Unique Apartment Pets: Mice

Apartment pets need to be clean pets who take up little room and are simple to take care of. Unlike pest mice, who come into the home uninvited, a pet mouse that is properly cared for is a hygienic, fun pet for the apartment dweller.

Choosing Pet Mice

Mice actually do best in pairs, although if you have a large enough cage, a small group may get along just fine. You should look for two female mice. Multiple male mice will likely attack each other unless they were raised together from infancy and male and female mice mixed together will lead to many baby mice that can be difficult to care for. You can spay and neuter mice, but because of their small size, the operation is extremely dangerous and has a high rate of fatality. Male mice urine also stinks much more strongly than female mice urine, so female mice make the best apartment pets.

Make sure the pet store from which you select your mice keeps them in clean cages. Check for a healthy pink tail and pink ears as well as a smooth coat. Make sure you only get the females that have been kept separate from the males (otherwise you might bring home a pregnant mouse).

Your Pet Mice’s Home

Mice need a mouse cage made of wood or wire with ventilation holes not big enough to let the mice escape; these are curious little apartment pets that can completely disappear should they escape! Ventilation is a must, but don’t underestimate how small your mice can squish themselves to escape out of holes. You can even use a glass aquarium with a tight mesh lid as a mouse cage.

You should fill the bottom of the mouse cage with saw dust or aspen shavings (do not use cedar or pine shavings). You can even use paper- or wood-based cat litter to help absorb odors and urine. You must also place plenty of nesting material in the mouse cage for your pet mice to chew and rearrange, such as newspaper strips, hay, tissue and pliable paper towel. Don’t forget to include plenty of toys and climbing ledges. A metal mouse cage or even a hamster or bird cage might be best for climbing. Clean the cage once a week.

Feeding Your Mice

As apartment pets, mice are easy to feed, as they aren’t the pickiest eaters. However, a healthy mouse diet consists of commercial small rodent pellets and very small quantities of bread, cooked whit rice, carrots, apples and green vegetables. Keep fresh water within reach at all times.

Playing with Your Mice

You can take your mice out and handle them (pick them up by the part of the tail near their bottoms). They make very loving companions. Never let them wander around an apartment unattended. In fact, don’t let them wander free even with supervision, as they can easily get into cracks and corners. Keep them confined to a small area or keep them on your person.

Mice make excellent apartment pets who like to keep themselves clean and don’t require a lot of difficult care. The only drawback to owning mice is that they live only around 1 1/2 to 2 years.