Taming Questions?

by Bandit Cat Sat 18 Jun 2016, 8:16 pm

I got my first mouse 3-4 weeks ago. I waited a week after I got him to start taming. It was going well, until he escaped and I had to catch him. I think I scared him quite a bit when I caught him, because I had to move quickly to grab him. He isn't hurt, but he doesn't necessarily like me now. I have tried to lay my hand in his cage to get him to investigate, but he will just run and hide. What do I do now to get him to trust me?

by AnonymousMouseOwner Sun 19 Jun 2016, 12:14 am

My mouse does the same thing. She seems to be more comfortable, though, when I don't try to get her to crawl directly on my hand from the cage. Usually she runs and hides in a TP tube so I pick up the tube and put one hand on each side of it, then wait patiently. After waiting maybe five minutes, I gain her trust and she crawls out onto my hand. So maybe try getting him onto/into an object such as a TP tube or something else like that so that he can crawl out onto your hand? Also, when you have his trust, take him somewhere fun, like a play cage, so he associates you with fun time. That's my suggestion Smile

Tip: Be careful and try not to do anything that might scare your mouse. Grabbing him suddenly might make him think you are a predator, causing him to be scared of your presence.

by scaredymouse Sun 19 Jun 2016, 9:10 am

I have a different taming process for difficult mice. I do my best to be gentle and patient for about the first month. Then, if there is no progress... It's time to show them who's boss. Sometimes mice are genuinely scared. Fair enough. But sometimes they are brats. I've seen mice lie to avoid being handled, I've seen them running on the wheel and then they see someone coming and they pretend they are sleeping.

That said. After a month, when it's time for "fun time", I remove one item from the tank and put my hand in. If nothing, I keep removing items until it's just me and a peached off mouse. and I put my hand in. If nothing, I corner them and guess what, then they will walk on your hand. So i'm still giving them a choice, but it's an aggressive technique. Sometimes you have to show them who the real alpha is. I had success with this technique quite recently. This mouse now jumps in the hammock to see me. She's still jumpy but that's her personality.

by MouseLover Sun 19 Jun 2016, 10:40 am

Persistence and time is everything with mouse taming. Scared mice essentially need to be desensitized to you - you regularly handle them until they learn that nothing bad happens.

If you have a mouse house that has a bottom to it, so that you can pick it up with the mouse inside, then something I like to do with nervous mice is pick up their house and put it in the "taming area" (bathtub, sofa, playpen, your lap, whatever). I don't force them to come out. Mice are naturally curious, they will poke their little head out to see what's going on. Sometimes I'll even put a treat outside their door to encourage them. Usually I find that the mouse, on his/her own terms, will decide to come out to have a look around. They can run back in the house if they get too scared. Usually I like to put the house on my lap (e.g. in the bath), so that the mouse willingly crawls out onto my lap to have a look around, thus getting him/her used to being on me and smelling me. I find it works well for me - maybe because the mouse feels like they're taking things at their own pace, and it's their decision to come out of the nest to explore you. It's on their terms. I've never had a mouse that didn't at least poke their head out for a sniff on the first try. Usually they climb out onto me on the first time. Eventually they can explore your hand, and climb onto it.

I developed this technique with my first ever mice, when I was at University. I basically would pick up their nest and put it on my desk, as I was on my laptop writing essays. I would basically ignore them and go about my work. They would come out to have a look around, and would get closer and closer to me. Eventually they would be sat on my keyboard as I typed, or crawling up my sleeves. They spent so much of their lives on my desk, I had a water bottle set up for them there in the end, lol. And they were the tamest mice I ever had because I spent so much time with them.

Sorry, went on a little long there - back to the point. Spend time with him every day if you can, even if it's 5 minutes, every little helps.

by Bandit Cat Sun 19 Jun 2016, 10:14 pm

scaredymouse wrote:I have a different taming process for difficult mice. I do my best to be gentle and patient for about the first month. Then, if there is no progress... It's time to show them who's boss. Sometimes mice are genuinely scared. Fair enough. But sometimes they are brats. I've seen mice lie to avoid being handled, I've seen them running on the wheel and then they see someone coming and they pretend they are sleeping.

That said. After a month, when it's time for "fun time", I remove one item from the tank and put my hand in. If nothing, I keep removing items until it's just me and a peached off mouse. and I put my hand in. If nothing, I corner them and guess what, then they will walk on your hand. So i'm still giving them a choice, but it's an aggressive technique. Sometimes you have to show them who the real alpha is. I had success with this technique quite recently. This mouse now jumps in the hammock to see me. She's still jumpy but that's her personality.

This seems to be really working with him so far! He was pretty upset when I took the wheel out Laughing

, but he was interested in me and got on my hand! I hope the technique will keep working! Thanks! Smile

by scaredymouse Sun 19 Jun 2016, 10:42 pm

glad it's working. every now and then, you get a bratty mouse. and I find this technique works best for them. i definitely save it as a last resort though.

haha, I just saw the forum auto correct for "peached off" mouse. lol.

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