Hi - Brand new to mice but fell in love with one!

by timez Mon 25 Apr 2016, 5:58 pm

Hi,

I have never cared for pet mice before or know anyone that has, But I was in the pet shop and saw this little one there and ended up taking him home (He was just sitting in his hide with his little head poked out just staring at me) (he doesn't seem to be a baby though - he is very small but has a long tail - How would I tell?

I couldn't not - I fell in love with this tiny little animal (I love all animals - so not surprising this happened really Smile

) - plus I doubt animals like pet shops much lets be honest - no matter how well they treat them - its not the same as a real home.

I've called him Peanut (since he seems to love (watered down) peanut butter)) Smile

and hes all brown with a tiny bit of white fur round his mouth.

He is really skittish I think though - although he seems active in his cage now (he just hid for 2 weeks solid only coming out at night whenever I was around (and i think he came out when i wasn't here too))

He now comes out when I'm in the room - but if he sees me move even slightly or even sees I'm there he runs away and hides until he thinks I'm gone again - However I don't want to get too much into this in my introduction post - I will make a separate post for this...

Also I didn't get any paperwork from the pet shop about the mouse - I only heard I should have (I'm not even sure I should have still though?) when i started relentlessly researching about how to look after mice (loads coming from this site before I ever posted here - and as this was the best site - the only forum I posted on)

As such I don't know his age (or even really the sex - the pet shop guy said male but we all know how taking that as gospel usually turns out) - I'm now quite worried about the paperwork - I only got a reciept from the till for payment - Will this stop a vet seeing him if he ever needs it? I hope not!

Thank you if you read all of this - and if there is an award for the longest introduction I probably won it - sorry about that.

And if your eyes are still working after this - I will be posting about the socilisation problems I'm having with him - Which was my main reason for signing up here...

Timez

by MouseLover Mon 25 Apr 2016, 6:20 pm

Welcome Timez! Who could blame you for falling in love with a mouse? Smile

Congratulations on your new pet, mice make lovely pets and are such a joy to watch and interact with. Pet shop mice often aren't well socialized, so it might take some time for him to feel confident around you, but it is do-able!

As for paperwork, I've never needed any paperwork to take my mice to the vet. What country are you in?

by Artistwolf Mon 25 Apr 2016, 6:43 pm

Hello and welcome! He sounds adorable!!
For age, you can take a photo of him next to a quarter and post it here... Then one of our experienced members here can give you a pretty accurate age estimate Smile

For sex, if you need us to make sure that he is in fact a boy, you could take a photo of his bum or put him in a clear container and take a photo from underneath.
These could be hard tasks if he isn't tamed up yet though! Wink

by timez Mon 25 Apr 2016, 7:02 pm

Yes I was just thinking that may be hard - i wanted to post a photo of him in general but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that since he runs away and hides all the time.

I live in the UK - and i was reading a lot of mouse stuff online so maybe I just got mixed up - that also means no quaters here haha.

just hope one day he does realise I wont hurt him and doesn't run away so much.

I have caught him sitting on his ladder i got him staring at me from the cage a good few times now - but soon as he realises i have seen him - hes off - its actually kinda sweet in a way lol

Timez

by Peachy Mon 25 Apr 2016, 7:07 pm

Welcome, timez! Congrats on a mouse friend. Smile

by timez Mon 25 Apr 2016, 7:17 pm

thank you for all your kind welcomes Smile

I have also now posted my full post in the behavior section so feel free to help me more and see what progress me and peanut have made - its not zero Smile

Timez

by CinnamonPearl Mon 25 Apr 2016, 7:26 pm

Welcome to the forum! Give him a few days to settle in. Once he's relaxed and you start taming him up, he'll be the perfect little pet for you.

by stephlisa Tue 26 Apr 2016, 5:30 am

Welcome to the forum Smile

A mouse is a wonderful pet! I got limited paperwork when I got my mouse - it just told me when I'd brought him, the fact that the pet shop thought he was male (they were correct - he's definitely male!) and that they had talked through things like habitat, diet with me.

I'm in the UK too and for mice not having paperwork seems fine at the vets around here as well.

by timez Tue 26 Apr 2016, 5:51 am

ok thank you - thats a worry off my mind Smile

i need to find one near me that deals with mice but im sure i will Smile

- hes not unwell yet so luckly got away with not doing it in advance - but needs to be done just in case Smile

Timez

by stephlisa Tue 26 Apr 2016, 6:06 am

Thats ok

Definitely agree with making sure you've got the phone number of a vet on hand just in case! I'd recommend finding one that does emergency care 24 hours if you can - I haven't experienced it personally, but reading on here mice can go downhill very quickly if they get ill! But not having paperwork isn't an issue!