# How similar are mice and rats, pet-wise?/General questions about mice



## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

I'm currently staying with a friend a state away from where I live, and since I didn't know exactly how long I was staying I brought my rats along.  Everyone has fallen in love with them, and my friend would love to get some but doesn't want to have a pet that can be so expensive, so she was thinking about trying out some mice instead.

Now I really don't know anything about having mice, and my googling hasn't really answered the questions I wanted, so does anyone know anything about mice?

Just mostly basic things, like:
How much space do they need?
Can you use fleece liners and provide bedding like with rats?
What kinds of cages are best? (I was thinking maybe she and I could make a bin cage together but I don't know what kind of wire would be best for them since they're smaller than rats)
Can they be litter trained like rats?
Are they as friendly as rats/do they bond to you well?

And any other useful information.  I'll keep googling cause I want to make sure she knows what she's getting into (she's been googling too so it's not just all me ) since I don't want them to be kept in a bad situation on accident or anything!

Thanks!


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

She will not be able too put two males togeather or they will kill each other. If she wants more then one mouse she should get females. Also they tend too bite so she needs too make sure before she picks them up that they are wide awake.


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

Also they needs lots of toys. My mouse has wheels,chews,paper towel rolls and what not. I honestly wouldn't use fleece until they are litter trained,it will be a lil harder too litter train the,,but they are smart like rats so I don't think it will take too long. They also can get URIs just like rats I'm just giving you some info on mice. I own one named Blinky.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

Mice are inexpensive but so are rats lol I guess the cage for a rat is a bit of an investment though. But no matter what you should make sure you have money in case of vet needs.

I owned mice quite a while back when I was younger. So most definitely not an expert lol

I started off with one mouse named Niki. He was the most amazing mouse, very tame & well bonded to me. I would take him everywhere with me, sometimes in my pocket and I could sit outside with him and he would never leave my side. He was so sweet. 
Then I got more mice when my cousin couldn't keep his mouse and I was mouse sitting indefinitely and she ended up being pregnant. She died and we had to hand raise all the babies. Even being hand raised none of them ever were anywhere close to bonded with me as Niki. I never knew Niki's history. His previous owner was a neighbor who didn't want mice anymore so they dropped them out into a field nearby. Niki was so used to being a pet he just sat there not knowing what to do poor guy and we went and picked him up and begged our mom to keep him lol. 

I did keep males together and they didn't fight. It may have been luck on my end then but idk. 

I think mice & rats are somewhat alike but mice r not just small rats. I loved my mice and they were fun but they were not at the same level of interaction as my rats. Rats are more like puppies lol

I think it will all depend on the animal itself. My Niki never bit me but a few of my other mice did when they were scared. It was rare though. I wouldn't say they tend to bite. If you get unhandled ones from a pet store then perhaps it is going to take time to bond ofcourse. 

I never used a bin cage so I can't help you there. I know I went through several cages with mine & it was so long ago I can't remember it perfectly. I know I had one of those plastic hamster type which was awful to clean and my cats could open it... I then had something similar to this cage that I liked. Mice are small but the more room the better. 

Yes you can use fleece and the same bedding as rats. Many people do- stay away from pine & cedar the same.

idk if they can be litter trained. I wouldn't think so, but I could be wrong. Mine peed all over me all the time. Everytime I handled them I was gonna get peed on and possibly pooped as well lol. So messy.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Ok thanks guys! She has her heart set on two males who are currently housed together, and their cage is going to be a HUGE double bin cage with connecting hamster tubes so they shouldnt get territorial due to having that much space. XD They're adorable and pretty friendly--one is black with a brown belly and the other is black and white. I have some paper towel/tiler paper tubes saved at my house and she can use a few to start with, and also probably have one of my extra wooden chew toys since my rats never seem to use them. I'll post pictures of the bin cage after we finish it in a couple days. I think we have it all planned out--the basics anyway--but you never know. Something could go wrong.  I might have to try and make a bin cage for my special needs rat, izzie, if this one works out well.  I'd need a longer shallower tub though since she needs a single level cage. Lol.

Edit: also she's not too thrilled about the poop and pee but I told her its not so bad. XD izzie water fountained all over me last night and poops out of her cage a loooot. But I was the only one who didn't think it was that gross. XD


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## Critter Maze (Jul 31, 2012)

I would choose rats over mice, but mice and rats do a lot of the same things.. and both are super cute.. mice even more in some ways.. they are smaller and fit the smaller toys available.


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## echoskybound (Apr 24, 2012)

I've had a number of mice and have never been bitten by any of them ever (all females.) When I take them out of the cage, I put my hand in the cage as an invitation, and if they put all 4 feet onto my hand, I take them out to play. However, my fat one occasionally thinks I smell tasty ;] They're shy and cautious, and also feel really comfortable around their next. I've had a couple mice escape, and I always find them the next morning desperately trying to get back into the cage.

I use fleece bedding for my mice, but they still prefer to have some kind of bedding they can dig though. I use fleece to line shelves, and Carefresh at the bottom of the cage for them to burrow through. I never had luck potty training them though, I just change out the fleece daily. They love hammocks and cozy huts.

My mice are very particular about their cage, and it seems like they find a new project every day, lol. One day, they want to fill their food bowl with bedding, the next day they decide to hide all of their food in a hammock. They're very picky about which pieces of bedding they want in their cage... I've seen my female mouse, Widget, carefully inspecting each piece and pushing the ones she doesn't want through the bars, haha!

I love my mice, but they never sit still! Always on the move. I've never been able to pet them!


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

I got my male mouse before my rats, he is about 5 months now and I got him when he was still a baby and growing(i didn't know he was a male until a few weeks later). Males smell, a LOT, and they need a wheel because mine is really chubby because he doesn't have one and he gets treats along with my rats. He likes to burrow in the bedding, he is in carefresh but we are changing into the rats bedding soon. He sometimes complies to coming out, other times I have to chase him. He is lot less social and loves to run when he is out and when I first brought him home i let him out and the home time me and my friend were trying to catch him, but now he is full grown and fat so it easier!


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Yeah she ended up getting males and they were a bit stinky. >_o Very cute, though, and one of them is just as friendly as my rats.  He'll crawl right into your hand to say hi if he's in the mood! lol. And they're hysterical to watch if you put them in hamster balls... XD

And she did end up using fleece bedding, but since it was a home-made bin cage we zip-tied a smaller bin to the outside of the cage and filled it with carefresh so they had a "digging room". :3 They really like it and I'm pretty sure she can fit like... 12 mice in there from a mouse cage calculator I used. lol. It's like a mansion for them. I do believe she's hiring me to make them a hanging cube and hammocks for them, which will be fun since she's just going to give me the fleece and I'll do the "work" for her. Except I love making my rats things so it'll be awesome.  Another thing they seemed to enjoy (she was only here with them for 2 days while we made the cage cause I live a state away for college) was this small wire mesh garbage can from the dollar section of target. It had little indents for handles so they could go underneath it and sleep, or climb inside or outside of it. It was a hit. 

almost makes me want mice, but my boyfriend would murder me. <_< Especially since she had to give one male up for adoption because he was fighting with the other and she doesn't want to keep him alone (I would have kept him but once again, would have been murdered. ), and so she got her male two females to play with because she heard that males wont' fight with their own sons, and then she'll build another bin cage for the females. lol. Makes me want to steal away some of those babies. Cant' even imagine how tiny they'll be. <3


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

Be carefull with the babies, mine was an accident! One of my teachers recieved I think 4 full gorwn mice and one was a male, she got them from kids who only used them for the science fair. Well she ended up with at least 10 mice per litter. And once the first litter was old enough to be taken away from mom she asked the class if any one wanted one, and said she would have to realise them into the wild if no one took any. So after convincing my dad I go one and put him in my old hamster cage(luckily he didn't try to escape when he was a baby) and he was the only one who got a forever home, no of the other got adopted. Luckily I had her class that quarter.


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Yeah, the babies are probably gonna be a bit of work.  She's doing a lot of research though and she's very good about learning about things she's interested in. Like fish. She is my fish buddy. 

It's depressing no one else wanted mice. :/ They're so cute! And make pretty good pets from what she's been saying.  Course I still prefer rats I think because they get bigger, but some day I'll probably get a few mice as well. <3 And releasing them into the wild isn't a very good idea since they're not wild mice, right?  Shouldn't she have given them to an adoption place or something? D:


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## echoskybound (Apr 24, 2012)

YellowSpork said:


> And releasing them into the wild isn't a very good idea since they're not wild mice, right?  Shouldn't she have given them to an adoption place or something? D:


You're right... I don't know how well they would survive in the wild, without an established wild colony. Maybe they would stick together and find their way, but I doubt domestic mice are quite as durable as wild ones. Poor little guys.


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

She just couldn't handle like 40 mice. 3 litters unexpected is a bit much. And she is sort of a rescue but she rescues dogs and cats. I don't blame her for having to do that, she wanted them to have a least a chance at life, not for snake food. And it was the girls who just used them for the science fair who are the bad ones. Well luckily it ended in me getting my Jahobo and her it my little chubbster, I just wish I could get him a friend.


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