Rescued a mouse today. Help!

Shana · 06-21-2015, 12:20 PM

About an hour ago I was putting away laundry in my bedroom. The window was open and I heard a girl across the street ask a man if he knew anyone that wanted to adopt a pet mouse because she was about to let it go if she couldn't find anyone to take it. The guy said no, walked away, and the girl opened the cage and looked like she was preparing to let the mouse go. Obviously I couldn't just stand there and watch her release the mouse. I quickly told my husband what was going on, we went out on our balcony and told her that we'd take the mouse. So now we have a mouse.

I never planned out having a mouse, ever! They're perfectly sweet animals, but I'm fairly devoted to hamsters when it comes to small animals. I also know absolutely nothing about mice. I'm currently trying to learn the basics. It seems like the forum of choice for mouse info is "mice are nice" but it looks like their site is down. Are there any other good forums?

In the meantime, I have a few immediate questions:

- she's currently in a ten gallon tank, and we really don't have room for anything larger (if we did we'd have more than 1 hamster!) Is this too small, or is it manageable?
- in the five minutes of research I've done I've come across people saying that female mice can't be kept alone? Is this true? I'm getting used to the idea of having 1 mouse, but more would be pushing it. Especially given the space issue. If we did get more does it matter that they wouldn't be her siblings and would be a little younger? The girl said that she'd had her for 2 months, so I'm guessing she's still fairly young.
- what do they eat? Is there any crossover between hamster and mouse food and treats?
- she came with a silent spinner (fortunately one that's large enough) a water bottle, and a cardboard tube. She definitely needs more in her cage. Any suggestions? I gave her a couple of hamster toys that my girl has outgrown, but she still needs more!

Thanks in advance for any advice any of you have to give. I definitely need it!

**kyrilliondaemon** · 06-21-2015, 12:43 PM

Mice are nice has moved, its now The Rodents Nest and less species specific. Still fantastic for mouse info though

I can't remember the dimensions of a 10 gallon tank, but the ideal cage for a mouse varies depending on the individual. If she seems happy I'd not worry too much about the cage just yet, anything is better than being released into the wild.
Is your mouse definetly female? A male mouse would be fine alone but it is true that females tend to do best with company I'm afraid. If you did get more mice it wouldn't matter that they were younger and unrelated, female mice are generally pretty easy going with introductions. I have two groups of mice and both contain unrelated mice of different ages.
Most people feed mice and hamsters different diets, my mice have a really different diet to the hams but they do all share the same treats.
Mice generally love climbing so anything to climb would probably be good for her

Shana · 06-21-2015, 01:38 PM

Thanks for the link and the info, kyrilliondaemon!

I will definitely check her out and confirm that she's female. Fortunately it seems like she's very friendly, so I should be able to get a good look at her in a few days when she's more settled. If she is female is it ok for her to have only one companion, or is it really better to keep at least 3 together?

**kyrilliondaemon** · 06-21-2015, 01:45 PM

No problem

If she is female then one companion should be fine, the main reason most people keep trios or groups is that then if one dies the others aren't left alone.

Pebbles82 · 06-21-2015, 01:48 PM

That's all I can remember from mouse forums too, that they like to have something to climb in their tank - but then it would need a lid or she could jump out!

This ASPCA page suggests a 10 gallon tank is ok but I remember from the Mice are Nice forum they also used to encourage large cages and the Barney cage was popular for groups of mice, but most people recommended tanks due to the limited number of cages with small bar spacing. The Leon cage was supposed to be good because it had 6mm bar spacing.

According to this page, environment sounds the same as for a hamster - paper or aspen bedding, no pine, good depth of substrate, a little house/hide, toilet roll tube toy, water bottle and they recommend a tree branch for climbing (probably like those vine branches you can get for hamsters) but some kind of climbing toy would probably do. Also a wheel (which you have) and a chew toy like a safe piece of wood - it also tells you how to hold them and how not to pick them up and how to pick them up!

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/small...are/mouse-care

There are some links at the bottom of this RSPCA leaflet on caring for mice re diet, environment etc.

Mice - Rodents - Pets

This forum 'The Fun Mouse' gives info on female mice and whether they can live alone or not. It says generally no and they need company, but also says it's important how to introduce a new mouse if they haven't grown up together. I wouldn't have thought two would be much harder than one to look after though, if they're in together.

Keeping Mice Together

This is their main page - there is loads of info on there - it looks like a good site.

Fancy Mouse Information

They have a page here on substrates and how to control odour (although the odour problem seems to be more with male mice)

Cleaning, Bedding, and Smells!

There's a detailed page on mouse diet as well. It says not too much protein in a mix (no more than 13%) and that they need meat sometimes. Zooplus sells JR Farm Feast for mice and it has less than 13% protein and an excellent review!

JR Farm Feast for Mice. Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!

I think it's wonderful that you have taken in this little mousey! It does sound like it needs more enrichment in its cage and maybe a playmate and a vine branch

Shana · 06-21-2015, 04:53 PM

Thanks for all of the links, serendipity - I have lots of reading material now!

It looks like a second mouse may be in our future. I'm waiting until I'm absolutely certain that she's female. This also means we'll need a second tank for quarantine, so we'll get them a 20 gallon that they can both live in after 3 weeks. Hopefully that will be enough room. So much to learn...and buy! Are mice like dwarf hamsters in that two mice would do best with two of everything (wheels, huts, etc.), or are they better at sharing?

FluffySiberian · 06-21-2015, 05:36 PM

I had two female mice and they seemed to be just fine with sharing whatever was in their tank including their bed.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 06-21-2015, 05:50 PM

Thats a brilliant idea

Female mice are much better at sharing than dwarf hamster pairs, our groups never have one of anything per mouse. Female mice can decide they like an item and start to claim it as their territory but its rare and removing that item generally sorts the problems (without much risk at all of the same mouse claiming something else as theirs instead)

BrainGirl · 06-21-2015, 07:32 PM

Mice are lovely! I've only had one for a short time but she was really sweet. FWIW, it's illegal to release a domesticated animal into the wild in most places, not to mention cruel. It happens a lot here too though, with hamsters, rats, mice, fish...you name it

RememberWhen · 06-21-2015, 10:00 PM

I just wanted to wish you luck with your new mouse, they make sweet, adorable pets, in my opinion! I had a male mouse once, some years ago, and he was fantastic. Good for you for rescuing this little girl and for researching her needs so that she can live out the rest of her life safe and happy!