Wild House Mice

[MrSteve]

Hi.
Ok to start with i can never seem to get ride of house mice, daya after day we see them in each room, they infest the house, keep getting into out food cuboards, and making us chuck loads of food away..

Now we have brought lots of containers to try stop the mice getting into everything, i blame my kids in fact coz hey as so messy leaving crisp packets and sweet packets around the place, im sure that whats causing them to stay in the house..

Anyways recently i brought 2 mouse raps, the friendly types ones where you can catch them and release them, this did'nt seem to do the trick as the other morning i went into my room and heard rustling sounds in my bin, there was 3 mice there, i decided to keep them and watch them a while,so i put them in my old fish tank, and gave them some hamster food, as i do have 11 hamsters, (5 girls 6 boys) These are Syrian hamsters.

2 of the mice was girls i think 1 being pregnant, it had babies the next day but sorry to say still born, so i thought i may as well keep this mouse a bit longer so see if she is ok, and get rid of the others by putting them out in the grden, later that day i found another mouse in my bin, so i put it in the fish tank with the other mouse to keep it company, guess what the next day, she to had babies, but these was living breathing ones, but when i went to put some food into the tank, she jumped up and escaped, leaving just the one mouse that lost her babies the day be for, i hoped that she would adopt these ones but looks like she show no intrest in them, i gave her 1 day and watched her most of the time but she didnt go anywhere near the babies, so i removed the babies and now trying to bring up the babies by hand.

I read many forums, many not that use full, 1 forum stated to use cows milk, but diluted it with water, which i have done, the babies are drinking it,just as i try to give it to them soaked in a bud and let them suckle from it, i rub there bellies after to hope to wind the, and wipe there bodies down with a damp bit of tissue, and dry them of with fresh tissue..

Question is ,is cows milk o.k or do i need to use something else.

Im trying to see if i can catch another mouse that maybe pregnant.so i can see if it will adopt these babies, there was 3 but 1 died over nite, but 2 are still well and alive.

I did'nt know these mice was pregnant at all if i had know i would of let them go right away, bu i am getting ired of these mice getting everywhere in my house,and if ihave to start catching them and releasing tem in the nearby fields i will....

Just how offer do mice mate each year, and howm nay babies can 1 female have in each littler...

I must admit even tho i have 11 hamsters, in he past ive seen mice climbing up the hamster cages and poking there nose in the bars, and trying to sniff and tease my hamsters,lol

I have always wounded what it would be like to catch a mouse and try and tame it, but these mice i just dont think thay want to be tamed, which is a shame coz i would love to have some tame mice of my own without buying them from the petshop..

FORGOT TO ASK, how ofern should new born baby mice be feed im trying every 2-3 hours,sometime they will take a drop or 2,sometimes they just dont want nothink.

Steve

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by MrSteve

Just how offer do mice mate each year, and howm nay babies can 1 female have in each littler...

House mice can breed through the year if it is warm and they have enough food, if not breeding is centred around the warmer months, peaking in may/June. They can have between 5-10 litters per year, which are made up of around 4-8 young. So in theory a single female could have 80 young in a year, although this is unlikely to ever happen.

When releasing they you want to be thinking of around 1-2 miles if just in your back garden they will keep coming back.

[MrSteve]

i sometimes put them in the near by park, or up the road near a big tree trunk, even a friend of ours has mice in there house, seems like london has a plauge of mice, lol every one i know has mice in there homes...

How comes some people are able to tame wild house mice, while mine dont like to be tamed....Maybe it's the americans that can tame them as there mice seem to be more friendly than our british mice..??

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by MrSteve

How comes some people are able to tame wild house mice, while mine dont like to be tamed....Maybe it's the americans that can tame them as there mice seem to be more friendly than our british mice..??

My advice is if people want tame mice go to a pet shop and buy them. Wild animals should not be taken and kept in captivity.

You can tame any rodent its just how much you handle them, if you regularly handle a mouse and get it used to human scent and being picked up it will become more comfortable.

[MrSteve]

I would like to get real tamed mice from the petshop, but none of my local shops sell them, they told me there is no ral call forthem, they even now find it a little hard to sell hamsters.

Ok i know i have 11 hamsters,1 female still a visious even though she was from my 2nd litter, and is now like 7-8 months old. she still time to time a little scared to come out her cage,and may sometimes like to give a nip,why i dont know. They all love there treats i know even the mice in this house found them and took half away one day.so i now put the hamster treat in a container.

If i could get a mouse from a pet shop i would most likely buy 2, 1 male and 1 female and bread them, but as im not sure how many babies a ame mouse can have and how they will all get along with each other i would have to read up on how to mate and care for mice, i think this is a little differant than breading hamsters than it is to brad mice.?



Other pets i thought about getting was the following.
Gerbal, dwarf Hamster, kitten or A PUPPY..

[valleyforge]

MrSteve ... you need to get help for your baby mice ... and fast.

They WILL NOT survive in the manner you have outlined, so first read the information within this thread:

Need help. Orphan baby mice!

then find your nearest wildlife rehabilitator, or call the RSPCA, to take them off your hands as soon as possible.

Baby mice need to be fed on a special formula, which includes colostrum, EVERY HOUR during daylight hours, and EVERY 2 HOURS during the night ... diluted cow's milk is wholly inadequate for them, causing diarrhoea and dehydration.

Raising infant mammals is not an easy undertaking, and not something you should attempt yourself unless you are fully committed to their survival.

I applaud your use of non-lethal traps in dealing with your mouse problem, but keeping adult wild-born mice in captivity is not a good idea ... they won't become tame or petted, and you'll induce a great deal of stress in them ... in fact, there's a very good chance that the stress of being kept in a fish tank induced the first mouse to abort her babies.

[MrSteve]

Hi thanks for info, i tried to cal lthe RSPCA, but got no reply. i also rang my local pet store, and they sell kitten milk formula,so if these 2 babis are still alive tomorrow i go buy some, untill i can get hold of the RSPCA,as pet shop will be closed by time i reach it.

[Littlesparrow]

Hello Mr Steve we found a fancy mouse breeder on the Internet I think the site was called Preowned. We have been pleased with our two girls who are very tame to handle. Breeders don't tend to keep the males because they are a bit smelly.
Good luck with the babies.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Hi Steve,

Just a quickie. Are you calling them House Mice because they are in your house? Chances are they are more likely to be Wood Mice. Wood Mice are brownish with big ears and bulging eyes and a long tail. House Mice are greyish in colour and leave a distinct strong mousy smell behind.

Cheers,

Adam

[MrSteve]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Hi Steve,

Just a quickie. Are you calling them House Mice because they are in your house? Chances are they are more likely to be Wood Mice. Wood Mice are brownish with big ears and bulging eyes and a long tail. House Mice are greyish in colour and leave a distinct strong mousy smell behind.

Cheers,

Adam

Hi they are like a dark brown, long tail, kinda bigish Ears and smell.lol