Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch...

by ph08fhf Sat 20 Aug 2016, 10:40 pm

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum so please correct me if I am posting in the incorrect location.

Last week I discovered a mouse in my home. I was able to catch him with some effort and stow him in a large bowl while i worked out how to free him. Upon closer inspection - i discovered that he was not a wild mouse but a rogue pet! He is white with red eyes. I found where he came into my apartment through the inside wall and am guessing that he came from one of the other apartments in the block. I contacted my landlord to try to find his home and also went knocking on some doors. It's been a week now and there's no sign of his family. I've decided to offer him a home, expecting that he won't be claimed.

I love him! I've gotten him two critter trail houses and joined them together. But I'm new to this, and I'm afraid it's taking him a while to warm up to me. After all, I did lure him out from behind the dishwasher with peanut butter and then catch him with my hands. She was scared enough that he ended up even giving me a good nip.

So my question is: do you have any advice for me to help get him to trust me again. I tried to leave him a lone for a few days and have been offering food very slowly since then - just holding treats out to him and letting him come to me. He still seems fearful though, is there anything else I can do to show him I don't want to hurt him?

Thank you for reading!!

by lupus_corde Sun 21 Aug 2016, 7:08 am

Awe, He sounds great! First thing to do is check if he is girl or boy if you don't know for sure. For a female the two little lumps (genitals) should be close together, and for a boy you may see, well his two round things .... but they could be retracted in the body. Also the genitals will be far apart. You can post pictures here so we will help you sex them! There is a sexing a mouse section on the fun mouse website and I believe it is on this website too somewhere Smile

Just lift up the base off the tail to check or put him in a jar with a glass bottom. Be sure not to tug or hold by the tail though because this can cause damage.

If you intend on keeping him, or her then try to ditch the crittertrail and get a cheap 10 or 20 gallon tank with a mesh lid, Or a large spacious cage, the wheel should be 6.5 inches in diameter minimum! A hide, good food and bedding with lots of toys is a must! Also if they turn out to be female then get some female companions, they must be introduced on neutral territory but that's a different topic.

For bonding just put your hand in the tank and don't move it, eventually they will crawl across your hand, at this point you can try to pick them up, put them down when they look scared and this way they will learn to trust you. This will take a few days to a few weeks. In the meantime try to put a toilet paper tube in the cage and block one end off with your hand, they will go in the tube and you can block the other end of and transport them. Dried meal worms is a good treat! Anyway hope he warms up to you soon!

by CinnamonPearl Sun 21 Aug 2016, 8:53 am

Lupus covered quite a lot. I second getting rid of the crittertrails; they are some of the worst enclosures out there. A 10 gallon tank with a metal screen top and locking clips can't be beat. You'll also need paper bedding and a base seed diet. I recommend Sunseed Vita Parakeet food. Vitakraft is also good. And yes, it is very important to know your mouse's gender. Boys and girls require different care. Post a picture of his genitalia and we can sex for you.

by ph08fhf Sun 21 Aug 2016, 9:46 am

Thanks for your responses!

Bad news about the critter trail - I tried to do a bit of research and found some sites that recommended the crittertrail, but it's so hard to know which sites are trustworthy quickly, and I knew i needed to get him into something quickly after I caught him because he seemed really stressed - I had to go with what I had available at the small local pet shop.

I'll get a pic of his genitals when my partner comes home as I'll need some help wrangling him! I did do some research and I *think* I've identified him as male.

I also wanted to check that his sleeping looks ok and that he is not lethargic. I spotted him sleeping in this funny place earlier today (see second photo below). He wakes up if I wave at him but then goes back to sleep.

Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch... Img_3110

Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch... Img_3110

Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch... Img_3210

Also, when I change out his cage he does this twitching, jumping behaviour and jumps around the cage. I have guinea pigs and it reminds me of 'popcorning' in guinea pigs. Does this sound like a behaviour you've seen?

Here's a couple of pictures of him for fun and in case you see anything concerning. I've never had a mouse before so apologies if I'm being dumb! Smile

Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch... Img_3211

Welcoming a new mouse who I had to catch... Img_3111

by lupus_corde Sun 21 Aug 2016, 9:50 am

It's hard to tell but the abdomen in the last pic is very pronounced, indicating that it's a boy. But can't be sure unless you can see how far apart the genitals are Smile

If you live in the US then you should be able to pick up a cheap tank Smile

Best of luck!

by Peachy Sun 21 Aug 2016, 10:41 am

Wow! How lucky is that mousie? Smile

A few years ago we saw a pink eyed white running around outside at my mom's old trailer court. He must have been released or something. Poor guy.

I think that looks like a male in that last picture, too. He's adorable! If he appears healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about him sleeping in different spots. Does he have a nest box with nesting materials? Because he was loose you'll want to watch closely for any illnesses and maybe consider treating him for parasites. Here's more information on that: https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t1-lice-mites-and-ivermectin

Here's our page on taming and handling, you might find some useful tips. https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t8-taming-handling-mice

Mice do popcorn/spark. It often means they're really, really excited! Bouncy

Best of luck with your cute new friend.

by EverythingAnimal Sun 21 Aug 2016, 10:58 am

Hello! Everything is covered pretty well for the basics, but we do not recommend feeding peanuts or striped sunflower seeds to mice, as they are the most likely foods to cause allergies. If you get a food that has them, like Brown's Tropical Carnival Hamster and Gerbil, they should be picked out. Black oil sunflower seeds ae fine.

What an interesting introduction to mice! I had always thought "What if I stumble across a pet mouse?" but never thought it would happen to anyone. Laughing

Good for you for taking him in!

by ph08fhf Sun 21 Aug 2016, 11:17 am

Thanks so much for all the advice and encouragement!

I was going to take him to the SPCA, but I know how short their lives are and have no idea how long he was 'on the run' for - I couldn't bear the idea of him going to a rescue and waiting god knows how long for a home and just getting his life disrupted all over again. I also feel a strange sort of duty of care towards him - since he found me, I want to keep him safe and happy Smile

Thanks for the advice on parasites. I was planning to make an appointment with my exotics vet for him - just to get him checked over. I did recently get new food - i got the Oxbow essentials mouse and young rat food - but let me know if that is a bad choice. I have also given him a little igloo to sleep in with some cotton bedding and toilet paper, though he hasn't seemed very interested in it yet...

Also thanks for the links! I'll try the 'exposure' therapy. When I inspected his 'area' I thought that the bulge at the base of the tail looked indicative of him being a male and also there is an organ further up his belly which i suspect to be the penis - you can't see it in the picture I posted but it looks like it is far enough away from the anus that he is a boy. He also has a musky smell to him.

I'll post pics soon as.

Thanks again!

by Rodents rock! Sun 21 Aug 2016, 11:23 am

He is a cute boy! Have you picked a name yet? Very Happy

by Rodents rock! Sun 21 Aug 2016, 11:29 am

You will want to remove the cotton bedding as it is very dangerous. It can get tangled on their feet/legs and cut off circulation. Best bedding to use is unscented toilet paper, paper towels, carefresh bedding, .....

Musky smell, you most definitely have a little boy. Boy mice must live alone as males will fight to the death with other males.

Hope this is helpful.

by lupus_corde Sun 21 Aug 2016, 11:30 am

I would take the cotton bedding out - he might ingest it or get a toe or foot stuck! Toilet paper is fine though Smile

I use it myself just double check that it isn't scented!

Edit: opps someone already mentioned that!

by EverythingAnimal Sun 21 Aug 2016, 3:24 pm

I agree that the cotton bedding needs to be removed. Crazy that pet stores still sell it! About the Oxbow- I would switch to one of the seed mixed mentioned above (Browns Hamster and Gerbil, Vitacraft, Sunseed Vita parakeet, -peanuts -sunflower seeds). The amount of protein is much too high for a little mouse, they should really only have about 12-14ish percent protein in their staple food. Not to mention that pellets and lab blocks are very boring for him, seed mixes are much more stimulating because he can shell them and pick what he wants to eat first. Just imagine eating an energy bar 3 meals a day for the rest of your life!

by AnonONIagent Sun 21 Aug 2016, 3:58 pm

abeona wrote:Wow! How lucky is that mousie? A few years ago we saw a pink eyed white running around outside at my mom's old trailer court. He must have been released or something. Poor guy.

I think that looks like a male in that last picture, too. He's adorable! If he appears healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about him sleeping in different spots. Does he have a nest box with nesting materials? Because he was loose you'll want to watch closely for any illnesses and maybe consider treating him for parasites. Here's more information on that: https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t1-lice-mites-and-ivermectin

Here's our page on taming and handling, you might find some useful tips. https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t8-taming-handling-mice

Mice do popcorn/spark. It often means they're really, really excited! Best of luck with your cute new friend.

Who would be stupid enough to think that releasing a domesticated mouse into the wild would ever be a good idea?

As for the OP, congrats on your unexpected new boy! If you do keep him as a pet, you won't be let down, mice are wonderful pets! They're addicting too, though, so be warned.

by Peachy Sun 21 Aug 2016, 4:13 pm

I think plenty of people do it, unfortunately. I was actually talking to someone at a party last weekend who said she had two boys who wouldn't stop fighting, so she let them both go thinking they'd be happier. It's so sad. Sad

by AnonONIagent Sun 21 Aug 2016, 4:15 pm

abeona wrote:I think plenty of people do it, unfortunately. I was actually talking to someone at a party last weekend who said she had two boys who wouldn't stop fighting, so she let them both go thinking they'd be happier. It's so sad.

That's horrible!

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