I am thinking about getting a mouse from a pet shop, and I was just wondering if there are any special things that I need to know about owning pet mice. Should I just get one, or should I get two. I know that I am going to get female mice. Also, I have an old hamster cage that I used for my hamster, and I was just wondering if that would be ok to use for a mouse. It is mostly plastic, but it has some bars in the middle. I just don't know if a baby mouse would be able to squeeze through the bars or not. I was thinking of getting some metal screen to cover the bars, because then I think it would work good. Please let me know if you have any thoughts. This will be my first time owning a mouse, and I want to make sure I take really good care of it.

I've always wanted to get a mouse but have never had one. My mother had one before I was born. They're very personable and can be taught to do tricks even. Their main downsides are their short lives and penchant for being escape artists. You'll want to be sure the cage is secure, well ventilated, cleaned often, and full of things for them to chew. Don't put in something that will harm them if they chew because they will chew it. Mice are omnivorous mostly enjoying seeds, fruits, and veggies but will also eat small mealworms and other bugs. They enjoy company. Obviously, same sex pairs are better unless you want a ton of offspring. Females (as with all mammals) are more apt to develop reproductive cancers which may be the cause of some deaths. Most people never know because few people take them to the vet but my vet does see mice. A hamster cage is ok for a mouse as long as the floors aren't wire, and the mouse can't escape. Mice can squeeze through tiny openings! Most pet stores sell juvenile mice that aren't really babies any more (although only a month or two old, in mice time that's a teenager!).

I read that female mice smell less and live longer than males, so that is why I want to get a female mouse. Do you think that I should get two, or stick with one. I read that sometimes mice can fight in pairs, but do you think that is true, especially if it is two females? I am really looking forward to getting a mouse or two because they are such unique pets and I have never had one. I am going to try to teach it tricks like you said too. Thanks for the info so far!
~Laura

Males may be a bit more pungent due to their testosterone and urine used for marking. Two female mice may fight. This is less likely to happen if you get sisters from the same litter.

This is really old already, I know- but I had pet mice (29 to be exact) and adored them. (It's rare I get a chance to talk about them, I hope no one minds ^_^; I just learned a lot when I had them) Incase any of this is still valid- males are, usually, much more smelly than females. Some males have stinkier urine than others, so some may not seem much worse than girls.

Never, ever, use cedar shavings with small rodents, also avoid pine. Use aspen if you must use wood. But, Care Fresh, a recycled paper product, is actually wonderful. Not smelly at all, they love to burrow in it, and it doesn't have the toxic chemicals most woods have. I've seen many a rodent at the vet because of cedar though. I had to use aspen a lot because the only petstore near me that carried Carefresh was always out. It's a lot easier to find now though.

Males can live together, but I didn't have any luck, (except for with 2,) with them getting along if they weren't kept together from birth. The boys that did get along often wrestled, but it in no way looked like real fighting. They were really fat and just kind of rolled around- There was no biting or scratching, or even looking annoyed. It looked like play and maybe a little bit of a dominance thing (In some cases I think they might have been trying to hump with each other, oops, oh well)

Females from different litters did seem to get along remarkably well, although I have heard that there can be fighting, I did not experience it. Both males and females love company though, they groom and comfort each other all the time! They're very social. One little girl even liked grooming my boyfriend. All 23 of mine had different personalities. (^ were babies I found homes for, I can't truly vouch for them)

I should add that I had 6 boys in one cage, 2 in another (father and son, none of the other boys got along with dad), 4 in another and the rother 11 were girls in one cage. The boys usually got fat, the girls usually did not, most of the girls lived longer than the boys- but the father actually out lived them all.

Some of the babies I gave away did escape from hamster cages, once they were grown it seemed to be fine though. I kept my boys in hamster cages and all the girls were in one big bird cage- wire was the same size as a hamsters though. There was a short time, when and after the babies were born, where I was using aquariums.

Invest in one of those live mouse traps (the box with the door that shuts when they walk in) drill extra small holes near the dead end of it though. The ones that escaped and I caught with those, well, the trap steamed up and mice looked out of breath -even after just a few hours.

The Boys :3 They sat in there and groomed each other :3

oh those mice are soo cute, and thats from me a boy! I never had mice but i had rats and i loved them they lived for 2 1/2 years i think one was so old it couldn't eat or drink it was sad but she died soon after...:( :( . but they were the best rodent i ever had. Now i have 11 gerbils! but i have a lot of all animals :rolleyes: lol! i hope you like you mice!