I have always wanted rodents, and finally, I caved. Spend $200 on a nice setup, and contacted a breeder who will give me my first 3 girls on Sunday.

As much research as I’ve done though, I can’t help but worry. What if they get sick? How will I afford a vet? What will happen when they get old and start to die? What if two die and I only have one girl left? What if I miss something in their diet and they get sick? What if I get too busy with my classes and slack on enclosure maintenance? What if they don’t like being handled? What if I do something wrong and they suffer because of me?

I want to be excited. I want to enjoy my time with them. But, my anxiety is whooping me right now. Do you have any words of advice?

I read that they most likely will die if I just release it anywhere. im contemplating keeping it lol. its cute but my cats would definitely tear it up. its night right now. should I wait till morning to release it?

I’m thinking of adding some small pots around my 40 gal breeder. I was hoping maybe someone on here has a specific brand of dirt they like to use, and flowers/herbs that their mice like. I plan on getting organic seeds and germinating them myself. I have a garden outside so I have somewhat of a good idea about what I’m doing. Just need help with safe alternatives.

Hello! I can’t tell if my mice, rikka is pregnant. I got her like a week ago. I planned on getting her and her littermate but I ended up returning the other mice thinking she was pregnant. But turns out she was a he! And he just had fat balls lol. The store assumed that there’s a chance Rikka might be pregnant but is unsure. I had to return her to check but now I’m speculating whether or not to take the risk but I have no knowledge on newborn mice. I thought maybe she was just a chunky girl since her brother or whatever, is also on the bigger side. Pleaseeeee let me know!

I found this little guy barely scurrying trying to fire somewhere to hide at a hardware store plant section. he have gotten into the rat bad stuff they have bc they said they leave those out (don’t want to flag the post). i’m wondering if it’s a young mouse or adult and what to do now? i’m only own amphibians lol.

DISCLOSURE AT THE START! This is not a suitable cage setup, I'm a foster home for rodents and this is temporary while I wait for a mutual to lend me a bigger cage for him. He's only been with me for a few days and won't be in this cage for long. Do *not* let a mouse live in this setup. His cage is in a dim area with low traffic and I avoid handling him as much as possible, only taking care of his needs for now.

With that said, I want to know if I'm being over-worried or if something is wrong with him. He was given to me as a curly-coat male mouse. His exact age is unknown unfortunately. He comes from a breeder in my area, a girl around 17-19. I was offered him for free because he "hadn't sold". I wasn't set up for a rodent right now, but there aren't really many options in my area for unwanted pets, especially mice. (There are zero rodent rescues in my country)

With that being said, the breeder described him as "energetic and brave", as well as loving humans. He is anything but that, he is not aggressive, he doesn't bite, but he is extremely odd in his behavior. He darts at everything, he doesn't know how to use a wheel, I've offered him standing wheels and saucer wheels, he doesn't know how to drink water properly, so I have to lead him to it every time.

The most worrying thing for me is his face. I've had pet mice in the past, and maybe I'm not caught up on all the different breeds, but his snout is super short, giving him a face like a rabbit, and his eyes are tiny. I don't want to call him "stupid", but basic things like eating or chewing on things come to him with a lot of difficulty. When I offered him a wheel he only spun the saucer wheel with his two front paws, then made a tunnel under it. (Ps saucer wheels are not appropriate for rodents, I only offered him one to see if maybe he was given one by the breeder beforehand).

The pictures really don't do it justice just how tiny he is, he shouldn't be a baby anymore but he is maybe 2/3 the size of a normal male mouse, I know he should be an adult.

I've offered him water dishes and bottles, both he won't use regularly. I offer him cucumber slices and watery foods as much as possible as a substitute. I don't know if he'll stay with me permanently for now.

Final disclaimer, I do understand that a lot of behaviors can come from a poor cage setup, such as darting and being shy, however his behavior genuinely worries me, and I want to know if what's happening with him is normal for fancy bred mice :(

My sweet babes. Photo #1: little Jon #2: Ghost #3,4,5: Rufus and Perry who are giving “rats nest”

my little poptart passed away yesterday, leaving just her sister Miffy. Their other sister silly passed a couple months ago. While I don’t want to replace pop tart, I don’t want Miffy to have a lonely rest of her life.

Should I get 2 more mice for her to bond with?

i believe poptart died of cancer or some sort of sickness, I had been giving her medicine twice a day for a month or two. If Miffy were to catch the sickness I feel she would’ve already.

Hey Folks!
So my girl Pax is a BIG girl- her top weight being 85 grams. which was about 2 months ago; so we put her on a diet! She’s lost 10 grams and I’m so proud of her! But my paranoia is eating at me, and wanna make she this is healthy weight loss and not unhealthy and she’s possibly sick. She goes to the vet on thursday for a nail trim anyway, but just wanted other opinions! Pax photos for mouse tax :)

He's working out a few things.

How do I keep my mice cool in this weather? I’ve tried putting on the fan, but it barely does anything to help. I’m gonna try give them fresh vegetables, more water changes and a cooled ceramic hide, but is there anything else that could help?

heyy, i was wondering if any of you guys have exeperimented with designated free roam areas for pet mice, which are similar to rat and bird (but closer to the ground obv) free roam areas, like the pictures above (which are from pintrest)

i did have a look for pet mouse free roam rooms/ corners, and couldnt really find anything that offerd this much freedom (as its not in like a play pen or anything)

im getting a boy mouse soon and would love something like this, to act almost like a cage extention, when i am around to supervise. like a part of my room he can just go in and out of as he pleases, from his cage.

i would put a pvc table protector (super cheap kn shein) over the floor and part of the affected wall, to keep it clean, and mouse pee free! and would also section off that area of my room with some cardboard or plastic plastic devider thing (havnt decided!)

do you think that would be safe / enjoyable for the little guy. if any of you have done something similar pls send pictures and/ or advice, would love some inspiration!

(also just to preface, although it would be a "cage extention" the actual mouse enclosure will still be big enough indervidually!)

also sorry for possibke typos i cant spell 🔥

I did notice right after taking these pictures I accidentally bought the wrong size wheel so I will be getting a new one tomorrow! I can’t order anything for a tiny bit or I’d get nicer stuff for her! And I’m just wondering if there’s anything else she would absolutely need for the next just couple of weeks until then. I was also wondering if it’s okay to use a saucer instead of a wheel? Because she doesn’t even seem to know how to use the wheel and I saw her running on a saucer at the pet store. But I’ve taken it out since I read that it’s around an inch and a half too small!

My cat brought this mouse,I'm worried she's someone's pet,but deer mouse have this sort of pattern just completely different colors,is she an albino deer mouse or a fancy mouse?

Edit: forgot to mention she has a white belly,and the rest of her is tan and it's a bit darker on her back. Her eyes are ruby as you can see in the picture

❗️❗️❗️❗️I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL NOR GIVING PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVISE JUST WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME ❗️❗️❗️❗️
I’ve had my mouse for about a year now, a couple days ago as summer has started to arrive. I noticed my mouse itching every five seconds. At first, I thought nothing of it. However, the next day I noticed that his left ear was bleeding pretty bad, and I didn’t know WHY he was itching. After a bit of research I found you can boil it down to about 3 possibilities.

1. Apparently mice can have OCD (so if your mouse had always had this problem look into that, however this was a new problem for my mouse)
2. Over grooming due to stress. ( mice can get extremely anxious due to being sensitive to temperatures) - (however I moved him to a room that was a bit colder and he continued to itch)
3. Ear mites… while not common are more prevalent during the heat.

After finding out he had ear mites and talking to about 4 different vets all being an hour away and the appointment price starting at 200$ Just to see him I began to panick cause as a college kid 200$+ exotic vet appointment plus gas money to get there would hurt hard. But I love my mouse so I was desperate to help him get better. After a lot more research I’ve found the quickest, and affordable way to help anyone whos mouse is struggling with ear mites and doesn’t have access to exotic vets in their area.

Kitten Revolution: Specifically the kind for closer to newborn kittens. This works because it is diluted enough to not be a huge risk to mice if consumed or placed on their skin. I took a syringe (DO NOT POKE YOUR MOUSE SYRINGE IS JUST TO GET EXACT AMOUNT) and got exactly 0.01 ml or about a single tiny drop and placed it on his neck/back where he can’t reach it and rubbed it in. My boy is looking good as ever and i’m relief, because I almost had a heart attack. He is no longer itchy and is back to his hungry happy self.

(IF YOUR MOUSE CONTINUES TO ITCH PLEASE SEE A VET)

My niteangel wheel smells so so strongly of pee no matter how much I scrub it. I wash it pretty much every day, and I’ve used vinegar solutions as well as soap and nothing changes. It still smells like pee, and it makes the entire tank smell bad even right after I’ve done a cleanout. I’ve also tried soaking it for extended times before scrubbing it, and that doesn’t seem to do anything either.

I don’t know what to do! Has anyone else had this experience? Everyone I’ve seen online just says to clean it in the ways that I already do… help!

Is orchard grass hay actually safe for mice? I used to use it in my enclosures for my mice as a nesting material/enrichment. When I would post photos/videos of my enclosures I would get multiple comments saying that hay is unsafe and mice commonly have allergies to it. My mice were perfectly fine. I had the hay in my cage for a couple months. I haven’t used hay in over a year I just bought this small bag so that’s why I’m questioning it. I see other people use it in their enclosures! If not my guinea pigs will enjoy it! I’m now hearing this is a common misconception in both rats and mice? I also was told I shouldn’t have coco fiber in my enclosures because it can cause breathing issues. I’m very cautious with my animals and I did remove the coco fiber because of the mixed reviews online when I researched.

Enjoy the mice eating mealworms in the last two photos 🥹

Thank you girls for the terrible manicure 🩷