Domesticating mice

Al wrote:
: Heya folks
:
: I've recently bought two cute mice, one beign brown and the other
: beign albinos (White fur, red eyed) to put some life in my
: headquarters. Thing is they are still pretty wild now, and the white
: one just LOVES jumping when i try taking it in my hands. The brown
: one doesn't jump as much but it still wants to get away. Gripping
: them by the tail just makes them mad and they start bitting. Mind
: you, it doesnt hurt, but what I had in mind when I first bought those
: is that I could easely take them out of their cage and play around
: with them...
:
: So now, tell me, will this simply take some time for them to adjust
: themselves, or will it never happen (in which case my cat will be
: very, very happy) ?
:
: Thanks !
:
: Al

As mentioned in Meghan's reply, they do go through a jumping stage, but this
is usually over by about 3-4 weeks of age.
Don't just stick your hand in and try to grab them by the tails either -
they are easily startled!
Try these tips:
Wash and dry your hands before putting your hands in the cage, you may think
they are clean but mice have sensitive noses and may be able to smell your
cat or tobacco etc, none of which they like!
for a few minutes at a time simply put your hand into the cage and open it
out on the bedding, they may ignore it the first few times, but will
eventually come out of their box/tubes etc for a sniff, they are incredibly
nosey and cant resist sniffing *everything* that goes into the cage.
Once they have got used to your hand being there and doing nothing to
startle them, they will climb onto it especially if you put a bit of food on
it that they havent seen before, a piece of fruit or veg usually does the
trick, after a few weeks of this they will start to climb onto your hand
whether there's food there or not.
If they are your first mice, give them plenty of cage toys, these can be
cardboard tubes from toilet tissue or kitchen roll, plantpots and any other
boxes etc that they can hide in/run through/chew to bits etc.

HTH
 >> Stay informed about: Domesticating mice 

Thanks a lot to the two of you guys for the useful info ! The clerk told me
those mice
were pretty young, so I guess it will just take some patience from me.

Good idea about more toys, the brown one just seems crazy about the wheel,
it can stay
in there for hours just turning and turning and turning and turning......

Thanks again

Al


"Phil.L" <neverchecked.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:VJyqb.2516$0C4.20731971@news-text.cableinet.net...
> Al wrote:
> : Heya folks
> :
> : I've recently bought two cute mice, one beign brown and the other
> : beign albinos (White fur, red eyed) to put some life in my
> : headquarters. Thing is they are still pretty wild now, and the white
> : one just LOVES jumping when i try taking it in my hands. The brown
> : one doesn't jump as much but it still wants to get away. Gripping
> : them by the tail just makes them mad and they start bitting. Mind
> : you, it doesnt hurt, but what I had in mind when I first bought those
> : is that I could easely take them out of their cage and play around
> : with them...
> :
> : So now, tell me, will this simply take some time for them to adjust
> : themselves, or will it never happen (in which case my cat will be
> : very, very happy) ?
> :
> : Thanks !
> :
> : Al
>
> As mentioned in Meghan's reply, they do go through a jumping stage, but
this
> is usually over by about 3-4 weeks of age.
> Don't just stick your hand in and try to grab them by the tails either -
> they are easily startled!
> Try these tips:
> Wash and dry your hands before putting your hands in the cage, you may
think
> they are clean but mice have sensitive noses and may be able to smell your
> cat or tobacco etc, none of which they like!
> for a few minutes at a time simply put your hand into the cage and open it
> out on the bedding, they may ignore it the first few times, but will
> eventually come out of their box/tubes etc for a sniff, they are
incredibly
> nosey and cant resist sniffing *everything* that goes into the cage.
> Once they have got used to your hand being there and doing nothing to
> startle them, they will climb onto it especially if you put a bit of food
on
> it that they havent seen before, a piece of fruit or veg usually does the
> trick, after a few weeks of this they will start to climb onto your hand
> whether there's food there or not.
> If they are your first mice, give them plenty of cage toys, these can be
> cardboard tubes from toilet tissue or kitchen roll, plantpots and any
other
> boxes etc that they can hide in/run through/chew to bits etc.
>
> HTH
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Domesticating mice 

Hey Al,

I have 3 mice and often they will all go in the wheel at the same time.
They will all end up on different points in the wheel, and with the right
weight distribution, they will all go spinning upside down and all around.
But they love it!!!

Oddly enough, my rat will not use the wheel at all. And I've had her since
she was young and bought a wheel big enough. Waste of money, she never set
foot in it!!! Funny because the species seem so closely related.

Kelly

"Al" <alvallee RemoveThis @videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:KNCqb.11523$yo2.255534@weber.videotron.net...
> Thanks a lot to the two of you guys for the useful info ! The clerk told
me
> those mice
> were pretty young, so I guess it will just take some patience from me.
>
> Good idea about more toys, the brown one just seems crazy about the wheel,
> it can stay
> in there for hours just turning and turning and turning and turning......
>
> Thanks again
>
> Al
>
>
> "Phil.L" <neverchecked RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:VJyqb.2516$0C4.20731971@news-text.cableinet.net...
> > Al wrote:
> > : Heya folks
> > :
> > : I've recently bought two cute mice, one beign brown and the other
> > : beign albinos (White fur, red eyed) to put some life in my
> > : headquarters. Thing is they are still pretty wild now, and the white
> > : one just LOVES jumping when i try taking it in my hands. The brown
> > : one doesn't jump as much but it still wants to get away. Gripping
> > : them by the tail just makes them mad and they start bitting. Mind
> > : you, it doesnt hurt, but what I had in mind when I first bought those
> > : is that I could easely take them out of their cage and play around
> > : with them...
> > :
> > : So now, tell me, will this simply take some time for them to adjust
> > : themselves, or will it never happen (in which case my cat will be
> > : very, very happy) ?
> > :
> > : Thanks !
> > :
> > : Al
> >
> > As mentioned in Meghan's reply, they do go through a jumping stage, but
> this
> > is usually over by about 3-4 weeks of age.
> > Don't just stick your hand in and try to grab them by the tails either -
> > they are easily startled!
> > Try these tips:
> > Wash and dry your hands before putting your hands in the cage, you may
> think
> > they are clean but mice have sensitive noses and may be able to smell
your
> > cat or tobacco etc, none of which they like!
> > for a few minutes at a time simply put your hand into the cage and open
it
> > out on the bedding, they may ignore it the first few times, but will
> > eventually come out of their box/tubes etc for a sniff, they are
> incredibly
> > nosey and cant resist sniffing *everything* that goes into the cage.
> > Once they have got used to your hand being there and doing nothing to
> > startle them, they will climb onto it especially if you put a bit of
food
> on
> > it that they havent seen before, a piece of fruit or veg usually does
the
> > trick, after a few weeks of this they will start to climb onto your hand
> > whether there's food there or not.
> > If they are your first mice, give them plenty of cage toys, these can be
> > cardboard tubes from toilet tissue or kitchen roll, plantpots and any
> other
> > boxes etc that they can hide in/run through/chew to bits etc.
> >
> > HTH
> >
> >
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Domesticating mice