Escaped Mouse!

by JeremySolo Sat 28 Dec 2019, 6:59 pm

I am distraught. I bought 2 new pet mice two days ago as a replacement for my previous mouse who has passed away last week at over 2 years old. Her partner is still alive and well and I did not want her to be alone. I was not sure about being able to integrate them but I thought even having the cages next to each other might be something, and I could try integrating them if there was no show of hostility.

However, one of these mice was ready for me. As soon as I opened the cardboard carrier to transfer to the cage, it jumped straight up in the air out of the box. I tried to catch it but it bounced around the dresser before escaping my grasp and falling (not intentionally jumping, it fell) behind the dresser. I immediately blocked off the room completely, including the extremely small (almost non existent) gap under the door to prevent it from leaving the room. I have pulled out and moved everything in the room looking for this mouse with no luck! I went out and bought several live catch traps, putting 2 in the room in question and two more out in the main house just in case.

I’m not sure exactly what I’m asking here, just looking for advice and info I guess. It has been over 48 hours at this point and there has been no sign of the mouse. I am terrified that maybe the fall critically injured this poor creature and it crawled off somewhere to die. I feel really bad for her sister alone in her cage in a scary new place. And I feel like a first class jerk and a horrible person for not being more careful and letting this happen at all. I’m losing sleep over this. Is there any tips anyone can give me? Is it too soon to be worried about this? How long should I hold out hope before giving up on this poor baby. Thank you in advance.

by Jlenches28 Sat 28 Dec 2019, 11:35 pm

Hey there,
It sounds like you’re doing everything right so far. Can you set up something for them to get some water? I know that my mouse who i believe was injured last week and passed away yesterday night would still come out of her house for water. If you had an extra bottle you could maybe hear the little escapee at it at night?
I have read though that a stressed out mouse can sometimes pass away after a few hours of stress and no water.
I’m sorry, this whole situation really stinks. Don’t feel bad though or beat yourself up too much. I’m sort of in the same boat with my mouse that just passed; i blame myself for letting these little kids play too much with her and then she died. I feel your pain very deeply.
Best of wishes.

by Echoe77 Sun 29 Dec 2019, 3:51 am

Put some food and water on the floor (you'll know then if she's still in the house). Use peanut butter as bait, it will usually lure them out. I found one of my mice under my mom's bed eating a butter finger after she learned how to open the mouse ball (mouse was fine). Mice can get through very small gaps (dime sized), so your best bet is baiting the mouse out into a trap. Was it a carpeted floor? It is probably terrified, so it may also be avoiding any loud noise areas. One of my previous mice Popcorn jumped out of the glass cage at the pet store 3-4 times before we got her into the box with all of her friends.

Hopefully you will find her!

by Oreoandfriends Sun 29 Dec 2019, 12:29 pm

I had a roborovski dwarf hamster escape his cage once, thankfully he was also confined to 1 room! Provide a food and water source somewhere and keep searching, my hamster was basically teleporting and was almost impossible to catch but I caught him at some point.
I hope you find her soon!

by JeremySolo Sun 29 Dec 2019, 3:01 pm

Thanks for the responses. The floor she fell on was carpeted. I have left out water next to each trap in little portion cups. I tried peanut butter in the traps the first 2 days, but since there were no hits I switched to cheese last night. I even tried leaving her sisters cage on the floor last night to try and lure her out. Still holding out hope but I am fearing the worst.

by Robin~ Sun 29 Dec 2019, 4:49 pm

Be careful with cheese— as much as the stereotype pushes mice liking cheese, mice are lactose intolerant and, with an upset stomach, this may encourage your mouse to rest in hiding.

I find oats are a favorite among my girls, but not that smelly. Still worth a shot.

All of the safe foods for mice can be found in the nutrition section.

by JeremySolo Sun 29 Dec 2019, 11:59 pm

Thanks for the advice. There is hope! I hadn’t set up one of the traps properly unfortunately but when I checked it after work part of the bait was gone, and there was a little piece of mouse poop! So the baby is alive. I will rebait the traps (properly this time) and keep trying!

by JeremySolo Tue 31 Dec 2019, 1:04 am

HAPPY ENDING! Mouse has been found

she actually crawled into an extra cage I had lying around and I was able to close her in

she is now back and cuddling with her sister! I am relieved.

by chiroptera Tue 31 Dec 2019, 1:53 am

Glad she's been found and is safe!

I had a wild mouse that was living in our old apartment do the same thing - he crawled right into an empty bin and we were able to trap him Razz

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