healthy, Maybe check them in with a vet at the same day I bring them home or (preferably) a couple of days later, to maybe get a spot on on them and generally checked up. I would like to do that no matter where I get the Mice from. (disclaimer: not getting mice from a pet shop)

Regarding Sickness and how to handle it I also found some contradicting information. In Germany (were i'm from) people advise NOT to seperate sick Mice from the group to quarantine them. On an english Vet Website regarding sick Mice I read that you should seperate the sick Mice from the rest of the group, which makes sense to me, you wanna prevent stuff from spreading even more. But I now don't know which one would be the best course of action. Either way, if a Mouse gets sick I would always take the group out of the Main cage and into a quarantine Bin Cage until they all are healthy again. Cause A Bin Cage is easier to clean in my opinion. So should I just go with that and put the whole group into a bin Cage when one gets sick until they are healthy again, and then reintroduce them into their cage again once they are healthy? And wen reintroducing them, do I need to do the "slowly adding in stuff" method or can I just completely set the Cage up again?

I also have Wheels for them from Bucastete (or whats it called) big enough for their backs/tails not curving. But here again diffrent opinions. German Care advises AGAINST Wheels. Everyone else seeems to advise to have Wheels. I also think they should have properly sized Wheels. But again I'm confused due to the different informations.

I also have everything in 3s cause I plan on getting a Group of 6 Females or a mixed Group of 6 (males nutered of course) or a Group of 4 Male Mice (Siblings). Like 3 Water bowls, 3 water bottles (hate them) and multiple bowls for fresh food. I plan on scatter feeding their main food mix (from Mixerama). I also plan on feeding fresh food maybe 2-3 times a week, just like I do for my hamster. Not during the first weeks, cause they are still settling in and maybe stressed and i know they can get diarrhea from stress and also from fresh food, so i don't wanna double down on it.

I also have a Playpen for it but again, some German owners/breeders advise against a Playpen cause it's too stressful for Mice other country owners advise to have a Playpen. .. To sort of work around the stress factor I have a Permanent Playpen set up. In hopes that that avoids them being stressed out? I also plan for them to go in there on their own. So I Just open the door once a day for a couple of hours while I'm supervising them and then they can choose to go into the Playpen if they like.
Now the Playpen itself is actually smaller than the Cage, it just hase some extra things in it that I couldn't fit into the Cage or don't want them to have unsupervised access to it. Like a pet safe Plant (spider lilie or whats it called) and a dig box with coconut soil and a digging tower.

I guess I'm just looking for experiences. I also tried including some fotos, not sure if it worked though, guess I'll see once it's posted xDD. I apologize if all this is a bit messy.

*edit: For bedding I use Allspan German horse Classic/Exquisite it is really not dusty at all (use it for my hamsters too who have the same issues with dust), Hemparade and Cotton bedding from Hugro (as a thin top layer to hopefully prevent them a little from kicking the other bedding out) and a little bit of hay as you can see for more coverage. And as nist materials just shredded paper towels that i put into the Sputnics and other hideouts. They also have a cardboard Multychamber hideout underneath the one platform halfway buried into the hemparade bedding (cause it is very soft). So on that side i have the hemparade bedding and on the mid/opposite side its The Allspan German Horse beddinga ll the way. Roughly around 10 -15 cm. I also added in a grass tunnel which leads underneath the bedding and several paper tubes also halway buried into the bedding. Underneath the second Plattform is just shredded paper as a top layer all the way up to the plattform for nesting and coverage, with added tubes to run around through.

by Reila Fri 09 Jun 2023, 6:11 am

Here are some more pictures:

by Wolfie65 Fri 09 Jun 2023, 6:29 pm

If you want your mice to be hand tame and easy to handle, I'd recommend keeping them in a MUCH smaller enclosure for at least a few weeks, interacting with thjem as much and as often as possible.
You can then introduce them to The Palace and add more and more toys gradually.
Bowls are, of course, a much more natural way to drink than bottles, but they do get messy, you'll have to change the water at least once a day, maybe twice.
I use the really tiny baby food jars for water bowls.
Separating a sick mouse from the rest is probably a good idea, despite the stress. 1 sick mouse is better than 5.
On the same subject, most people and books will tell you that garlic is toxic to mice, but that is incorrect.
It is one of nature's most powerful antibiotics, far safer than any chemical drug from the vet and can be given to sick mice, just make sure you blanch it in some boiling water to take the edge off and give TINY pieces, like the size of a pin head.
They will also tell you that mice are 'lactose intolerant', which is only partly correct.
If you can get a hold of RAW (unpasteurized) milk straight from the cow -which still contains the enzymes needed to digest the lactose - they can digest it and they love it.
Weak herbal teas also work on a variety of illnesses.
Some mice love wheels, others ignore them, I'd say providing at least 1 wheel is probably a good idea.
LOTS of hidey places and chew toys are absolute necessities. Unscented paper bedding seems to be a favorite, but it is fairly pricey and kind of a hassle at cleaning time. Experiment with different things: Aspen shavings, newspaper, baby blankets, old t-shirts.....

by Reila Sun 18 Jun 2023, 3:20 am

So first of all thanks for the reply it was very informative and helpful.

I got my mice on Friday from s privat rescue. I got 4 males. I know in other countries it is largely advised to keep male mice solitary. But that is not the case. In Germany it is advised to keep male mice together when they are related and have been living together since they were babies. Then they get along just like females do. I also plan to neuter them all at once to a) reduce the chances of them fighting and not getting along and b) reduce the smell. The smell is ok. I've spot cleaned the cage two days after they moved in and for the first hour after that the smell was worse cause they marked everything again so Im still figuering out how and what and when to spot clean. It's a process. They are rather tame and healthy so I moved them into their main cage when they arrived.

Now my question is: when can I neuter them? Like how long after they moved in. I thought about maybe end of next month, but I am not sure if that is too early.

And I wanna syringe train them to make life easier for me if they ever need to take medicine with a syringe. Can I train them by syringe feeding them sugar water? And how often can I do that per week and amount of sugar water per mouse? Has anybody else done this before and what tasty snack did you use?

Also how long do they need to settle in to their new home? At the momrnt there is a bit of squeaking sometimes just seconds when someone enters a hide where somebody else is. No real fighting and it stops really fast. I think they are sorting things out and they are still doing a lot of exploring. So how long can this take and when should I be worried?

I also scatter feed them twice a day at the moment to sort of figure out the right amount since they dont eat all at once. But I make sure to observe all of them eat at least once a day. So they are eating. No one prevents anyone from eating or drinking or using the wheel/hideouts. Again they are getting along really well.

They are named after Candy bars. Smile

by Wolfie65 Sun 18 Jun 2023, 6:29 am

The castration craze for everything that moves started in muh1960s, right around the same time mostly toxic commercial pet foods became the 'new normal'.
I would strongly recommend watching Dr. Karen Becker's video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enPCZA1WFKY
She's talking about cats and dogs, but much the same applies to all living things.
If your boys are getting along, I'd say let them be, I saved 3 baby rats - all male - from becoming snake food in January and while they do wrestle and squabble, there is no actual violence, all 3 are intact and will remain that way.
I would leave castration as an absolutely last resort,if they have plenty of room and toys and things to keep them occupied and there are no female mice around, there shouldn't be any problems.
Instead of sugar water, try raw honey or natural fruit juice, less likely to cause blood sugar spikes.
1 healthy adult mouse will eat approximately 1 teaspoon of food per day, also give them fresh vegetables, mine love those, that's the first thing they grab.

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some More pics of the cage/playpen

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Mice moved in

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