| Food and Water Requirements: A large fancy mouse will eat around 8g of food a day, a smaller mouse will eat around 5g of food. However, you don't need to weigh out these tiny portions; unless you have a very fat mouse on a strict slimming diet, just let your mice help themselves to as much food and water as they want. Contrary to popular belief, mice and rats should not eat cheese. Cheese is difficult to digest and often causes diarrhea or blockages. A mouses diet should consist mainly of commercially available pellets specially formulated to meet their nutritional needs. You can buy these from pet stores for around $3 - $6 a kilo. When in stock, I sell the same pellets for around $2.00 a kilo. Also available are mouse mixes which usually consist of grains, seeds, pellets, biscuit and dried vegetables. Treats are available from stores ranging from wood chews to dried fruit and yoghurt treats. Mice love fresh fruits and veggies, and these should be offered in small amounts each day (too many fresh foods can make them sick). Mice can have peas, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, apples and bananas cut into manageable sized chunks. Mice should never be offered cabbage, uncooked beans, onions, rhubarb, tomato or chocolate. Chocolate is toxic to mice, but all other sweets intended for humans should also be excluded from their diets. Many mice also love to eat corn but this should be avoided as studies show that mice that eat corn are more susceptible to cancer in old age. Fresh clean drinking water should be available in sipper bottles at all times. Sipper bottles prevent mice messing in their water or tipping it over, but they need to be checked every day to ensure the nozzle hasn��t become clogged and the mice can still get water. It is a good idea to have more than one dripper bottle if there are a number of mice in the cage. Food can be supplied to mice either scattered through the cage substrate or in small containers but these should be changed everyday as many mice tend to use their bowls as a toilet. To avoid waste of food don��t overfill the containers (glass jars can be put sideways in cages which some mice will use as a toilet instead of their food bowls. This also makes cage cleaning easier and helps reduces odors!) In your Mouse Cage: Items such as PVC pipes, toilet rolls, running wheels, nest boxes and shredded paper should be included in cages for the mouse��s entertainment and comfort. Any absorbent substrate can be used in your mouse cage. Lining the floor with newspaper and then covering it in shredded paper or non-toxic kitty litter is an excellent way to keep your mouse house clean and also gives something for your mouse to forage through. (I recommend Dr Harry��s light and easy kitty litter in 20L bags $9 from big W; it��s safe for mice and rats and is made of recycled phone books). DO NOT use pine shavings pet stores sell as these cause respiratory infections that are costly to treat and can be fatal to your pet. As for inside your mouse��s house you can give him/her ripped up tissues to make a nest, or even just old newspaper torn into small pieces (this only needs to be changed every so often when you think its about time your mouse got a nice clean nest. Once or twice a week is fine.) You should not use any cotton wool or materials that your mouse can get its nails stuck to. These can also easily get wrapped about its legs and cut off the circulation when the mouse tries pulling itself free. Cleaning your Mouse House: I recommend buying a small carry cage to put your mouse in while you clean its cage. This way you know exactly where your mouse is when you are cleaning its cage out and it can��t make a speedy getaway. Small carry cages can be bought from pet stores and some supermarkets. Bowls need to be cleaned and refilled daily and water drippers should be checked and refilled each day. The entire enclosure should be cleaned out regularly �V once a week if only one or two mice are kept, twice a week if more mice are being housed. The cage can be cleaned with dish detergents, but should be thoroughly dried before placing the mouse back in. It is not recommended to use bleach or any other toxic cleaners on your mouse cage If you have any further questions or wish to purchase another mouse in the future, please feel free to contact me via email. Best of luck with your new mouse - Monica ***If you need a vet: *** The absolute BEST small animal veterinarian in the area is Dr. Elizabeth-Jo Vickridge. She has offices in Booragoon and Gnangara. You can also get your male mice de-sexed there for $60. any tumors your mice develop later in life can be looked at and in some cases, removed. Booragoon: Monday to Friday 8am to 5.30pm, Sunday 8am to 2pm. Gnangara: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9am to 12pm, Tuesday, Thursday 8am to 5.30pm Saturday 11.30am to 4pm. PHONE 9316 0239 FOR APPOINTMENTS |
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