Mice as Pets
Ordinary does not mean boring, however. If you have ever seen a group of pet mice playing, you realize they can be quite entertaining pets. They are a bit skittish and harder to handle than some of the lager rodents such as rats, but they can become quite tame and will take food , Bees from the hand and allow themselves to be handled if started at a young age.
Mice are quite ideal as small pets that are entertaining to watch, are easy to care for and make very few demands on their owners.
Life Span
Their short life span is one of the biggest drawbacks of mice. On average they live for about 1.5-2 years, although they can sometimes live up to 3 years.
Habits
Mice are nocturnal and very social. They will be very active in the evening and night, but don't expect to do much with them during the day. Being social, they are best kept in groups. A pair of females look at , Irish Draught Horse is the easiest, although larger groups are fine if you provide the cage space. Pairs of males should be avoided, unless they are litter mates, never separated, and given a large enough cage that they can have their own space (unfamiliar males are very likely to fight). Keeping males and females also look at, Bloodhound together should be avoided unless you want [u]lots[/u] of mice in a short amount of time.
Choosing Healthy consider, Cichlids Mice
When picking out your mice, look for active bright mice, with smooth clean coats have a look at , Parrots and pink look at , Standardbred horses clean skin on the ears , American Goldfinch and tail. have a look at, Pet Rat Body Type The eyes and nose should be free of discharge, and the mouth and anal areas should be clean and dry. Their breathing will be relatively fast, but should not be laboured or noisy. Check the cage as well - it should be clean (the mice have been well cared for) and the droppings should be formed.
Look for a pet store that separates males and females look at, Murgese Horse at a young age (good breeders find more here , Pet Spider Habitat will do this). Mice can reproduce by about 6-8 weeks of age, although this is very stressful on the female have a look at, Scorpions and should be avoided. If your pet store doesn't separate mice at a young age you may well end up taking home more information here , Dingo a pregnant female. try, Pet Spider Habitat To tell the difference between young males and females try, Kooikerhondje check under their tails see , American Goldfinch for the distance between the anal opening and genital opening - this distance is shorter in the females. see , Scottish Terriers A breeder why not visit , Dalmatian or pet store should be able to do this for you, but it can be hard to do in young mice unless you have males and females why not visit, Blue-Headed Pionus to compare to each other. In older (6-8 week old) male mice, the testicles are usually readily visible.