# New to Fancy Mice and Seeking Advice



## Hali (Mar 2, 2011)

Hey I'm new to this page and to taking care of fancy mice. My friend bought two males (i don't know how long ago) and just recently found out she was allergic. She decided to get rid of them so I offered to take them for her, I thought they would be like hamsters but I have found they're very different. I am interested in getting a female so i can breed them once I have two big cages made up (but who know how long this could take). until then I'll just be browsing the forums trying to learn as much as I can about these cute little guys.


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## AnnB (Jan 14, 2011)

Hello and welcome.

Male mice are prone to fighting unfortunately, especially when there are females around so you may need a cage for each mouse eventually. If you have any questions just ask, there are plenty of experienced breeders on here who will be able to help.


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## MouseMischief (Feb 25, 2011)

Welcome to the forums! If you intend to keep the male mice together (assuming they remain friendly with each other), I would strongly caution you against getting a female mouse. If you were to breed one male to the female, and attempt to put him back in with the other male - they will fight. I can almost guarantee it. You'd end up with at least four cages - one for each male, one for your female, and at least one more to remove all of the male babies before they hit sexual maturity. Litter size can be as small as 1 or as large as 18 (I had a doe give me 24 babies, 18 of which survived). If you don't have a place to keep each of these babies (males in separate cages, and does together), you'll need to contact people and make sure you have homes (or reptile keepers or pet stores) lined up to take the offspring. This means you also have to be ok with the idea that the babies you watched grow up from pinkies may very well become snake food.


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## Hali (Mar 2, 2011)

I've been reading about the males fighting and I'm actually thinking about getting rid of one (he's not very well socialized and bites occasionally) but I don't have the heart to just now because my friend gave them to me. hopefully I can eventually find another owner (of mice not snakes hopefully) willing to take him.


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## MouseMischief (Feb 25, 2011)

Try posting an ad on Petfinder.com under the classifieds, or see if any of your local rescue groups works with rodents.


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## paulbrv65 (Apr 23, 2009)

Out of curiosity what colour are these mice please.


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

Welcome. I agree with what`s been said about getting a female to breed from. You would almost certainly need to seperate your two boys and it`s a shame if they have always been together. They don`t always need seperating a lot depends on then falling out. If this did happen and you had to split them up, then you could find him a nice home with another like minded owner. Did you take them on as unwanted pets, or with the intention to breed? Either way, I would think hard about the decision. Getting rid of one means he could end up anywhere unless you know who`s taking him. There are not many individuals who want a male pet mouse after all.

Mice really should`nt bite unless they are scared or stressed. It could be they hav`nt had much contact if your friend was allergic to them. Mouse urine can actually cause an itchy red skin but it`s not that bad to be honest, even if you do find yourself allergic. It`s usually just a small red rash that gets itchy and then clears up quickly. I`ve had this sometimes but only occassionally.

Mice are very different from hamsters and like to sleep during the day, but are active in the evenings mostly. They love to climb and have a big wheel to play on. You will learn a lot from reading the posts on here although this is a breeders forum remember so does`nt have much in the way of pet mouse chat.


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## Hali (Mar 2, 2011)

Heres a couple pictures of them. the black males coat gets greyer towards the bellie and has a white mark in the middle of it.


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

They look so sweet together. If they are brothers and have always been together, chances are they would stay that way as long as you don`t do full cage cleans (males like their own scent so always keep back some of their smelly bedding and litter!) Only wash one toy at a time and this helps to prevent them squabbling.

What do they have in their tank at the moment? They look as though they are sleeping on some kind of grass/hay? Do they have a decent wheel like a regular size silent spinner? I hope you decide to keep them together as pets. Lone males need more attention from their owners and can end up becoming obsessed by being alone and can sometimes start to chew at themselves through stress and boredom, so do consider this before you decide to split them.

They are lovely.


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