Mouse problem??

[jubespiggies]

Recently, there have been a few sightings of a mouse (or more) scampering around my house and one also just ran past me into my room. Anyway, my parents were just going to kill it with rat poison or traps but i told them not to. Is there another way to get rid of them without having to kill them? Can they somehow be domesticated and kept in cage? I wouldnt mind having a mouse so that would not be an issue.

 

[HannibalLecter]

Wild mice can carry diseases such as salmonella, bubonic plague, rabies & could transfer tapeworms. I strongly advice against keeping it, it's also not fair to the wild mouse to be kept in a cage.

There are no-kill mouse traps, but you'd have to release it far away from your house as they'll otherwise come right back in. One visible mouse usually means 10 hidden ones.

 

[jubespiggies]

Are the no kill traps expensive? Because i cant really afford to buy anything expensive right now because of my guinea pigs and my parents would rather just kill the mice than actually buy a humane trap and go through the effort of releasing them.

 

[AussiePiggies]

The no kill traps are expensive at Bunnings (cheaper on ebay if you can wait that long) but I used one for 2 years, catch... release...catch....release... further and further away from my home and they just kept coming! In the end I admitted defeat and bought an electric fast kill rat trap (as awful as I felt :weepy We had one kill with it and have not had another mouse in the house for over 6 months.

 

[jubespiggies]

I just seriously would rather not have to kill the mouse. I did for a long period of time consider rescuing a mouse and i would feel so guilty if i had to let my parents just kill it. I'll see if i can buy a trap off ebay, then see how that turns out. Also, how far is it recommended to release them and what types of locations (eg. Parks)?

 

[AussiePiggies]

I think 50m is recommended, I went from 50...to 100, to 1km down the hill to the golf course and they still kept coming Make sure you don't release when your neighbours are looking LOL!

 

[Varcoda]

in all honesty, wild mice are something you do NOT want as a pet. not only because of the nasty diseases and potential dangers of that, but they can be VERY nippy as well! varies with what breed it is too i bet.

while i understand not wanting to kill the small thing, it might be a better thing to do because mice populate like crazy AND you'll be giving someone else a mouse problem when you release it elsewhere

 

[madelineelaine]

My dad used to do that with rabbits in our backyard.

they would eat his garden, so he would use our live trap and release them into the forrest about a km away, maybe a little further.

He's caught all sorts of things in that. We would put a tiny bit of pb on the trap part. He caught a possum by accident, a bird, he's caught MANY squirrels etc.

Although one horrific thing did happen and I'm not sure if it's to traumatizing to post as people have rabbits as pets. If you go the live trap option, and it's anywhere outside, make sure you release as soon as something is caught. My dad used to have a small mouse trap too, as they also ate our gardens. I think that was less succesful.

 

[MochaAndMoo]

While I understand mice are cute and small, they carry deadly diseases.

I understand that you don't want to harm the poor creatures, but catching them, releasing them, catching them, releasing them.. It is a never ending cycle.

 

[AussiePiggies]

While I understand mice are cute and small, they carry deadly diseases.

I understand that you don't want to harm the poor creatures, but catching them, releasing them, catching them, releasing them.. It is a never ending cycle.

And I am sure the ones I caught had been in my "mouse holiday apartment" as my friends use to laughingly call it because when I would go and check on it the frequent flyers wouldn't even attempt to hide from me!! These were the mice I released 1km down a steep hill :crazy:

 

[Varcoda]

ah yes, i remembered a story about live mouse traps.... how the person thought she was being kinder to the mouse by trapping it alive. only problem is.. it was winter and the poor thing had a major panic attack and eventually froze to death with pee and poop all over.

so... it might not be the kindest thing to do after all :eye-poppi

 

[R5 plus]

Some things that are supposed to repel mice are: peppermint, peppermint oil on cotton balls, steel wool in crevices, sealing openings more than a 1/4", something called "Fresh Cab" (mixed reviews), fabric softener sheets, ultrasonic repellers (will bother gpigs, so make sure it's somewhere in another room and far away).

If you don't take care of where they are coming in, they'll keep coming back.

 

[_Cass_]

Yes, if you get ultrasonic repeller make sure it's FAR away from your pigs as possible.
A friend of the family had one of those repellers in their room, forgot about it, and bought a Guinea pig... The poor thing was acting strange (running in circles, wheeking a lot, etc) and eventually died in a week or so because of the stress.
The worst part is they thought it was funny when they found out.

Anyways, yeah please be careful with those!

What about those sticky paper things that go on the ground?
Are they humane?

 

[cfoster1966]

You can make a bucket trap. I am sure there are directions online but it is basically a tall bucket with bait inside and it is rigged with some kind of stick. Basically, the mice get into the bucket for the food but can't get out. I have found many a mouse at the bottom of my buckets in my garage without even trapping them so I know it works and it is free.

 

[R5 plus]

The sticky paper is not humane. It is really strong adhesive and they will die a slow, cruel death. The exterminator would use those in my parents' garage - it was sad.