Mice?????

[Triton's_Mom]

Hi,

I was in Petco the other day and stopped by their mice cage and they are sooooooooo cute!!!! I am thinking of getting some and was wondering if anyone on the board ownes any and had any tips/info/storys or whatever.

[little_angels]

i would get a female..i think thats the sex...lol they tend to smell the place less than males ohh and i wouldnt get a wired cage...i bought breeding mice for my snakes and i had them 5mins and the buggers escaped out thru the bars!! the next set i got were put into a glass tank! hehe im not as stupid second time round! they are cute tho and our biggest female LOVES riding on my nephews toy tractor lol also the are social creatures so if ur not goin to be spending a whole lot of time with em id recommend getting 2 females!

[Luvmygrey]

How about a rat instead? Heard rats make great pets!

[cfulhage]

Whatever you do, don't get a male and a female- in 2 months time you will have like 800 mice. I was given about 8 mice after they were used for a "maze" game for our "project graduation." They were just going to kill them. I had some aquariam tanks lying around that I made into little mice cages. Pretty soon I had like 8 tanks, my old hamster cages, and some plastic stock feeders full of them, plus all the escaped ones running around the room making it hard to walk without stepping on them! (just kidding on that last one). But the numbers had increased sooooooo much, and I couldn't find homes for ANY of them. Finally I just let them go in a corn field behind our house.

I don't remember them making really great pets. They would crawl up and down my arms, but they are so quick and squirmy they are hard to control. Plus, I don't think they WANT to be tame.

I've never had a rat, so I can't recommend them- although I have heard they do make excellent pets (if you can get past their worm-like tail)

I've had many a hamster, and they are so sweet. Their pee reeeeaally stinks though, and they chew right through those plastic mansions you can build on your own for them. After 2 of mine escaped through 2 different cages and set up camp with a storage of food and bedding in our basement (don't even ask me how they did it- I've had dreams of them sneaking up the stairs and through the house at night to their former cages to pack their cheeks full of food before heading back down again), I decided against getting any more- ever again!

[little_angels]

ive had rats too and too be honest mice are better pets..altho in saying that the rats i had werent bred to be pets..a friend has a rat that can fetch toys for her tho lol id prob stick with 2 female nice 1st and see how that gos then progress to rats but like cfulhage said unless u want loadsa babys dont get one of each sex

[catschair]

Sorta depends on what you are looking for, either can be good pets, rats are smarter but mice are cuter (IMHO). Word of warning, though. If you are prone to allergies, you are likely to develop them to rats (you would be amazed how many scientists can't be around rodents after a few years). Also, wonder how the kitties would react. Have they ever hunted a mouse or rat? Would this be just too much temptation??

[Alyce Johnson]

I've had both. Mice are just incredibly cute! I almost succumb to the desire to take one home as a pet every time I see one that's brown (or any other color but the white ones).
Not very tame as pets, but way fun to feed & watch.

But what always stops me is I just remind myself about the SMELL! OMG - you can't believe it!
There's no way I could handle it now - perimenopause has made my sniffer way too sensitive to ever live with rodents of any stripe. So my advice is take a good long whiff before you buy! Better to change your mind while you're still at the pet store than once you get them home.

[Triton's_Mom]

wow thanks to all the replys!!!
Well I was thinking of getting some females and I have a 20 gallon tank. I had a white mouse in my class in high school and we were graded on training them to like follow ropes and do all sorts of obsical courses..........it was pretty neat. So I will keep everybody updated if I get any or not.

Does anyone know of any good message boards for mice..................hopefully I can find one as good as this one is for birds!!!!!!!

[KrystleLuvsBirdies]

Id be careful about using a tank though because the ventilation isnt too good and mice are subject to respitory infections.

www.petshub.com is good if you go to the mouse section

Mice are gorgeous, i had this one mouse that absolutely loved being with me, it was difficult trying to put her back in her cage because she never wanted me to leave! (even though she has 9 sisters to keep her company!) i loved her sooo much, they're very smart and have big personalities, they're just like little people with fur. XD

They take a heap of work to take care of though cleaning out their cage is horrible! Id say they're far more high matenance that most pets because of this.

[birdiechick]

I'd say rats....
They are sweeter
Easier to handle
Love attention
And are great pets.... with the right one...
I'm not saying DON'T get a mouse, but I've had experience with both and mice die quickly within 1-2-3 years. Rats live for twice as long. I think they're great companions (either one) and wish to you a happy, loving, mouse/rat!