So Mad At Myself.

[Snuggles]

Yesterday there was a field trip at the pet shop where I work. I took the kids around and got several animals out and we talked about them. When we got to the mouse enclosure, I got a mouse out and everyone got to pet her. As the kids were sanitizing their hands, I went to put the mouse away. She held onto my shirt and grabbed at my hair. Fine, she won. I left her on my shoulder and she went to sleep under my collar for the rest of the night.

I have an empty cage at home that is made for robo/dwarf hamsters. The wires are so close together, and it had belonged to a friend that gave it to me when his mouse died. I had a mouse in the cage before, too. Since all my tanks were occupied with tarantulas, I put her in the cage. She ran the wheel and had a great time.

When I woke up this morning, she was gone. It is all my fault.

 

[xhexdx]

Gone as in dead or gone as in escaped from the cage?

 

[Snuggles]

Escaped. Sorry, long morning.

I never had anything escape before.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

It's a common error; despite the number of rodent cages on the market, few are actually rodent safe and escape proof. Any bar spacing over 1/4" is too big for mice; escapes/injuries are common. Aquariums are a safer bet generally, though obviously ventillation can be an issue particularly if cleaning is not frequent enough. Sorry to hear that your little guy got away, at any rate, but don't give up all hope. Consider setting some live-capture humane traps or a simple bucket trap (ramp + bucket + tasty food item = trapped mouse). They very often turn up, even after weeks MIA.

 

[arachyd]

If it was a female you should make a serious effort to recapture her. A mouse old enough to be carried about on a shoulder, handled by a group of children and housed on its own is probably old enough to already be pregnant.

 

[Pacmaster]

Heres what I do when a breeder gets loose, it has happened b4.

Youll generally know where its at, and if you dont get it right away, theyll find a home w/access to food and water and they are quite "regular" creatures, they follow the same paths, go to the same places, etc . . .

Once you know where it is and where it goes and how it gets there, you use the old box-n-stick method.

Getyourself a heavy bowl or such(clear if possible) and place it upside down in the pathway, leaning one side on a stick of somekind to which a string is tied.
Now bait the trap and leave, let the mouse find the food(sugary treats like peanut butter is best) and be comfortable eating it.
Youll have to decide when the time is right to spring the trap tho, and mice learn quick- you may only get 1 or 2 shots.
The more rascally mice might take a few days, but its kinda fun, like playing cat and mouse!

I caught a family of 5 wild mice like this in my old place.(not all at once )


Or, I could just let you borrow my Jack Russell, thatll do the trick for sure . .

 

[Snuggles]

I'm getting humane traps tonight. I went out last night and couldn't find humane traps anywhere, so I called all over the place today and finally found them in a neighboring county (Tractor Supply).

I have to find her before my cats do. :8o

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Has the cage been cleaned out yet? I was a little sleepy last night and forgot to mention one of the simplest ways you'll often catch the mouse. Simply put its cage on the floor, door open, water available, food in there but hard to get at so it can't be carried off easily. Half of the time, they'll come back to what smells familiar, and if you wake up early enough you're apt to find your mouse in the tank taking a snooze or eating.

 

[Snuggles]

Has the cage been cleaned out yet? I was a little sleepy last night and forgot to mention one of the simplest ways you'll often catch the mouse. Simply put its cage on the floor, door open, water available, food in there but hard to get at so it can't be carried off easily. Half of the time, they'll come back to what smells familiar, and if you wake up early enough you're apt to find your mouse in the tank taking a snooze or eating.

Thanks, RoachGirlRen.

Yeah, that's what I did when she escaped. I put her cage on the floor. It's still on the floor. The store that said they had a ton of humane traps actually only had two of them. So, I bought those and they are set up and have been since Friday.

No luck yet.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Don't abandon hope just yet. Following a phone call in which we declined to accept an unwanted group of mice, a large number of domesticated mice were released in my garage/basement area (we're known in the area for rescue, though I'm not sure exactly why they couldn't have left them in cages if they intended to dump them on us). Despite my neighbor's cat & dog and my chickens prowling outside, and a terrier and cat living inside, we found over the course of several months an abundance of mice surviving - and unfortunately breeding - quite well in our home and basement. Indeed a full year later we still caught the odd white or tan mouse in our humane traps. I've known escaped mice to turn up weeks or months after they went MIA, even in households with predators.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[halfwaynowhere]

I've had a mouse loose in my room for a few months now. I hear her every night, and every so often I'll catch a glimpse of her. She hasn't left my room in all this time, which is good since we've got a lot of cats. I'd just try and keep the cats out of the room you lost her in, and try setting humane traps to catch her.

 

[Snuggles]

Yeah, humane traps are set, halfwaynowhere. I am fairly certain she made it to the basement, and I don't allow my cats down there. So, hopefully she will get hungry and take the bait.

Luckily, I have no pest problems in my house. So, she won't breed. It seems like just a waiting thing now. Heeeeeere, mousey, mousey, mousey!

Oh, and also the trip out to Tractor Supply was better than I thought it would be because...they sell chicks! And ducklings! That's right! I live in the city, so this is exciting to me!!! I am so glad they had to be sold in groups of six or more or I would SO be in an episode of Friends right now!!!

 

[halfwaynowhere]

lol. keeping chickens in the city isn't too hard, as long as the neighbors don't complain, and animal control doesn't show up (or they just leave a notice, and you can temporarily relocate the chickens for the time they schedule to come by).