New here!

by SarahAdams Tue 18 Aug 2020, 11:19 pm

I find myself petless for the first time in my life. I was browsing the site of my local humane society, thinking I might adopt a budgie or two. Instead, I see one tiny pretty male mouse. I felt bad a mouse had been dumped, so bookmarked the page and was telling my niece about "Sky" but that I was not up to making the trip to the humane society. She agreed to go since it's near her house so I pulled up the page to show her and lo and behold, one mouse had multiplied into three - all brothers.

What to do? I know male mice cannot be kept together and that no one seems to want them, yet I wanted to help them and couldn't take just one. I'm sure you can guess the rest. Three little cages arrived yesterday and now 3 little stinky boys occupy them. I pushed the cages about 1/2" apart so they could see and smell each other.

I've had lots of rats, but the last mouse I had was a deer mouse baby my cat brought home - unharmed - and I kept it until the weather improved then it go, so I am going to have questions and this seems like a great place to ask! Glad to be here. Looks like a great forum!

"Sorbet"
New here! KxDtHHA

by chiroptera Fri 21 Aug 2020, 2:39 am

Welcome!! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask around. c:

Sorbet is super cute.

by SarahAdams Fri 21 Aug 2020, 10:32 am

Thanks for the reply, Chiroptera! I do have a question: I looked at the album of your adorable mice and see you have them out of their cage.

Mine are settled in now. One of them is very shy, one seems semi-tame and one of them gets right on my hand when I put my hand in his cage and seems to want to come out. They are so tiny and fast I'm afraid they'll fall or escape if I bring them out.

How do you keep yours on your hand and have any of them ever run off? I don't want to have to get my humane mouse trap out if one of them scurries under a piece of furniture. Laughing

by chiroptera Mon 24 Aug 2020, 3:23 pm

@SarahAdams At first, if you're worried about them jumping off of you, I would try taking them out in a room where there's no risk of them escaping - a bathroom, for instance. Lots of people like to have tub time with their mice, where they sit in the bathtub and let their mice run around freely.

Usually, they're not keen to jump off of you, though it's certainly not unheard of. If you have a specifically skittish mouse, they might try to escape and jump off you, but I can only really remember two or so mice that would do that.

To be extra safe, take them out and let them explore a tall, open space like a table, bed, or countertop, or in a very open, secure space on the floor - with supervision of course! (Bathtub, playpen, closed room with no furniture and the door blocked off, etc.)

by SarahAdams Mon 24 Aug 2020, 9:01 pm

Usually, they're not keen to jump off of you, though it's certainly not unheard of.

Yes, I am noticing that when they come out on their cage doors and look down they seem to be afraid of heights. Cage to floor must look like the Grand Canyon to them!

I just made them a playpen out of a storage bin I had, to put them in (one at a time of course - no fighting allowed) while I'm cleaning their cages. I'm going to try your tabletop suggestion as soon as I get a few more items/hidey places for them to play on. I remember my rats wouldn't jump off and I'm starting to think these mice won't either.

Thanks for the helpful tips! Very Happy

by chiroptera Fri 28 Aug 2020, 5:43 pm

@SarahAdams I honestly wouldn't worry much at all about them jumping off the table - although it's certainly not impossible, I don't think I can think of a single time I've seen a mouse jump from a table/countertop. Of course, I'd still not leave them unsupervised, but because rare things do still happen, but it's definitely not a common concern.

A storage bin playpen sounds like a great idea! I actually made what I called the "mouse mall" for my girls to play on out of boxes and other cardboard pieces, I would put that on the counter for them and let them run around and explore it! Unfortunately, I got rid of it a couple moves ago, but I really regret doing so.

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