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Mouse Care
Written by Kadee Sedtal
Female mice should always be kept in groups. They are very social animals and will live longer, healthier, happier lives if they have at least one friend. A ten gallon tank is plenty of space for two or three females. Male mice should always be kept singly. There are very, very few exceptions to this rule, so please do not think that just because your males are littermates or are nice to each other for now that they will not fight and injure or kill each other! A ten gallon tank is a great home for a single male mouse. As with any other small animal pet, the more room you can provide, the better.
Tanks with mesh lids are the best thing to keep mice in. Some mice, especially younger ones, can squeeze through even very narrow cage bars. Tanks are escape-proof and easy to clean, and your mice can't throw their bedding all over your floor.
All mice should have a wheel to run in. The best wheels are either solid plastic or metal mesh. Never buy wheels that have bars. Mice can injure themselves on these wheels. Mice enjoy playing with just about anything. Toilet paper tubes, cat toys, boxes, bowls, jars, and bird toys all make great toys for mice.
There are several good types of bedding for mice. Recycled paper bedding like CareFresh or Yesterday's News are great (just make sure your mice have something soft to sleep on if you use the Yesterday's News), as are aspen shavings, shredded newspaper (be sure the ink is soy-based), or Eco Bedding. Make sure all bedding is free of dust. All bedding should be frozen for at least 48 hours at 0 degrees to get rid of any bugs that might be in it. Don't assume that the bedding you buy is bug-free just because you bought it in a clean store! Mites can be very harmful to mice, so it's better to be safe than sorry. Never use cedar bedding. The oils in the wood are very harmful to mice's respiratory systems. There is some debate as to whether or not pine is okay to use. Until it is discovered that it is absolutely safe, I feel that it's best to avoid it.
Mice enjoy picking through their food, so I feel that mixes are better than blocks. Blocks are very boring and they taste awful, and I personally wouldn't want to eat something like that for every meal of my life! A good homemade mix is great for mice because if they don't like a certain ingredient, you can simply remove it from the mix and replace it with something they do like. Many commercial foods made for mice contain harmful ingredients and loads of artificial supplements. A chemical called ethoxyquin is in several brands, and it is very harmful. It is a rubber preservative and a known carcinogen. It is used in pet foods because it is inexpensive. No animal should ever be fed any food that contains ethoxyquin!! If you must feed commercially prepared food to your mouse, check the ingredients list for ethoxyquin. If it's in there, don't buy it!! Another thing to watch for in mouse food is the protein content. It should not be more than 13%. Mice will get itchy skin if there is too much protein in their diet. Give as much variety as possible. The exact nutritional requirements of humans are not known, so there's no way they could know everything a mouse needs. A varied diet is much more likely to cover all the nutritional bases than an unchanging one. Fresh water should ALWAYS be available to your mouse. Check it daily. A leaky bottle could be empty overnight, and your mouse could get dehydrated.
Fruits, vegetables, cooked eggs, tofu, and many other foods make excellent treats for mice. You can give a little bit of any of these things daily, or less frequently if you choose. Try not too feed too many fruits and vegetables, though. They can give your mouse diarrhea!
Both make excellent pets, but there are several factors to consider when deciding between males or females.
Male mice must be kept singly. They are territorial and will fight and kill other males. If you're short on space, a male is the perfect choice. He will do just fine in a 10 gallon tank with a mesh lid and lots of stuff to do. Males do need more interaction than females, so if you're short on time, don't get a male. They need lots of interaction because mice are very social animals, and you are their only friend. He needs attention from you, and if he doesn't get it, he may become depressed. Males do have an odor. If you are really sensitive to smells, you should definitely not get a male mouse! Some males smell more than others, and there are some things you can do to minimize the smell. Clean bedding helps. All mice should have their home cleaned at least once a week. A few drops of vanilla extract (the real stuff, not the imitation) in the water bottle will also help. Even with a clean cage and the vanilla in the water, males smell. You will get used to it and not notice it after a little while, but it's something to consider.
Female mice are very social and they need to be kept in groups. Three females is a great arrangement, and can be kept in a 10 gal. aquarium with a mesh lid. Females require less time from you since they have each other for company, but it is best to handle them daily so they will stay tame.
Mice can be prone to respiratory problems. Avoid using harsh chemicals or any scented things in or around your mice's home. Also avoid using cedar bedding, or any other type of bedding that is dusty. Keep your mice warm (between 68-72 degrees), and keep an eye out for problems. If your mouse is sneezing or making sounds when breathing, he needs to see a vet. The vet will give him antibiotics. Do not wait for this to go away on its own. The farther it progresses, the less likely it is that he can be helped. If treated early, respiratory problems can go away completely so your mouse is back to his healthy self in no time.
Mice sometimes develop tumors. I check all my mice at least once a week for tumors. If you feel a lump on your mouse, especially on the belly or underarms (though that's not the only place tumors can grow), it is probably a tumor and it needs to be removed. A competent exotics vet can remove a tumor successfully, so a tumor isn't the end of the world. Tumors grow very quickly though, and they can be deadly. If you find a tumor, schedule the surgery immediately. The larger the tumor gets, the more likely it will be to come back after it's been removed.
Mites are another problem to watch for. They can come in on bedding (which is why all bedding should be frozen for at least 48 hours at zero degrees), or from another pet, or from any number of places. If your mouse is scratching itself and you see something that looks like itty bitty specks on the mouse's skin, *all* the mice in that cage/tank need to be treated with ivermectin. Your vet can prescribe it, or you can buy Iver-On from Tractor Supply Co. or from online. Mix one part ivermectin to four parts water in a spray bottle. Spray each mouse's back with that mixture, being careful not to get it in their eyes. Also spray their bedding with it. You may want to spray the bedding a bit, then mix the bedding up and spray again so the bits of bedding are coated with the ivermectin mixture. Do not give ivermectin orally!! It is very dangerous. If your vet tells you to give your mice oral ivermectin, please tell him/her to do research on that because it is very dangerous!
Some mice have allergies. They can be allergic to a certain type of bedding, food, or chemical used in your home. If you see your mouse scratching and there is no trace of bugs, try switching bedding. Use a hypo-allergenic bedding like Carefresh Ultra or Eco Bedding. Wait about a week before you change anything else. If the mouse stops scratching, voila! You found the problem. Otherwise, try an elimination diet. Give the mouse nothing but cooked brown rice to eat. If the itching goes away after about a week, it's probably a food allergy. The most common food allergens for mice are sunflower seeds and wheat. It's difficult if not impossible to find a commercially-made mouse food that doesn't contain either of those ingredients. What I do for my allergic mice is I mix some finch food (I get mine at Whole Foods Market, but you can get something similar other places), a kind that doesn't contain any sunflower seeds, and I mix it with puffed brown rice, plain uncooked brown rice, rolled oats, flax seeds, rice Chex, and goji berries. It has done very well for my mice with allergies, and it's very inexpensive.
