# Human interaction



## *Shana* (Mar 2, 2013)

So I'm just wondering really, how much time do you spend with your mice each day? Mine get free ranged for a minimum of an hour each day; this includes playing on a special enrichment mat and being handled.


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## DaisyTailsMousery (Nov 8, 2012)

Mine get handled once or twice a day. They're in my bedroom, and anytime I'm lonely or sad or bored I stick my hand in the cage and let them climb on me. Some days it's more often than others but they get handled at least once a day


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## bonsai (Oct 14, 2012)

Hello
I handle my mice,daily.
But I take care of their active times of the day and just take them out of their cage if they want.
Most of them really look forward playing on the sofa and the connected table,I have created for them.There are places to hide and to climb.
Some just enjoy sitting on my shoulder or in my pullover.They always have the possibility to eat and to drink.Most of my mice show me if they want to go back into the cage and relax.
The mice are used to be handled and be taken out of the cage since their fourth week after birth.
Befor that time I just handle them inside the cage because I wouldn't a little hopper get lost.


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## Kitei (Feb 4, 2013)

I don't particularly 'play' with all of my mice everyday, but they do all get handled. I check all of them during the day, and with some of them, like my himalayans and black tans, they do get a while out of the cage as I want them to be as calm as possibly when handled. And they're so pretty ;__;


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Handling is all mine get to be honest. Only one is allowed to roam and she's so friendly and extroverted I never worry about her returning. My rats, on the other hand, do get a couple of hours to climb bookshelves and such. They just seem to crave the human interaction a hundred times more.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Mine get handled daily, and that is usually it; some mice for longer periods than others. Although, sometimes when it's sunny outside, I take a few of them out to roam in the grass with my supervision. Also, every once and a while a few of them get to go in a run about ball, some love it and some can't wait to exit (a few of them have actually figured out how to open the door). :lol: Some of my mice have different personalities that I am found of, and those mice tend to get more of my attention. Babies get handled quite a bit more than the adults around here, if not they don't grow up to be very friendly.


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

Depends on the mice, and how many there are, for me, really. I only have a few mice currently, and tending to 8 cages is so fast, that I'm sitting there fussing with them long after they'd like to get back to their own business. I also usually have one on me somewhere, as I'm doing other things, in the late evenings upstairs. Fairly sure those mice just like the adventure, and don't really pay me much mind. Their 'moving tree' I suppose. The two that ask me for affection, get it, same as most animals that don't OD, or go mad, with affection.

Not sure this counts as human interaction, but they sort of have a play area. During cage cleaning day, or if I want to sit next to them with a book, I have a big box, lined with shredded paper. There are assorted boxes/tubes in there, that they dart in/up one and come out of many others. Gets replaced as needed. Often now I just pull out a cage that I want to observe further (usually on a weekend), and read my book next to it, so they are not as bothered. As I get more mice, there will be less reading time available. Especially on a weekend.

When I had a large number before, I just woke up an hour (or more) early, to pet the really friendly ones, check everyone, and sort anything out that needed doing. Usually while randomly carrying an 'adventure' one on me. Then it was an hour after school, on the days I wasn't working, and a couple hours before bed, doing the same things.

They seem to me a bit like cats. Wanting to be around you/on you for a bit, more or less, depending on individuals, but they also tend to have their own things to do, most hours of the day. I figure for their lifespan, mice want to be around their caretaker the equivalent of a really significant portion of their life. It's a bit easier for me to spend time with mine, as they have always lived in the same room that I sleep in.

-Zanne


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

i dont handle mine every day, once a week everyone gets a full check up, every day when feeding i check over the boxes to make sure no one looks/sounds ill or acting weaird and see if any babies are born but i dont normaly pick them up while doing this unless i suspect something. Babies normaly get some sort of handling every day even if its just a quick pick up and check over or just a hand in the nest if im in a hurry.
Never had any problems doing it this way and all mine can be handled.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm actually pretty surprised about some of mine. For the retired mice, some of them haven't been handled outside of cleaning the tanks weekly, and I spent some time with them yesterday, like a good hour, and they're actually pretty chilled out still.  They don't LIKE being picked up, but a few would actually seek out my hand and climb up my arm. That said, they were handled a lot as youngsters so I suppose that has a lot to do with it.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Seafolly said:


> I'm actually pretty surprised about some of mine. For the retired mice, some of them haven't been handled outside of cleaning the tanks weekly, and I spent some time with them yesterday, like a good hour, and they're actually pretty chilled out still. They don't LIKE being picked up, but a few would actually seek out my hand and climb


I have a doe who is so crazy for attention she's almost annoying; whenever I try to do anything in her cage, she licks all over my hand, and crawls up my arm and I'm always scared she will fall off my arm. She's so sweet though, I love her.


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## Lyra (Mar 1, 2013)

I try to handle my mice twice a day, for how long it depends on the mouse - some of them are visibly annoyed when picked up, others are climbing my hand the moment they see it.
It's strange, but even mice from litters from my best tempered ones vary very much. All of them are handled daily from pinkie stage, and yet some of them don't like human interactions, no idea why...


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