A New Mouse + Quarantine

by River Sun 10 Dec 2017, 9:55 am

Sorry if this is the wrong section!

We're going to look at some mice today. This will be my first time doing a real quarantine, so I found a hamster cage in my garage. It's a little smaller than the 10 gallon and has a bar spacing of 1 cm. There is a gap in the door which a mouse could definitely get out of, but it's on the roof, and I always put a heavy book on top of the lids/doors anyhow, so I'm pretty sure it'll be fine all covered up like that. Thoughts?

Moving on from that, do you have any tips for quarantine? What kind of toys do you use for quarantine -- do you recycle from the current colony or just make new ones? Do you buy extra bedding for the month or use a different material?

Also; name ideas. I think I've worn out the photographer theme, but it had a good run. I was considering a hellenic (green mtyhology) theme. Mice are sacred to Apollo but that won't work very well for a gal.

by Blessed Sun 10 Dec 2017, 11:47 am

Hmm, you probably shouldn't use a hamster cage for mice; that means the bars will more likely than not be, be too wide. And with mice being so small, I am positive after a week, perhaps, they may find a way out by squeezing through the bars (that's what my male did when I'd had him for five days in a hamster/mouse cage).

In regards to your second question, I don't think I have any tips; I actually never did quarantining either. Razz

But my girl(s) always took to the new one(s) very nicely. Smile

I think most do, in my opinion/experience.
And, if your current mouse is healthy, which I'd imagine she is, you should take one of her toys (good idea!) to put it in your new mouse's cage, that way she/they can at least smell Graham's scent. =)
And in answer to the question about the bedding, I think you should just use what you're currently using for Graham, or, use paper towels. That's a cheap, super-easy-to-clean option.

by River Sun 10 Dec 2017, 4:05 pm

It's only 1/3rd of an inch across the cage, spare for the one area I'll cover -- I think that's within the limits the housing section listed, but I'm not sure. I'm gonna put the cage on the desk I let my current girl run around on for playtime, so an escapee won't be in too much danger unless they're one of those rare mice that are convinced they can fly.

Thank you! Graham is very healthy, albeit getting a little chubby. Her girlfriend wasn't feeling too hot when she died, but that was only old age, so I'll give her some of the used toys.

Introducing my girls the first time around was not taken very kindly to by Maier. She didn't like Graham at all -- she was terrified of her -- but they eventually became nothing short of a married couple, so I'm hoping this will go just as well once the quarantines up.

I'll try to get pictures when I have her settled!

by River Sun 10 Dec 2017, 4:43 pm

Edit: I think we might be naming her 'Garcia' after the character from Criminal Minds. Gives room for a lot of nicknames.

by AnonymousMouseOwner Sun 10 Dec 2017, 5:38 pm

I'm not sure about the cage, I can't really exactly picture what you are explaining, but if it looks secure, and like a mouse won't be getting out of the gap you are mentioning, I think it should be ok. Keep in mind that if you are getting mice from a pet store, they will likely be young and smaller, therefore able to fit through smaller gaps.

I tend to use mostly plastic toys for quarantine. This is because they can be easily sanitized, just in case the mouse in quarantine ends up being ill. I do however, add in some disposable toys, like popsicle stick playgrounds, paper drink holders, toilet paper tubes, etc. since they can just be thrown away if the mouse ends up being sick. Any store-bought wood toys or really well made MESs that you don't want to end up throwing away though, I wouldn't use.

Well, I've always got bedding lying around (In fact, I think I have like 3 or 4 giant Carefresh bags right now, lol), so I just use what I have.

As for quarantine tips, just make sure to keep the new mouse as far away as possible from your current mousie, Graham, to be as safe as possible!

by Peachy Sun 10 Dec 2017, 6:03 pm

Good responses regarding quarantine, so I'll just mention that I love Garcia!! Applause

My first boy was named Apollo, and my first girls were Athena and Artemis. But I probably would have named a girl Apollo, too. Razz

by River Tue 12 Dec 2017, 3:18 pm

Well, I think we'll be making use of the return policy.

Thank god I quarantined this time around, as my luck hasn't been entirely on my side lately.

The little girl we'd named Ares is, in fact, a boy.

I don't have the room to keep another properly sized tank nor the resources to maintain it longterm, so keeping a male is out of the question for us.

Back to searching, I guess.

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