Potential Mouse Owner

[TheQueen]

Hi everyone. Lately I've been thinking about getting a pair of female fancy mice. I've always wanted some! So, of course, I'm trying to do my research! I figured some people on here would know about mice care. They're similar to hamsters, are they not?

I know about toys and handling and such, the two things I'm more concerned about are cages and food. I know they need pellets, but can they have a mixed food, with seeds and coloured bits, or are they like pigs, and they can choke on them? Should I get a mixed food, or just a plain pellet? Food made for hamsters is okay, right? Does anybody know a good brand? Secondly, can they have fruits and veggies? How much, and what are no-nos? What about seeds or nuts, like sunflower and such?

Now, about the cage, I have a few ideas, but I wanted to see what people liked best. I know that a pair of females need at least 2 square feet, but is it like with pigs, and they need 2 square feet on the ground floor, and they can have second levels, or is just 2 square feet in all (1 foot on one floor, and another on another floor)? I was either going to make a cage using an aquarium, or I was going to use a commercial cage (a larger one) and add on to it. I don't really like the bin cages. So which one do you guys think would work better? Aquarium or some type of small animal cage (rat, bird, etc)?

A few other things. I was going to use Carefresh as bedding. Do you think they would eat it? Or is it different for each mouse? Any other tips or stories would be great! Thanks!

 

[Snow_Piggy]

Good for you for doing yopur research! Their care is similer to hamsters.

Cage: A 20 gallon aquarium is a good size for 2 mice. I usually go by 10 gallons per mouse unless they seem territorial then they may need more space.

Food: A mix or food blocks are a good choice. Mazuri is a brand to look for. Yes mice can have seed mixes and they prefer them as there is more selection. A good brand is Small World. But with seed mixes you must make sure that you have picked out the corn as it has been thought to do great harm to mice. And sunflower seeds and peanuts should be mostly picked out as they are fattening. I wouldn't use hamster food as it is made for hamsters not mice. Almost all veggies and fruits are safe. But look here for a list (it is for hamsters but they can have mostly the same food except for corn): (broken link removed) and (broken link removed).

Mice can have second levels they are not like cavies where they need all of their floor space on one level. But be warned as mice can almost always escape from wire cages, that is why usually only bin cages and aquariums are suggested as they are amazing escape artists. So aquarium all the way even the habitrail cage that is made for mice isn't quite as good.

Carefresh or aspen shavings are both great! The might taste the carefresh to see what it is but they probably won't eat it. My mouse doesn't eat carefresh.

 

[TheQueen]

Thank you Snow_Piggy. That helps me a bunch. I've looked at loads of different websites, and most suggest different things. But as long as I have a good basic knowledge, I can learn what works best about some things as I go.

 

[crazywiggy]

Food:

Here in the UK there are a few brands of mouse food (as opposed to hamster food). I'm not sure how good they are but I kept 9 on one brand with no problems.
One thing I would recommend is don't use a food bowl. Mice naturally forage for their food - I always mixed mine in with the bedding and hid it in their toys so they had to look for it. It's great watching them hunt for the tasty bits. Of course make sure you keep the cage clean if you're going to do this (although obviously you should keep the cage clean anyway.)

Cages:

I think most people usually recommend tanks for mice but I'm not so keen on them. They are more limited in size and don't give the mice any chance to climb. I used a hamster cage for mine (Imac fantasy) which is plastic floors with wire sides, and the levels are linked by tunnels. The only problem with wire cages is that some mice are too small and can get out. If you are going to adopt mice that are already fully grown this shouldn't be a problem so long as the gap between the bars is really small. (None of mine every escaped).

Feels wierd talking about mice - I had 9 to start with. The last one died only just before Christmas. :weepy: I still hate seeing the empty space where their cage used to be....

 

[Snow_Piggy]

I always use a food dish as I can moniter how much my mouse eats or if he is eating at all.