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Pets

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Worried I made the wrong choice (mice)

4 replies

Mrsknackered · 10/11/2017 09:54

We had 2 lovely dogs which sadly had to be put down within a year of each other.
I don't feel ready for the responsibility of another puppy and because we have 2 small children, our local rehoming shelter won't consider us.
So, DS1 is desperate for a pet and fell in love with 3 blind mice at the pet shop.
We visited them after school for a couple of days, and stroked them each time. Yesterday, we bought them. I asked lots of questions, but now I've got home I feel like I don't know anything!
How long should we just be introducing them to our hands? They're only 7 weeks old and have been handled since 3 weeks, so they are used to being socialised.
I had to pick the shyest one, Margot, out of the box yesterday and she bit me really hard! One of them is very happily running around, the other one comes over and sniffs your hand.
Should I be picking them up? They're so bloody cute and dainty, I'm terrified if I pick one up and they leg it, I'll never get her back!
Should I have got a different pet? The pet shop were adamant that they were a good choice, I had initially wanted a rabbit, but I was swiftly talked out of that because they're so sensitive to noise.
they do pong a bit

OP posts:
MrsOverTheRoad · 10/11/2017 11:34

Margot! Aw...bless.

Handling pet mice is tricky because they are fast and small...but keep at it and they do stop biting.

I used to sit inside a big old box we had when I handled mine! Sounds silly but there was this big carboard box we had that had something delivered in...so I'd sit in it as I felt more secure incase one ran off!

Mrsknackered · 10/11/2017 11:51

The sitting in a cardboard box is a really good idea! I will have a rummage in the basement in a bit.
Do you think I should leave them for a little while to settle, before trying to handle them again?

OP posts:
CandyMelts · 10/11/2017 11:55

DH had mice at uni Confused they were super dainty little things. He had a huge box playground with lots of toilet rolls etc and let them play in there daily rather than just handle them but obviously still picked them up so they were used to it. Keep a close eye on them though, brilliant at climbing and could jump surprisingly well for such tiny things.
They did not live long at all, couple of years I think

BlackandWhitepostcards · 10/11/2017 11:59

Not mice but we used to handle gerbils in the bath (without water!) so they couldn't escape (nice good clean of the bath afterwards!).

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