As of this weekend, I’m the proud owner of pet mice. Never had them before. The rat rescue group I adopt from found themselves with oodles of mice from a hoarding situation.

Decided to take a few to help them clear space from the foster home.

So I’m the proud owner of Lola, Macy, and Hope. They’re all females and had been in the same cage in their foster house.

There are tons of mice forums out there. I learned a lot from these two, among others:
The Mouse Connection
The Fun Mouse

For starters, mice are big escape artists. A lot of people make the mistake of putting them in cages, but unless the bar spacing is 1/4" or less, they will get out.

I had picked up a couple of hamster cages for free from Craigslist. But when I measured the bars, I found they were just a tad too big.

So I relisted them on CL and instead got a 10-gallon tank, also for free from CL.

The only thing I bought was a screen cover for it. Here’s a tip: the best seems to be Zilla Fresh Air, but don’t get the kind with the extra door in it, which doesn’t line up properly and leaves an escape gap. Also you can’t walk into PetCo and buy it; you have to order it online and have it shipped to the store. And make sure you put something heavy on it or they will push it up.

I’m fortunate enough to live in a big shopping mecca (the site of the first outdoor mall) and have three petstores within a 5-minute drive. The smaller mom-and-pop store had it in stock.

I also learned that you’re supposed to jam it full of stuff for them to climb on, hide in, etc. The more cluttered, the better, which I did (future post to come).

So, upon getting them home, the first thing I learned: they stink! No, seriously, their urine is really pungent. They smell way stronger than my rats who are so much bigger. I always thought it was the unneutered males who smell, but these guys give them a run for their money.

And they seem to have a preference for peeing/pooping on plastic instead of the absorbing litter. Their designated bathroom spot is now the top of the igloo.

But so far it’s worth it because they are just so adorable to watch.

The other thing I learned is that you could research for days about what you’re supposed to feed them.

In general, stay far away from store-brand seed mixes specifically for mice, especially anything that is a Kaytee brand. All the forums say that Kaytee is like the junk food of the pet food world; it has a lot of cheap ingredients.

The store-bought mixes that people do recommend over and over is not a mouse food, surprisingly. It’s Tropical Carnival Hamster/Gerbil food:

They sell it at PetSmart and online such as Amazon.

That’s right, all the forums do NOT recommend a special mouse food; they say to use this particular hamster food, or a cockatiel mix, or a budgie/parakeet mix. Why? It has to do with the mouse mix having too much crude protein.

They also say to first remove these things before giving it to your mice: sunflower seeds, peanuts, raisins, almonds (you can put these things in your bird feeder so they don’t go to waste).

UPDATE: I no longer give my mice Tropical Carnival. Too many times I found green mold on the pretzels. Now I use Sun Seed Vita Prima Sunscription Parakeet Food. You can get it at petco.com and if you sign up for repeat delivery, it’s free shipping.

In addition to this mix on a daily basis, you should also give them a “mouse salad” twice a week with things like greens, veggies, fruits, pasta, oatmeal, brown rice, bits of plain cooked chicken or turkey, OR mealworms/crickets (can be freeze-dried), OR high quality dog kibble.

Pretty simple but it took me about 3 days of research to come up with that. Some people make their own mixes instead of using the store brand seed mix. And there is a different recommendation if you are going to breed your mice, etc.

So far, the girls have been extremely entertaining.

I thought they’d all curl up together to sleep. Nope. Everyone seems to nap in a different spot; one in the hanging tube, one in the roost, another in the igloo. And the first two hours, Hope refused to touch the ground. She went through contortions trying to drink from the water bottle without actually touching down. The other two had no problem with being on the ground. Hope eventually came around too.