Can I Have Tame, And Kind Pet Feeder Mice?
I have gotten 3 feeder mice from my local reptile store before. I asked for 3 female mice they brought out a box and i had 3 little hairless mice smaller than the size of a dime just little babies. I was like What Is This??? They gave me the wrong box lol.Well they got my box (felt bad for the babies) but when i got my mice, Omg i loved them. they werent aggressive at all. ALL of them were sweet as could be. a little timmed at 1st but they got used to me. It is rare for a mouse to bite. If you want your mouse to feel comfortable with you, you'll need to handle it daily. Always wash your hands prior to picking up the mouse. Mice are easily frightened by strange smells. When first interacting with your mouse, put your hand in the cage and allow him to come to you. Don't make any sudden moves or attempt to pick the mouse up, until he is comfortable with your scent. Never pick your mouse up by the tail. Always scoop them from their belly, providing support for their feet with your other hand. I loved saving mice. im sure you will love it too. and they are cheep and you feel good about saving them from the mouth of a python =). (one thing i didnt know when i got a pet mouse:Bedding or litter will need to be added to the mouse house, as well. Bedding provides some insulation, warmth, and helps to absorb waste matter. Wood shavings make a good choice for mice, though you should avoid cedar or pine shavings, as the oils in the wood can irritate your mouse's eyes and skin. Aspen chips or shavings, shredded paper, unscented paper towels and unscented toilet paper are all oil-free, and make excellent, safe bedding choices for mice.) good luck! i know you will love them.
My Female mouse is humping her sister...Help?
When a mouse mounts another mouse of the same gender, it typically is to establish dominance. A mother mouse will also sometimes exhibit mounting behavior in order to teach her bubs about sex. TFM is an excellent mouse site that discusses mounting behabior in detail at the following link: http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/breeding... Once Chloe establishes she is the dominat mouse in the colony, the behavior should stop. Skittles is likely just expressing her annoyance, so I would not worry about her unless you see fights with serious blood drawn. TFM also has suggestions on taming that you might find of use with Chloe and Willow. They are merely unsocialized at the moment. The more time you spend with them, the more they will become friendly like your Skittles and Minxie. The link is below: http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/handling...
Do "feeder" mice make good pets?
Feeder mice can be decent pets if you get them at a young age. They'll never be quite as tame or as calm as a rat but I'd say they're quite comparable to having dwarf hamsters in terms of temperament and behaviour. They can be very friendly, but generally don't like to sit still (especially the females) and they can also be taught tricks. The males tend to be more docile and are said to be more trainable. If you decide to get females, don't be surprised if some or all are pregnant if they're mature. EDIT: Feeder rodents are more likely to have very closely related parents than any other rodent you would get from a reputable breeder. However, you probably won't notice much of a difference between the lifespans. The breeders don't design them to have shorter lifespans and the lifespans of rats, hamsters etc. are constantly decreasing due to a massive loss in genetic diversity.
How to care for feeder mice?
I am sorry to say but I don't know anything about rats. But I know mice can live up to a year. Maybe 2 years if your lucky. Mice like to eat hamster food more than the mice/rat food that the pet stores have. But you can give them bread, peanut butter on crackers, crackers, apples and Lettuce. They like these. And if you where to get 4 to 5 mice for a 10 gallon tank you would be fine but if they happen to have babies because someone didn't sex them right you would need a larger tank. The reason I say if they don't sex them right because I know when I first got in to mice I would ask for females and got all males. So you really have to watch it. Mice are good pets just love to have fun, I would make sure you have like paper towels, toilet paper rolls or a card board box for them to chew on. But I do know my mice don't really care for carrots I would get them and they wouldn't touch them. So I wouldn't try it if they don't like it. But good luck and I hope you have fun with either mice or rats. Mice don't need more than a 10 gallon tank if you only have 4 to 5 mice. if you have more than yes you need a larger tank. Now I have male mice together and they don't fight. They like to run around the wheel and I like to watch them spin each other but they hardly fight. But you can come up with a mean female or male and they won't like any of the other mice. So it really depends. What I would do is make sure you know how to sex the mice and look at the mice when they are pulling them out so that way you can help the pet shop out. Because some pet shops I believe pet smart is one of them don't teach their people how to sex mice or any other rodent. So please make sure you learn and check for your self. Mice really don't smell unless you leave the cage alone for to long and then you will smell them. Other than that you won't smell them.
Why do female mice eat their babies when frightened?
Some rodents will eat their babies if they are stressed/frightened as a survival instinct. While mice may be domesticated, they still hold onto some of their natural instinct of survival. While a mouse in a cage with noisy people passing by is in no danger(as people passing have no interest in the litter or mother), she still sees the threat the same as she would in the wild. She is protecting herself by eating her infants(which will attract predators) to her den. By disposing of the litter she has nothing to attract predators, she can move on if needed, and she is not drained physically from rearing her young for 4 weeks.
Can I keep a feeder rat as a pet?
One of the longest lived rats I've ever had was a big fat female named Delilah. I had always wanted a tan rat, so my father's friend (who worked at a little ma and pa pet shop) brought me home one of the tan feeder pups that came in. She turned out to be a himalayan point, and turned into one of my dad's favorite rats. She had extremely bad ear infections as a pup that caused her to have a severe head tilt. Because of this she had very bad balance and would fall over if she got too excited. She did not move a lot, and became a very fat lap rat (the ONLY female lap rat I've ever owned). As she grew older, the tilt went away, but she loved nothing more then to just lay in your hand getting pet. If you stopped petting her, she would run up your chest and nip at your lip or nose. We finally euthanized her at 3 years of age after a massive growth began growing out of her ear. I would be weary about getting an older feeder rat, as they can be very mean. They've never been handled, they've never been raised as pets or meant to be pets. I would purchase a pup in a heart beat, but never an adult. Here you can see her head tilt She was a very good rat http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/Anubis_Star/Pets/TheRats024.jpg http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c358/Anubis_Star/Pets/TheRats004.jpg
Why don't we keep mice as pets?
Specially bred mice are kept as pets. If that is what you are asking….They are not as popular as cats and dogs, but no other pets are. Rats are more intelligent and affectionate than mice are, so that limits mouse popularity. People want their pets to return their affection. Even some tortoises are more affectionate than mice are. Though my red eared slider turtles were far less affectionate than mice, which is why turtles aren’t very popular and tended to get released, killed or traded away when they get older and more independent.If you are asking why we don’t keep wild mice like these as pets?That’s a common deer mouse here in the southwest. The reasons why not, are more pronounced than lack of affection.Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - 5–15% mortality rate.Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - <40% mortalityLassa Fever - 15–20% mortality rateLeptospirosis - no mortality, but can result in renal failure.Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM) - infant mortality rate can be as high as 35%.Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever - 10% mortality ratePlague - 11% mortality rate (only if treated rapidly)Rat-Bite Fever - 10% mortality rateSalmonellosis - 1% mortality, but may result in long term reactive arthritis and pain for the rest of your life.South American Arenaviruses (Argentine hemorrhagic fever, Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, Sabiá-associated hemorrhagic fever, Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever) - up to 30% mortality rate.so, yes, wild mice are not good pets. Some people still keep them as pets though because they don’t know better. If you want a cute little mouse as a pet, buy one at the store, don’t catch a wild mouse. They are not the same.I hate killing mice, but living in ground zero for Hantavirus, you accept what has to be done. Killed two this last weekend after seeing a mouse. It’s rare to have “a mouse” even if you see only one.It’s safer to have rattlesnakes follow the mice into your home than to let the mice live with you.
How do you feed a frozen gerbil to your pet boa?
You thaw it. Put the feeder in a sandwich baggie, and put that in a Tupperware container big enough to fit the feeder in without touching any of the sides, and twice as deep as the feeder is wide. Then fill with hot water and set it on the counter to thaw. It takes 30–45 minutes. After that, dump the cooled water, refill with very hot water again for 10–15 minutes. When you pull the baggie out, feel the feeder through the bag; it should feel warm to the touch and flexible instead of stiff. Now when you toss it in with your snake it will be approximately body-temperature and smell like rodent, so the snake will recognize it as food.Out of curiosity, why gerbils? I ask because snakes can fixate on one type of feeder and refuse to eat anything else, so it's best to get them used to eating the most common, cheapest, and most readily available feeders. You can get frozen mice and rats delivered to your door here:Premium Quality Fresh & Frozen Feeder Animals