Hello

by M O U S E Mon 23 Mar 2020, 8:35 am

Hey, I'm new to Pet Mouse Fanciers, although I use Hamster Hideout Forum. My family has a female dog named Maise (masha), another female dog named Caoilfhoinn (key-lynn), a male dog named Flaithuil (flaw-hool), a cat named Zaira (zay-rah), and I just recently got two new mice. My brother will be getting a fancy crested gecko sometime soon too. I've never owned a mouse before, but I had a hamster named Cairdeus (car-jus). I will forever love her. The mice I have are young females. I named the dark brown one Fiadh (fee-ah) meaning "wild" and the grain colored one with red eyes Roisin (roh-sheen) meaning "little rose".
I will probably be posting quite a bit on here because I have a lot of questions. Unfortunately, I did not do any research on caring for mice beforehand. I went to the store for a hamster, but the employee and my mom both convinced me to get mice instead. I am doing my own research and have already cleared up a few questions, but it's nice to get another opinion.

by sclonder Mon 23 Mar 2020, 2:00 pm

Well you were right to get two females, that's probably the most important part! Males typically do better on their own and females do best in groups of 2-3. If possible, I'd probably get one more female as three is ideal (but two is perfectly fine!). The idea is that, as females are highly sociable and form deep bonds with their mates, if only two are together and one passes away, the other will likely become very sad if it does not have another friend to console with. But don't worry, you're in no rush so do what's best for you! Your mice will be as happy as can be together as a duo.

I think the general consensus for basics are:

-avoid softwood shavings for bedding (such as pine, cedar)

-circulate little toys for them to explore and chew on (nothing complicated, old socks, toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks.)

-change the bedding every 7-9 days. Really depends on how messy they are. If you scoop out the soiled bedding and replace it, generally the bedding will last a little longer.

Honestly, if you've owned Hamsters this should be a breeze, don't worry.
Have fun and good luck Smile

by M O U S E Mon 23 Mar 2020, 2:53 pm

sclonder wrote:Well you were right to get two females, that's probably the most important part! Males typically do better on their own and females do best in groups of 2-3. If possible, I'd probably get one more female as three is ideal (but two is perfectly fine!). The idea is that, as females are highly sociable and form deep bonds with their mates, if only two are together and one passes away, the other will likely become very sad if it does not have another friend to console with. But don't worry, you're in no rush so do what's best for you! Your mice will be as happy as can be together as a duo.

I think the general consensus for basics are:

-avoid softwood shavings for bedding (such as pine, cedar)

-circulate little toys for them to explore and chew on (nothing complicated, old socks, toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks.)

-change the bedding every 7-9 days. Really depends on how messy they are. If you scoop out the soiled bedding and replace it, generally the bedding will last a little longer.

Honestly, if you've owned Hamsters this should be a breeze, don't worry.
Have fun and good luck

Unfortunately getting a third mouse won't be an option for me until next year. Is aspen alright? I used it for my hamster. Should popsicle sticks be washed, a specific kind, etc? Thank you.

by sclonder Mon 23 Mar 2020, 6:09 pm

M O U S E wrote:
sclonder wrote:Well you were right to get two females, that's probably the most important part! Males typically do better on their own and females do best in groups of 2-3. If possible, I'd probably get one more female as three is ideal (but two is perfectly fine!). The idea is that, as females are highly sociable and form deep bonds with their mates, if only two are together and one passes away, the other will likely become very sad if it does not have another friend to console with. But don't worry, you're in no rush so do what's best for you! Your mice will be as happy as can be together as a duo.

I think the general consensus for basics are:

-avoid softwood shavings for bedding (such as pine, cedar)

-circulate little toys for them to explore and chew on (nothing complicated, old socks, toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks.)

-change the bedding every 7-9 days. Really depends on how messy they are. If you scoop out the soiled bedding and replace it, generally the bedding will last a little longer.

Honestly, if you've owned Hamsters this should be a breeze, don't worry.
Have fun and good luck
Unfortunately getting a third mouse won't be an option for me until next year. Is aspen alright? I used it for my hamster. Should popsicle sticks be washed, a specific kind, etc? Thank you.

It's absolutely no problem to wait to get a third, you're in no rush.

Aspen is great for mice, it isn't dusty and won't irritate them, it's one of the best choices.
For the popsicle sticks, you just kinda want something for your mice to chew on. Any type is fine, I would just get a handful whenever I'd go to a coffee shop. Also, I would wash them just to be safe Smile

You can use any little wooden object too lol. I put a wooden action figure guy into my mice's cage and they loved it.

by chiroptera Tue 24 Mar 2020, 1:02 am

M O U S E wrote:

Hello, and welcome to PMF!!

Congrats on your new mice, they're wonderful little critters. Personally I prefer them to hamsters, but I'm a little biased. Wink

I'd like to first ask, what are you feeding them? Some hamster foods may not be appropriate for mice, due to high protein. As well as... unfortunately, a lot of food labeled FOR mice isn't good for them, either. There are some hamster mixes that do work for mice, too, though!

If you had a hamster, I'm sure you have enough space for your little ones, but just in case, they should be in minimum a 10-gallon aquarium or a cage with equivalent floor space, bigger being better.

Aspen is fine for mice - most things that are safe for hamsters will also be safe for mice. I personally prefer paper bedding, but aspen is better for odor control, so that's more of a personal preference. They love some tissue/toilet paper/paper towel to shred and make nests with, though, so you might want to offer them some to play with!

Mice, unlike most hamsters, love to climb, so if you don't, I would offer them stuff to climb on for sure! They also love to have their houses really crammed full of stuff, as they don't like a lot of open space. Repurposed wood/cardboard/paper such as clean napkins, toilet paper rolls, cardboard food boxes, popsicle sticks, etc are mousie favorites! (Honestly, mice tend to prefer trash to their real toys Laughing

)

Oh, another thing is I would double-check that both your mice are actually female, the pet stores tend to have a lot of oopsies... and you could have a lot of babies really fast if one is actually a male.

If you have any more questions feel free to @ me or message me!

by M O U S E Sat 28 Mar 2020, 10:26 am

chiroptera wrote:
M O U S E wrote:
I'd like to first ask, what are you feeding them? Some hamster foods may not be appropriate for mice, due to high protein. As well as... unfortunately, a lot of food labeled FOR mice isn't good for them, either. There are some hamster mixes that do work for mice, too, though!

I'm feeding them Tropical Carnival Pet Mouse and Rat food. Thank you!

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