# Mice!! <3



## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

My fiance has acquired 3 small fancy mouse (mice?) females and they are cute as can be! (will post pics later if you like)

Any advice on care or training? (we're newbies when it comes to this kind of thing)

Also, we managed to sort of teach them last night that we weren't going to hurt them and our most timid (an albino named Salt) got so comfortable with us that she will willingly climb up on our hands to run around on our fingers. She's such a sweetie!!

Anyway, we have them set up right now in a 10 gal aquarium with recycled newspaper bedding, a water bottle, a little hut for them to hide in and some birdseed :/ We're a little at a loss on what to feed them. The lady at the store said they can eat anything we can... but that's hardly healthy for them I think.... so they also have a piece of bread to munch on

I'll be going to the petstore tomorrow, so I'd like to know if there's anything I should pick up for the little ones


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

If I remember cedar is bad. Mice are adorible.


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## gn3ranger (Jul 7, 2012)

If your going to keep them in a 10 gal tank be ready to clean your tank often since Ammonia builds up really fast due to little to no ventilation in tanks.

As for the food they were right they will eat anything which means you can buy them any type of food that has like gerbil,hamster in-front of it. You can give them An accasional treat once in a while say like your eating a Cookie you can break off tiny bite size peice for them,It's ok to give them something nice once in a while but not often.

As for your litter As chocolatebetta said Cedar is a No No it will cause respiratory Problems so try and find Aspen litter.

Also try and pick up a Wheel for them Unlike rats which sometimes don't use their wheels mice love to run on them its good excersise for them

For training I'd just look on youtube , but anything you want them to learn or do will require treats that I know for sure. Potty training and such should be fairly easy

This is all i can think of since I mostly deal with rats,But due to taking care of mice for a friend I picked up somewhat of what they need. Hope this helps you


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

yeah, the litter we're using is paper, (recycled, kid of wadded up into little ball like things, we bought it from the same store because it was what they recommended)

And the 10 gal doesn't have a lid and is kept in a well ventilated area (though we still clean the tank of course)
EDIT: I should add that the mice are TINY, our full grown one's body is only about 2 1/2 inches long max

We plan on getting a wheel for them soon, thanks for all your help


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## gn3ranger (Jul 7, 2012)

Oh no the lid isn't what I meant I meant the glass vs a cages bars that's what i meant that it isn't very ventilated so when they pee,poop etc The smell will build up much faster. Tanks aren't bad they just build up ammonia faster so they require much more frequent cleaning each week. 

Oh and your using bedding not litter from what you describes


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Aw miceys  I miss having mine around. Give them a toilet paper roll (with half-full roll of paper still on it) they can shred it for a their nest. Food can be seed majority but they LOVE treats. Fruit and veggies are better treats, and in small amounts. I fed mine a lot of cookies and things I ate. 
They're fun little guys to have around  Best of luck.


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

Thanks, they're getting used to us and crawl all over our hands and play xD it's so cute <3


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

I rescued a male REW fancy mouse from the clutches of my neighbor's cat. She was playing with it and I couldn't bear to see what might happen next. 

Anyways, I named him Algernon and he lived in a Habitrial Ovo (didn't really have anything else for him to live in) in the garage because he was smelly as I'll get out. I would clean his cage and the next day it would smell terrible again. The male mouse musk scent is nauseating to me. 

He eventually got a tumor on his spine, about a year and a half after rescuing him, and died from mass paralysis of his back end, and of course, the tumor. I will never get another male mouse as long as I live.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

TheFunMouseForum is the ultimate place to learn about mouse care. Make sure the food you get has a protein count between 12$ and 14%. Block food is better than seed mix because with seed mix mice pick out the fatty stuff and don't eat the vitamins. Try to avoid seed mixes with sunflower seeds as these should ONLY ever be given as treats and avoid peanuts. Petshop mice have a nasty habit of having a food allergy to them and it can be deadly. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, I have kept mice for years with long lives and have studied them to become a breeder in my 50's (got a LONG way to go).


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

Okay, thanks


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

12% and 14% not 12$ >.<

normally too much protein can make petshop mice break into rashes and lose fur. Unless they were from a reputable show breeder then they can withstand up to 24% GRANTED they say that is acceptable within their bloodline.


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## PaulO (Aug 13, 2012)

Aspen shavings are okay but sometimes they can be a little dusty. I had used them as bedding for my rats and it would sometimes cause a little sneezing. If you bought aspen already what I would do is measure out how much would be in the cage (once it was spread out from its compressed form) then you can put in a bag and shake it for a few seconds and let all the dust fly out. Once you are finished with that bag of bedding you can continue to use aspen or you can try carefresh ultra or natural. These beddings help a little with odor but they are a little more expensive. Either way any of these two are a good choice for small animals such as mice.


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## BettaHeart (Jan 2, 2011)

LadyVictorian said:


> *TheFunMouseForum *is the ultimate place to learn about mouse care. Make sure the food you get has a protein count between 12$ and 14%. Block food is better than seed mix because with seed mix mice pick out the fatty stuff and don't eat the vitamins. Try to avoid seed mixes with sunflower seeds as these should ONLY ever be given as treats and avoid peanuts. Petshop mice have a nasty habit of having a food allergy to them and it can be deadly. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, I have kept mice for years with long lives and have studied them to become a breeder in my 50's (got a LONG way to go).



:lol: i was just about to mention this site lol

love CreekValleyCritters on youtube


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