Mouse
This endearing little rodent has come a long way from the house mouse, who has followed humans for thousands of years in our walls.
Information | Care | Caging | Links | References
Information
Size: |
About two inches with a two-inch tail. |
Food: |
Mouse pellets. Fresh veggies, occasional piece of cheese, grains, small amounts of dandelion leaves or clover. |
Life Span: |
In the wild 3 months, maybe. In captivity 1-2 years are possible. |
Habits: |
Most mice are easy to tame and make excellent pets. |
Care
Mice are quiet and most are friendly. As an example mice were one of the few rodents I was perfectly happy with handling when I worked at a pet store. Mice could be picked up and put on your hand with a reasonable likelyhood of not biting.
As a rule female mice smell less and get along well with other females. If you have a female and a male they will need more cages quickly and if you have two males you need two cages, most males fight.
Caging
The minimum size for a pair is a 24" x 12" footprint, but bigger is always better. A glass bottomed aquarium with a sturdy screen cover with snap holders makes a fine habitat. Make sure the cover is secure, as they are escape artists. Wirw cages are not recommended for mice due to their escape ability. All plastic cages may or may not work, depending on the mouse. They are however a huge pain to clean. Bedding can be Aspen shavings, recycled paper, or other paper based product. Avoid Cedar shavings as they are extremely toxic to rodents. (Cedar shavings can cause eye and skin irritation in rodents.)
Other items include a water bottle, heavy plastic or ceramic dish, wood chews and at least one hiding place. The hiding place could be made out of wood, plastic or straw, but be aware, whatever it is it will be chewed. Last item is a wheel, because many rodents will spend hours running in place. There are a number of types of wheels out there, at the very least go for a mesh one with a barrier so they can't get their tails stuck in the turning apparatus. A plastic one eliminates this risk, but they can chew it. When in douby get a large one as the ones labeled mouse are often not large enough.
One last item your mouse will probably enjoy is a hamster ball. Those are the running balls with air slats for them to run around your house in. Just keep them away from stairs and other hazards, and don't leave them in there too long. When in doubt on size get a larger one.
Links
http://www.rodentfancy.com/ -- Rodent Fancy
http://www.rmca.org/ -- Rat and Mouse Club of America
http://www.afrma.org/ -- American Fancy Rat and Mouse Society
References
Hanna, Jack w/ Hester Mundis. Jack Hanna's Ultimate Guide to Pets. 1996.