Understanding your pet mouse

You and your mice represent a long line of human-rodent friendships. Did you know that people have been keeping the charming Mus musculus as animal companions for centuries? As you get to know about your pets, you'll understand why! Here's a little background as you begin your journey

Mice and socialization

As social animals, mice live in family groups in the wild. Although your pets are a different species than wild mice, they still need to be with their own kind. For first-timers, we recommend a pair of females, as adult males tend to fight.

Your mice will develop a bond with you, too, once you give them the chance. It's essential that you hand-tame each of your pets, so they'll be able to have supervised exercise out of the cage every day.

Also keep in mind that your companions have a natural need for privacy, so be sure their cage contains a flowerpot, cardboard box, PVC pipe or other mousie hideout.

Proper dental care is essential to the health of your mouse

A mouse's front teeth continuously grow throughout its lifes, and he will need to continuously chew to keep his choppers in good condition. Alas, if you don't provide appropriate chew toys for your pets, they'll take matters into their own paws and gnaw on cage bars, food dishes – even their water bottles. Please make sure your pets always have a variety of safe, appropriate chew toys. If you can find them, nothing beats untreated twigs or branches from a non-poisonous tree for your pets' gnawing pleasure.

Reading your mouse's body language

It may take a while for you to figure out what your mice are trying to tell you. Mice are pretty quiet, but may squeak loudly when they are in pain or angry. When two males are fighting, for example, there can be a lot of squeaking.

Your pets will speak loud and clear with their body language, too. If you bring a friend over to meet your mice and notice one of your pets slowly walking in your direction while sniffing the air, he's simply being his curious (more like nosey!) self. Mice may also scope out a situation while standing on their hind legs, too.

We could go on, but half the fun is learning mousie language for yourself. We will tell you one thing to look out for, though. Keeping clean and looking good are very important to your pets – and they'll groom themselves like a cat at least several times a day.