anyone keep pet mice?

[JungleGuts]

Just woundering if anyone here keeps pet mice, I had 2 a few years back and they were great pets, did well being handled and fun to watch play. They were pretty active. Anyone else currently keeping or have kept pet mice? Pics anyone?

 

[Bulldog08]

I had a colony of 10k+ at my last job does that count? They were fun but 10k mice begin to stink a bit. We did research on them though.

 

[JungleGuts]

yea the enclosures do need to be cleaned very often

 

[G. pulchra]

Only keep them long enough to go from the box into my snake's belly

 

[Falyn]

I got a lil mouse his name is Monkey

 

[AneesasMuse]

I've had a few... my most recent was Frog. He was a little silkie black with powder grey belly (a berkshire, I suppose)... the longest, softest hair! I found him amongst a bunch of feeders and when I noticed his "natural part" in his hair, I had to have him.

He passed away from old age about 2 months ago.

 

[Yuki]

Yes i have a male and female pet mouse, and I breed them for pinkies.(my snake food)

 

[tequila]

Yes i have a male and female pet mouse, and I breed them for pinkies.(my snake food)

Hi i wanted to start breeding mice as food for my other pets any advice, i have a Ball Python, a Chilean Rose Hair (G. rosea), and i am going to get a Brazilian Salmon (L. parahybana) next week, and of course i will only be feeding the tarantulas pinkies, after molts, and adults to my BP.
What kind should i get?
Are they hard to breed at all? (Temp/Humidity?)
What Size/Type Of Cage? (for a male and a female and their babies)

sorry some of the questions may seem stupid but all i have ever used them for is to feed my snake? Never kept them as pets.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

and adults to my BP.

I hope you mean pre-killed, because adult rodents can and do fight back, and it isn't pretty. Also, don't bother, your BP will outgrow even the adult mice and will need to be switched over to rats anyway, you may as well find a rat size suitable for it now and start trying to switch it (they can be picky and it can take a while).

That and you would have to breed a LOT of mice to be able to feed off an adult every single week. Caring for all that just seems like a lot of unnecessary work when you can bulk order a bunch of meat for like 45 cents apiece and store them in the freezer, there you go, food for the next six months, no extra work necessary.

 

[JLDomestics]

I have Egyptian Spiny Mice (Acomys), possibly Acomys cahirinus, but I am uncertain. They are pretty neat, but tend to like to bite.

 

[Heather]

Hello!

I currently have 4 little does (lady's)! Only wanted 2... but well, u know how it goes when ya see another precious baby!

This is where they live... I am constantly changing everything, I do an entire cage clean every 4 days. Many things have since been chewed to retirement... but the housing is still the same

This is my first mouse, Shali:

The last three are Coco, Treea (the white and gray) and Tiny (the yellow)... all wanting a turn at the wheel.

They are extremely fun to watch and interact with, but I really find them to be less than socialable... One of mine loves to bite (but not to the point of bleeding!) ... but they are truly fun little squishies!

Lucky for them they are off of my snakes menu... they don't know how lucky they are

 

[Penna]

I'd have a hard time getting attached to a furry cheeseburger.

 

[Vanilla]

I have 2 mice right now.A little fat,chunky girl named Misty and a smaller girl named Milkshake.

I have bred and raised mice for yrs before tho.I recently gave it up.I do want some more tho and there is a beautiful dove mouse at a local store here,which I am considering going to get.

 

[Dom]

I used to produce hundreds of them when I kept herps. After awhile they started producing some nicely colored offspring. I found rats were smarter and made better pets though (less stinky as well).

 

[Vanilla]

I used to produce hundreds of them when I kept herps. After awhile they started producing some nicely colored offspring. I found rats were smarter and made better pets though (less stinky as well).

Your right...I totally agree.Rats do make much better pets then mice.They are less stinky,smarter and like to be handled and fussed about,more then mice.

I have 7 rats and 2 mice currently and the mice don't care much about attention from me,while the rats beg for my attention.In my opinion,rats have personalities similar to doggies!

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

I have a group of big-eyed brown mice that MIGHT belong to the genus Peromyscus...but they look like hybrids between native deermice and native white-footed mice.
Since the above have not actually been observed to hybridize I cannot be completely sure that these have.

They did come to me as "wild" mice...but from where...?

Have exotic mice ever escaped in this country?
If so...were any big-eyed browns?
With elongated forepaw "mittens"?
White undersides;and two-toned tails?

Just HOW did they happen?

Quite perplexedly yours,

Louise Esther Rothstein.

 

[JungleGuts]

Hello!

I currently have 4 little does (lady's)! Only wanted 2... but well, u know how it goes when ya see another precious baby!

This is where they live... I am constantly changing everything, I do an entire cage clean every 4 days. Many things have since been chewed to retirement... but the housing is still the same

This is my first mouse, Shali:

The last three are Coco, Treea (the white and gray) and Tiny (the yellow)... all wanting a turn at the wheel.

They are extremely fun to watch and interact with, but I really find them to be less than socialable... One of mine loves to bite (but not to the point of bleeding!) ... but they are truly fun little squishies!

Lucky for them they are off of my snakes menu... they don't know how lucky they are

cool little set-up but why do a full clean ever 4 days!? Thats causing some stress on the little mice....

 

[jimmyx36]

I love my pet mice. I breed one female for pets or food. I don't really bother handling them. After a while I realized that they just like to be left alone with eachother. They are quite stinky little animals though, even the females. Although people may tell you that its hard to keep your own as feeders, some of the pros that I have noticed is that when a pet, especially a Tarantula, doesn't want the pinky or fuzzy if it's not hungry, you can just put it back with the mom after a couple of minutes and try using it again later. Also, pinkies can be humanely put in a freezer yourself (they have no fur) to keep later, but I couldn't do this to the mother because it freaks her out. Also, you can choose the size you want yourself when you have your own families. The cons are the constant bedding changes, they horde their food and pee all over it, and the fact that you should stay away from back to back breeding is inconvenient, for it can kill your female if she doesnt have a break between litters.

 

[Heather]

cool little set-up but why do a full clean ever 4 days!? Thats causing some stress on the little mice....

Why every 4 days you ask... because I have 4 mice in this cage and after about that time they begin to smell rather unpleasant. Unlike some other small pets, my mice choose to relieve themselves where ever and whenever they choose, they have no set area for that purpose. I can do a 'spot' clean on the 2 upper levels, but I still have to do a complete bedding change because they do not use only an area or 2 to do their business. They even mess in their own sleeping area.

I understand that the cleaning may be stressfull, but I refuse to let any animal live in filth, they are not going to sleep, eat, play, dig and burrow in their own waste. Not to mention the health risks that come with breathing in the fumes from their waste.

They always seem to enjoy the newly cleaned cage, they anxiously go back in and explore everything, stop and eat and then they all go to one of the houses and rest till evening and then they begin with their nesting instincts and stuff, shred and pack bedding and tp into the current house. I just didn't realize that being put back into a home that still has items with their scent on it was that stressfull.

If anyone has any tips they would like to share on a more 'appropriate' way to keep the mice cage clean please feel free to share.

(And yes, ideally downsizing to 2 mice would be the best option, and then every 7-8 days would be more than appropriate. They are not crowded in this cage and each has plenty of room to play or be by themselves if they choose.)

 

[Heather]

Your right...I totally agree.Rats do make much better pets then mice.They are less stinky,smarter and like to be handled and fussed about,more then mice.

I have 7 rats and 2 mice currently and the mice don't care much about attention from me,while the rats beg for my attention.In my opinion,rats have personalities similar to doggies!

I agree totally with the Rats being a better choice. My mice would rather be left alone and not messed with, while the Rats enjoy your touch and interact with you. And oddly enuff, they do not stink like the mice do. Once my mice pass... I am getting a couple of Rats! (Instead of obsessing over someone elses :} )