Things to Consider When Keeping Mice as Pets

Series Summary

The common house mouse is a small mammal found in almost every country. In addition to being used in laboratories or as snake food, mice are also popular pets. They're clean, shed very little and carry few allergens, but best of all they're intelligent, entertaining, and affectionate companions. Caring for a pet mouse is fairly inexpensive, and when cared for properly mice can live significantly longer and happier lives than they would in the wild.

In this series of free video clips you’ll learn how to care for a pet mouse. Expert animal health technician Sarah Tingle tells you everything you need to know if you’re thinking of keeping mice as pets, including where to get a pet mouse and what to look for when choosing a mouse. She offers tips on vet care, how to set up a cage and bedding for a pet mouse, and what sort of diet will keep mice healthy. You'll also get handling, breeding and training tips. Following the advice given in these free video clips will help ensure that you pet mouse lives a long and happy life.

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Sarah, I’m at Petland in Pembroke Pines, Florida tonight and on behalf of expertvillage.com, I’m going to speak with you a little bit about caring for mice. If you are considering getting a mouse there some things to think about. One thing would be where to get your mouse. Many pet stores have mice available. Some of them are the common white mice, they’re usually albino mice. Other pet stores may have fancy mice and they’ll have in all sorts of different colors and shades. It’s really up to you to decide what kind of mouse you want. You don’t really personality difference versus the different mice. They’re all fairly dossal, very social creatures. They’re all very intelligent; they’re very friendly. They tend to be good pets for children to young adults, with supervision of course from adults in the household. They tend to be easy to care for. They’re very clean little animals. They generally will live anywhere from 2 to 3 years. That needs to be one consideration when getting a mouse; they do have a relatively short life of span compared to some other rodent. Another consideration will be space. Compared to many other pets, they tend to take up less space. They are active both during the day and at night; unlike they’re wild counterpart, which are usually just nocturnal. If you get a mouse you should prepared to take it to a vet just like you would with a dog or a cat. Overall, mice make really good pets. They’re very clean, they don’t take up a lot of space, and they remain very dossal and handleable throughout their life."