# Buying mice for the kids, need info on cages/toys



## nicemice16 (Jul 5, 2016)

Hello!

I joined the forum recently to find and talk about all things mouse!

I am planning on buying some mice for my kids, they have been bugging me for ages and until now I have given in! lol

However I dont know much about them , they cant be that hard to look after... but I am not sure about how many to get? if i get more that one they could fight? or if I only get one it may want a friend? my kids want one each... so thats three! What kind of breeds go best together?

Next I want to know about cages/ alternative environments for mice.... now you can get bog standard cages .... to super duper ones! I am looking to buy a cage around the £100 mark if it will be decent and last and enough room for a few. I am also open to alternative suggestions...

As for toys I take it similar to hamster toys? wheels and ladders? or any cool different types of toys? possibly I could buy some second hand toys that are for sale elsewhere from cage....and just add them

Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!


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## nicemice16 (Jul 5, 2016)

What about the escape proof cages? and also how big do people recommend for mice? I know they are small but seems fair to give em enough space to run around !


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

In answer to your first couple of questions, there are no different breeds of mice, all domestic mice are the same, just different colours and coats (called varieties).

Male mice should be kept alone and smell a bit more, but since you have three kids that want one each then you'd want to go for females anyway. They get lonely if kept alone so a group of 3 is actually ideal. Most females are perfectly fine together if introduced on neutral ground (where there is no scent of anyone so no ones territory). There may be some squeaking for a little while until they establish the pecking order but most of the time females will get along fine.

For cages, a lot of people like a 10 gallon tank, which will be perfectly fine for 3 females, just get a wire mesh lid for it.

Wire cages are not usually ideal, there are some with bars close enough together but most hamster cages are not and mice can get out of, and they also have an obsession with throwing things out of the bars like bedding! lol

The plastic kind of hamster cages (the ones you can add bits on to and stuff) are used but are a lot more of a pain to clean out and mice can and will chew on plastic edges of anything if they can get to them. Also bigger is not really better for a mouse, they do not like big open spaces.

For toys it depends how often you are willing to clean (or the kids). Plastic tends to get messy fast and so smelly so has to be washed a ton. They will quite often like wheels, can put some wooden things in there that they can chew on, toilet roll insides and boxes go down well too. They are cheap pets in regards to toys really.

Don't take this part the wrong way but depending on the age of your kids have you/they considered rats? It sounds like you are willing to spend enough money to get a nice cage for a rat and they are actually a lot better for kids than mice. You can keep groups of males together (and males tend to be more cuddly) and they can be trained a lot easier than mice, toilet trained, live in fleece that you can just wash making cleaning easier, play with toys more than eat them and generally are a lot more interactive and less flighty than mice. Although some mice will love to cuddle they're not the most interactive in general.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

mice are less interactive than rats but this does make them less demanding.I have this cage,aimed at hamster keepers but escape proof and excellent for mice.Expensive but less than £100.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... 0881,d.ZGg


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## Daisy&amp;Peach (Apr 13, 2016)

I agree that three females sounds like the best plan for you and your kids. Females love company and tend to get along fine.

I prefer cages to tanks because they have better ventilation and are easier to create fun set ups and hang toys from the bars. The mice also can interact with you more through the bars. I've always used barred cages and have never had an escapee. Just make sure that the bar spacing is less than 1cm. This cage, for example, is a really good size for mice, has 8mm bar spacing and comes with some fun accessories http://www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Riviera_Varazze_Extra_Large_Mouse_and_Hamster_Cage.htm

Mice love toys - the more cluttered their cage is with toys, the happier they will be. They love running on wheels, going through tubes, and they love to climb. One fun thing that your kids can do is use popsicle sticks and PVA glue to make climbing frames, houses, or toys for their mice  They're easy to please little pets because they love toilet paper rolls, kitchen towel rolls, cardboard boxes, egg boxes etc. They need a little house to make a nest in, and some nesting material - ripped up tissue or loo roll is perfect.

I think mice make great pets for kids. If you manage to get some from a breeder, the mice should have been handled from a young age and should be relatively tame. The more they are handled, the tamer they get. And they are great to watch - they are just so entertaining, and the more fun things they have to do in their cage, the more fun they are to watch. They hardly ever bite - some of mine have nibbled gently on my fingernails, but that's it. The only issue with kids would be that very young kids might need supervision when handling the mice as they are fragile little things and should be handled gently.


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

I was not meaning to say mice are not good pets, I love them!

Just thought it might be something to consider if your kids were more of a hands on and train/cuddle than more watch and hold.


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## nicemice16 (Jul 5, 2016)

Lilly said:


> I was not meaning to say mice are not good pets, I love them!
> 
> Just thought it might be something to consider if your kids were more of a hands on and train/cuddle than more watch and hold.


Hi Lilly and everyone else!

Thanks heaps for everyones replies!! helps a lot! Some great points being made about the size of cage , amount of things in and the fact that three females would be best!

Lilly could you please give me some more info on rats if you can  ... I know someone else also suggested rats in this thread... my kids can be heavy handed so worried as you suggested that mice maybe a bit small for my kids... I cant be there all the time so maybe rats are better... but there are different breeds of rats right? and what would people suggest? just two rats or three? and ratio to female/male

also would rats need a really big cage? thanks for the mice cage links will check them out and get back to you!

thanks again!


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

Rats are a lot more forgiving of heavy handedness and for kids that may want them out a lot they can be litter trained whereas mice will go on your hands/clothes and are quite fragile. My kid is only two and a half so too young to be left alone with any animal, rat or mouse but I have to be very careful with him with my mice even watching and he likes to express his happiness in loud ways which they don't really like anyway.

They do need a bigger cage but since you said your budget on a cage was 100 pounds I don't think that would be an issue cost wise, it is just whether you have the extra space.

You would want either males or females, not both (because they would breed) but unlike mice you can and should keep males in groups too. Males are generally the more laid back but as with anything it depends on the breeder. Whether you get 2 or 3 is a lot down to the size of the cage.

As with mice there are not really different breeds of rats either, just like mice rats have different colors, a few different coat types and then dumbo or normal, which just comes down to the ears being lower on the head. There are dwarf rats but I would honestly stay away from those in your situation, they are a lot more active and not as laid back in general.

Rats do need lots more interaction though, mice you can put in a cage with some toilet roll tubes, food, water and wheel and honestly even if not handled will be happy (again this isn't to say that you cannot do more than that, just that a lot of mice are perfectly happy with only that). If you want them to be tame obviously you have to handle them but they would do fine without so much if you are worried kids may get bored and a lot be up to you. Rats need to be handled for a while daily and tend to get bored so usually best to get them some toys that can rotate in and out of their cage.


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## nicemice16 (Jul 5, 2016)

well my kids are 8 and 10 so I think they will be ok! I have asked them about which they would prefer and they want mice!! to be fair rats seem better to me after advice but hey they are for the kids so I think we shall start with mice and then maybe further down the line we can get rats! They want the cage in their room which at first I was totally not down with for various reasons however I found this good mouse cage for sale on a Irish second-hand for sale site, its escape proof and fully contained... its actually a good price and means i dont have to spend up to 100 ... what do folks think about this one?


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

I've had that cage and it's fine.


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