I want to buy a mouse?

Question

I've never had a pet mouse before and I would like to buy one. What sort of cage do you keep it in, an aquarium type or a hamster type? What sort of food do you buy for it? What type of bedding do you buy? And finally, what is the montly cost for keeping a pet mouse? Any other tips?

Answer 1

I have a pet mouse and he's great. I got him when he was very young and handled him a lot, so now he loves to be held and scratched. In fact, if I reach my hand in the cage, he closes his eyes and waits for me to scratch behind his ears (he turns his head when I do, just like a dog or a cat would).

For food, I would recommend the brand "Forti-Diet." This food comes in block form and 1-2 blocks a day is more than enough for a mouse (so one bag will last a long time). It has all the nutrition a mouse needs, plus it's hard enough to help his teeth, too.

For bedding, I would highly recommend getting "Care-Fresh." Whatever you do, do NOT use anything with pine or cedar oils. Mice (and rats) are very susceptible to respiratory illness and deficiencies, so they need bedding with minimal dust and definitely NO cedar or pine. (Care-Fresh is your best option.)

Though it seems obsessive, it really is best to change the water every day. It takes less than a minute, so why not?

Your mouse will need a wheel for exercise, and a place to hide. If you don't want to spend money on a little plastic house for him, a toilet/paper towel roll will do, but make sure you put a new one in every week.

You should clean his cage once a week. Mice poop A LOT.

When you change his bedding, you can treat the Care-Fresh with a product called Seven-Dust, which you can get at your local hardware store. It's for killing mites and such in your lawn, but applying a small amount to the mouse's bedding help prevent him from getting mites and other harmful parasites (which can become internal and potentially even kill the little guy). It will create a small amount of dust when you first apply it and spread it around, but that will quickly settle. (Obviously, don't put your mouse in there until the dust has settled). It will not harm your mouse.

As for the actual container, I personally use a 10 gallon glass tank with a screen top. I know that's a lot of space for one little mouse, but he really enjoys having all that room. You don't have to give him quite that much space, but if it's any smaller, make sure you take him out and play with him for a while at least once a day. Mice are curious and smart, and therefore get bored (and fat). He/She'll need the exercise.

Here's something to consider: If you get a female, she'll menstruate, but if you get a guy, he'll squirt (mine rarely if ever does). And what someone else said is true, two males will tend to fight more than females. But other times they get along great. And if you have a big enough living space for them, they shouldn't bother each other too much if they don't happen to get along. They'll stick to their own part of the cage.

Also, your mouse may need vitamins. If this is the case, make sure you get ones that are for small animals in general and NOT for gerbils/hamsters specifically. Gerbils process their food with a lot of ammonia, so I don't know what that would do to a mouse (their bladder, for instance?). It probably wouldn't be good for a mouse.

Do not feed your mouse chocolate, acidic fruits (like tomato or orange), etc. Unsalted sunflower seeds make great treats. It's fun to watch your mouse play with it and open the seed.

Don't over-do the treats. Treats should be no more than 10% of your mouse's diet. I broke this rule and my mouse ate an entire grape in 2 days. The grape was bigger than his head. The poor little guy had diarrhea for almost 3 days. I felt guilty.

Oh, and one more thing: chew sticks. You can buy little colored sticks for him/her to chew on. These help keep their teeth trimmed. Their teeth keep growing, so if they don't keep chewing on stuff, they can grow too long and this can become a serious health threat. And it would seem silly to spend all that money on a $2 mouse to have a vet trim his/her teeth.

I hope all this helps.

Answer 2

I breed mice, so I think I'll be able to help out here. Mice are very easy to keep and after the initial setup, don't cost much too take care of.

First, male mice should always be housed individually. Even littermates can, and often do, become agressive and fight to the death- seemingly out of the blue. Female mice are the opposite and should always be kept in a pair or a trio at least.

Whether you keep them in a cage or an aquarium is your choice, however I recommend an aquarium for both. It helps keep any odours in, as well as food and bedding, and is also easy to clean. If you do decide to use a cage, make sure the bars are close enough together that they cannot poke their heads out- if their head can fit through, the rest of them can too. A 10 gallon tank is sufficient for a few female mice, and a 5.5 gallon is fine for a single male. Of course the bigger you can afford, the better.

As for food, I feed a mix of 75% "Lab" or "Nutri" blocks. These are square light brown blocks and you can find them in most pet stores. These make sure that they get all of the nutrients that they need. I then add 25% of a seed mix made for Rats and Mice. Small animals prettymuch live to eat so variety is important which is why I add the seed, however if you only feed them the seeds then they often only eat their favourite parts out of it and don't get everything they need. This can also be supplemented with some fresh veggies every few days or so, as well as the occaisional small animal treat.

As for bedding, I do not recommend ceder or pine. There is a lot of talk about them being very bad for small animals, and as mice have very sensitive respiratory systems, I don't take the chance. I use Carefresh which is a paper product. To me it looks nicer, absorbs odor, and is softer. It is slightly more expensive though, so my second choice is Aspen. It's a type of wood shavings but supposedly safer than ceder or pine. Depending on the size of your cage and how many mice you have, you can generally get away with cleaning the cage once a week.

Mouse Checklist (these are approx. prices based on what they are here in Canada):
-Tank or Cage and Lid: $20
-Wheel: $7
-Bedding: $5 (aspen) $8 (carefresh)
-Food: $5 a bad (so $10 for blocks and seed)
-Hidey-Home thing: $3-6
-Toys: free if you use cardboard tubes and boxes with holes in them. You can also use bird toys which are more like $5-15
-Water bottle and food bowl: $6

This is all a rough estimate. Bedding will probably have to be bought twice a month, and food once a month. So I would say the monthly cost is about $20 or so. It is hard for me to say for sure since you are only getting a few mice at most, whereas I have 12 (and growing) so I obviously have to buy much more food and bedding.

If you live in ON, Canada, I could probably get you some mice. Even if you don't, my website is http://mice.wordpress.com My email is there as well as some more info so feel free to contact me with questions or advice. Mice truly make great pets and I can speak from experience. I work at a pet store and also own two rats. I've had hamsters, gerbils, and a spiny mouse in the past, too.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Mice are cute, but if you want a pet to interact with, buy yourself a rat. Yes, I know... the tail.

Rats are actually cleaner, smarter and friendlier than mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, etc.

Rats will spend time with you and actually ride around on your shoulder. They will sit with you (on you) and can learn some tricks too. All those other animals I mentioned will usually only try to get away from you when you handle them and hide somewhere.

With a rat on your shoulder, you will be the envy of everyone on your block...

A rat will be fine in a 20 gallon aquarium or a fine mesh cage. Water bottle, food, chew toys, bedding, cage will cost you around $30-40. Rats are only about $5-7 each and will be a much better pet than a mouse. They are big and strong enough that you won't always be afraid of hurting them when you handle them, too.

Answer 5

Mouse is very similar to hamster. I've had a couple hamsters and I've had them in plastic cages. Metal ones gets rusty after a lot of cleaning. There's so much selection on small pets. Just visit a local Petsmart or Petco and you'll see the huge selection. The initial cost will be high (getting all the supplies) and the supplies I got usually lasted much longer than my hamster's lifespan ^_^''

Answer 6

when buying pet mice buy 2 or more they groom each other and sleep togather (females are best males sometimes fight and bit and males and female have litters every 3 weeks) aquariums w/leds or hamster cages w/bars no further than 1 1/2cm apart are good for adult mice, I find wood shavings and a paper towle for bedding is perfect, and plian hamster and gerble food combined w/ non-acidic fuit and vegetables (Ex. apples, cherries, bananas, lettice,dandelion leaves, carrots,ect.)are good, mouthly cost ranges approx.$4-10

Answer 7

Why not go the extra mile and get a rattie! Sweet and intelligent and doglike. I had one who rode on my shoulder, climbed up on the couch with me, tried to play in the middle of the night , beg for food on her hind legs! I have had mice and they are sweet...wrap their tail around your finger....ride a wheel...smellier than ratties....get two females........I think mice are cute! I have had some real sweet ones that look like house mice......some satins and long haired and silkies....they are adorable! But I say rat!

Answer 8

ether cage or a tank or a plastic grow-able house would be okay.
most rodent food should be alright for them. an exercise wheel, and shavings for bedding. get a food bowl and water tube. after that i would say $10 dollars at most a mounth. have fun.

Answer 9

they are almost the exactly the same as hamsters. the pet store such as petco will usually have a section 4 them. if you dont want them to bite get them when they are young and hold them alot. get them alot treats they are huge babaies and just want a moms love.

Answer 10

i cant;mouse abuse: get a bonny