wild mouse

Question
We discovered we had a mouse in our house. I wanted live traps but my parents set out the snapping ones. the first and only mouse we caught in the trap was an adult female. sine then we have only seen one baby that has been fearless and come out to see us every day. for the past four day. Today i was able to catch it (in a Tupperware container) and he/she is the size of the lid of a water bottle. My kids have fallen in love with it and we are thinking of getting a habittrail cage for it. I have given it a bit of cheese a carrot and a water bottle lid filled with water.
It has been nibbling on the food and has drank a lot of water and is bathing itself. it showed no fear or distress when i put the water and carrot in the container.
I guess what I'm asking is, what is the best way to care for this little guy. I have lots of experience with rats and have owned many but mice are not rats. I don't want to do the little guy harm.

Answer
Hi Ashley,

You're off to a great start!  The first thing to do is find an escape proof container with good ventilation, such as an aquarium with a mesh locking lid, or a mouse cage from the pet shop (a habittrail would be excellent!).  Next you'll need a commercial food mix that is labeled for mice, or for mice and rats.  The rest of setup is very similar to rats, but if you get a cage with bars, be sure the bars are very close together - if the little one can fit its head through the bars it can escape!

You'll need a water bottle and a safe bedding - paper beddings like Yesterday's News or Carefresh, or aspen shavings, are all excellent choices.  Once your basic cage is set up and there is plenty of food and water, you'll need to closely watch to be sure the mouse is drinking regularly.  It may take some time to figure out the water bottle - in the meantime you can provide stale bread soaked in water for moisture, but the bottle is the best way to provide hydration without getting bedding wet and chilled.

Just like with rats, it's important to keep ample food and water available, and to change the cage out at least once a week to prevent smells.  You can also provide toys such as a wheel, mazes made from tissue boxes, popsicle sticks, and paper towel tubes, and other fun stuff.  This website is a great intro to mice as pets:  http://www.hiiret.fi/eng/mice/care.html

If you have any more specific questions, just let me know!
-Tam