Sure! When a person usually thinks of mice, the first thought that may occur
is of the mouse as vermin. However, the humble mouse also has a long and
venerable reputation as a fun and fascinating pet. Mice have been kept as pets
for as long as there have been curious youngsters and understanding parents.
Countless mice have been carried home from nearby fields in a happy child’s
pocket, rescued from high school labs, or most commonly; bought from a pet shop.
Mice bought from a pet shop are very tame; in fact mice are considered the
smallest mammal to ever be domesticated.
Housing
There are basically two types of cages that are popular among pet mice
enthusiasts—the basic galvanized wire cage and the plastic modular enclosure.
The galvanized wire cage is exactly as the name implies, it’s a square or
rectangular box made of heavy gauge galvanized wire with a metal bottom.
Sometimes the bottom is made to slide in and out like a bird cage’s bottom in
order to facilitate cleaning. Water and food receptacles can easily be clipped
onto the sides.
The other type of housing is the same
type often used for pet gerbils or hamsters. It consists of a central enclosure
to which several “tunnels” can then be added simply by snapping these
additional modules on. These in turn can then be connected to other tunnels or
central modules until the whole thing resembles some sort of futuristic
moon-base. This type of set-up is made of colorful, durable plastic. Whichever
type of housing you decide to choose is dependent solely on your needs and the
amount of space in your home that you wish to dedicate to your pets, although I
find the plastic modular type harder to clean and keep clean.
The flooring material can be newspaper, coarse sawdust, or any commercial
material sold specifically for that purpose. Mice prefer their environment nice
and dry, humidity and wetness can lead to lung problems.
Feeding
Feeding your pet mice is easy. Most pet shops sell ready-made mouse food.
These “pellets” contain all of the basic nutrients, vitamins and minerals your
pets need. Still, it’s a good idea to occasionally vary your pet’s diet by
adding some raw oats, fresh, thoroughly washed leafy green vegetables, carrot,
or even some bird seed. Just remember that these extra foods should only be
included to your pet’s diet sparingly and any uneaten portions removed
immediately. A pet mouse that ingests too much of these foods develops
digestive problems that can lead to diarrhea or worse. Also, be sure to always
keep clean, fresh water available. The best way to do this is with the inverted
water bottle sold at most pet shops just for this purpose. Mice eat insects
too, and the rare cricket or grasshopper is greatly appreciated.
Gnawing
A mouse’s incisors, those two sets of specialized front teeth that help to
identify them as members of the order Rodentia (gnawing animals), never stop
growing. Therefore mice should always have something in their enclosure to gnaw
on in order for their teeth to wear down naturally. You can place a clean, hard
piece of wood in their cage, or offer them hard-shelled nuts like filberts,
walnuts, or Brazil nuts. Some pet shops sell commercially prepared products for
mice and other gnawing animals to chew on. These have the added advantage of
being infused with beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Breeding
There are about 70 different color variations of domesticated mice,
including the popular albino ones most commonly seen in labs and pet shops.
Regardless of what color they are, they are all members of the same family and
are descended from the ordinary house mouse. Mice are naturally prolific, and a
person keeping more than one as pets may soon find themselves overwhelmed by
the sheer number of mice that a healthy breeding pair can produce. Mice can
usually start having babies about two months after they’re born.
If you have one male mouse and one or two fertile females, it’s possible
that after six months you may find yourself responsible for almost 100 mice!
That’s assuming that each female gives birth to a healthy litter of eight. If
all you want to do is enjoy the pet mice you have, get one or more females.
More than one male in a cage will have them fighting for territory. If you do
intend to breed your pet mice, include some sort of box or container in the
enclosure where each mom-to-be can have some privacy, and some nesting material
in the form of cotton, shredded newspaper, or strips of cloth.
When you notice one or more of your mice gaining weight and tearing at the
nesting material that means they’re going to have babies. You can probably
separate the male mouse from the females at this point since right now his
antics may just stress the females unnecessarily. Also, if any of the babies
are male, he may attack them as they grow older. Make sure to give the expectant
mothers plenty of peace and privacy or they may injure their own babies from
the stress.
Once the babies are born, the mommies know what to do and soon you may have
a veritable mouse factory going on since a female mouse is ready, willing and
able to mate again within a day of giving birth! Good luck.
Summary
Mice are clean, smart, and fun to watch. They’re also kind of cute. Once
they’re home, you can add ladders or swings for them to play on and they’ll no
doubt provide you with hours of amusement.