Young male mouse - friends nearby??

Question
So I have a weird one that you may not have heard before! We were taking a walk last weekend in a regular residential neighborhood and came across a baby hopper or just a bit older little mouse. This is NOT a wild mouse - he's an albino little guy - like a regular pet store feeder mouse - and would be dead before long if we hadn't caught him and carried him all the way home cradled in my husbands hands. We moved as quickly as possible to get home so he could cool off. We have lots of animals at home and have had many in the past so we had a little medium sized critter keeper to put him in while we ordered his more permanent quarters online. He seems perfectly healthy - eating and drinking just fine. He's super sweet - very friendly and not at all afraid of us - will get right onto our hand. We spend some time handling him daily and he's doing very well. We suspect he was either a feeder mouse escapee or someone was breeding feeder mice and he got out. But on to my question. I know male mice should be housed alone and that is our plan. But we wondered if having other mice (females) in a nearby cage would be beneficial for him at all socially. I hate that he will live totally alone since they are so social and I know we can't house anyone with him so I wondered if that would be of any assistance to him or not. We want little Timothy (aka Tiny Tim) to be happy as long as he is with us!

Thanks,
Melissa

Answer
Hi Melissa,

You're right, that IS one I haven't heard before!  As long as he is behaving normally - eating, drinking, running around and exercising, grooming himself, and investigating new things - he doesn't need anyone but you guys.  While he might certainly be interested in females nearby, it's asking for an escape.  Mice are escape artists for sure, and when pretty girl mice are within smelling distance, almost nothing can stop them.  And if it DOES stop them, it can be very frustrating for them!

I know it seems like he'd be lonely, but he's likely not.  Just keep his toys interesting by rotating them out every couple of weeks, and watch his behavior.  Male mice are accustomed to living by themselves and really do prefer it that way.  :)  If there is anything else I can help out with, just let me know!

-Tam