Mouse Care Ask Your Questions Here! [Open for Posting]

[hiysinphlay]

Shearaha

hiysinphlay

Shearaha

Do you wash your hands immediately before picking her up? What kind of hand soap do you use? Is it scented?

Yes I always do, it is scented coconut if I remember right. You think that's it? o.o I never really considered that(guess I'm too used to my rats realizing I'm not food after one try )

It could be. I've always used unscented hand soap, or something that smells like anything other then fruit when I'm handling my mice. Baby wipes are nice too. Get you clean without getting you wet and they don't smell like anything mice might like to eat. Give either of those a try and see if you get different results.

One thing to try if that doesn't work is to gently, GENTLY, blow at her nose. They don't like this and will stop whatever they're doing at the time. They will eventually associate the two together and stop nibbling. I don't like to do this myself. It works when done correctly and should always be a last option. It's positive punishment and I always prefer to use positive/negative reinforcement.

Okay I'll give that a try, I think we may actually have some baby wipes in the house too.
^-^ Hopefully it won't come to that and she'll stop of her own accord.

[Shearaha]

hiysinphlay

It could be. I've always used unscented hand soap, or something that smells like anything other then fruit when I'm handling my mice. Baby wipes are nice too. Get you clean without getting you wet and they don't smell like anything mice might like to eat. Give either of those a try and see if you get different results.

One thing to try if that doesn't work is to gently, GENTLY, blow at her nose. They don't like this and will stop whatever they're doing at the time. They will eventually associate the two together and stop nibbling. I don't like to do this myself. It works when done correctly and should always be a last option. It's positive punishment and I always prefer to use positive/negative reinforcement.

Okay I'll give that a try, I think we may actually have some baby wipes in the house too.
^-^ Hopefully it won't come to that and she'll stop of her own accord.
That is always the hope. If you need anything else just let me know. I'm heading home from work, but I'll check here later tonight.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

I have seen the silent wheels, though usually I can't justify the price. xd

I might be leaning towards and aquarium cage. Can you just buy an aquarium meant for fish and use it or what? And if I decided to make a bin cage, what kind of bin would I need? I guess that part was kind of confusing because I've never really seen a bin like that.

[Moth Feathers]

The Real Bright Eyes

I have seen the silent wheels, though usually I can't justify the price. xd

I might be leaning towards and aquarium cage. Can you just buy an aquarium meant for fish and use it or what? And if I decided to make a bin cage, what kind of bin would I need? I guess that part was kind of confusing because I've never really seen a bin like that.

Fish aquariums are fine, though be careful as some of them come with a hood or don't come with a top at all. You need a screen top to top it off.

For bin cages, you use just a regular plastic storage tote. It can be any kind, though it's best to get a clear one (so you can see inside) and to get one that has a lid. You can find them anywhere, like Walmart or Dollar General even. If you want a really big one (such as 50+ gallons), Home Depot or Lowes will sell them.
Here is a link to just a few of the storage bins available at Walmart. That's pretty much what we're talking about- just plain ol' storage bins. Many of the ones at the link I listed were on the large side, but it can be as small as you want.

To me, bin cages are better, since they're inexpensive (aquariums are some pricy stuff! I can get a 50 gallon storage bin for 24 dollars...a 50 gallon aquarium is 100+ dollars), as well as very lightweight (aquariums are also very heavy). But both work- the goal is to have adequate housing for your animals, whatever way you may do it.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

Okie dokie. I see. I volunteered at a wildlife center and they had their feeder mice in bin cages. The lid had a hole cut in top at some mesh wiring was attached so they could breathe.

Thank you both for your help. biggrin

Also, as promised, here are some pictures of my mouse. Say hello to Lufu!

[Shearaha]

The Real Bright Eyes

I have seen the silent wheels, though usually I can't justify the price. xd

With as many mice and cages as I had they were well worth it so that Hubby and I could sleep through the night.

The Real Bright Eyes

I might be leaning towards and aquarium cage. Can you just buy an aquarium meant for fish and use it or what? And if I decided to make a bin cage, what kind of bin would I need? I guess that part was kind of confusing because I've never really seen a bin like that.

Moth Feathers covered this nicely. Thank you Moth heart


Lufu is a cutie. I think I now know what cage you have and I've honestly always felt them to be a bit small. I never kept anyone in anything smaller then a 10g for more then a quarantine period. With the exception of the 2 litters I bred and that was more so for ease of handling and socializing the littles.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

Yeah I think I will set about making him a bin cage.

EDIT: Looking online, I've seen some bin cages that have the wire on top of the bins as lids and I've also seen some that just have the regular bin lid with some drilled holes in the sides of the bin.

Do you think it would be ok to make one with just the holes in the sides? A few days ago I moved in with someone who has cats and they've recently discovered noise coming from the cage. They can't see him, but they can hear him and seem intent on figuring out what it is. So one with just holes in the sides would be helpful as they probably couldn't get in versus the wire top.

Would one like that be ok?

[Baby Mastermind]

I like the little white mice they sell to feed to snakes. But i don't want a snake as a pet. I just want the mice. well, one of them.

[Shearaha]

The Real Bright Eyes

Yeah I think I will set about making him a bin cage.

EDIT: Looking online, I've seen some bin cages that have the wire on top of the bins as lids and I've also seen some that just have the regular bin lid with some drilled holes in the sides of the bin.

Do you think it would be ok to make one with just the holes in the sides? A few days ago I moved in with someone who has cats and they've recently discovered noise coming from the cage. They can't see him, but they can hear him and seem intent on figuring out what it is. So one with just holes in the sides would be helpful as they probably couldn't get in versus the wire top.

Would one like that be ok?

The only issue with that is you already have a mouse who likes to chew plastic. If you drill holes in the sides he's going to chew at them and expand them. Then he'll get out and with cats in the house there's no guarantee of a two way trip.

My preference is to the ones that have holes cut for a wire mesh that's then bolted in using metal plates to cover both the edge of the plastic and the sharp ends of the wire. It's a little pricier to make, but they last longer aren't as likely to be chewed and you can easily see them as opposed to the distortion through the plastic.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

What if the holes were high enough that he couldn't get to them? The example I'm thinking of is here: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/Blueballoon/renovationsdadsbirthday021.jpg

[Shearaha]

The Real Bright Eyes

What if the holes were high enough that he couldn't get to them? The example I'm thinking of is here: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/Blueballoon/renovationsdadsbirthday021.jpg

He could likely get to those, but you can always give it a try. Just make sure that you also modify the lid with a wire mesh. That type of drilling doesn't give enough ventilation without a mesh top.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

Okie dokie. I guess with the wire mesh I was just worried about the cats possibly torturing him. But we'll see.

Yesterday I held him for quite a bit, until he peed on me actually. sweatdrop But he didn't chew on the plastic (if he did, it didn't wake me up. I'm a light sleeper so I think I would have heard it). Maybe he just needed more attention.

[Shearaha]

Than's possible. Boys especially nee attention from us since they don't do well with other boys and will just have too many littles if kept with the ladies. When I had mine each of my boys got a minimum of 15 minutes of one on one time with me every single day, more on weekends.

[The Real Bright Eyes]

So when you spend time with them, what do you do? I let Lufu walk up and down my arms and hands but I don't know if there's something else I could be doing.

[Shearaha]

Mongo always liked to just sit on my shoulder and snuggle under my hair.

U-Turn was always in motion so we did a lot of laddering.

Mephi was evil heart so we mainly just tried to get him to sit on my hand without him biting me - he was a special case

Timmy and Tipsy (only boys I ever managed to pair house) liked to crawl up and down my arms and up on top of my head.

Spiderman liked to try and climb onto the underside of my hand while I tried to keep him on top rofl

They were all different. Find what works for you.
Right now spend time working on the nibbling. I'm sure he wants to spend time with you so try the hand soap idea and if he's still occasionally nibbling put him back in his cage as soon as it happens then come back in a minute or two and take him out again. He'll eventually get the idea and stop nibbling. Then the two of you can find out what you like to do together.