captured escaped mouse

Question
QUESTION: My girlfriend and I just bought 2 young female mice last week. Today I discovered the smaller one had escaped from her cage and is nowhere to be found. Is there any tips or tricks you can offer to get her back, or is it a lost cause. I was hoping that she would eventually return to her habitat where theres food, water, shelter and her friend. And if we don't get her back, is it safe to get another female mouse and keep her with the remaining female. Thanks.

ANSWER: Dear Joe,

It is unfortunate that you have not had the mouse long enough for her to have an attachment to you. That would make it easier to attract her. Probably the best thing to do is to get a live trap and set it, with peanut butter as a bait, next to the mouse cage. It is important that you get her out of the trap as soon as possible after she is caught, because she will be distressed and the other mouse will hear her and be distressed herself (mice talk at a register we can't hear).

If she is spotted somewhere else in the house, then set the trap there. Walls are better than the middle of the floor, because mice follow walls.

Yes, you should get another friend- better, two other friends- for the remaining mouse. The sooner the better, since this mouse is as unhappy as she would be if the other mouse died. Assuming they knew each other before you got them. The reason to have three mice is that when one dies, the other is not alone. It is hard enough for a mouse to lose a friend; it is much worse if she is lonely on top of it. These conditions leave the mouse vulnerable to mites and illness.

I am guessing you have the mice in a wire cage. Obviously the wires are too far apart to contain the mice at the size they are. If it is a mouse cage, you just need to have the little ones in a tank until their heads can't fit through the bars. If you have a hamster cage, you need to get a mouse cage. Mice can escape from hamster cages.

Best of luck in recatching the mouse. She will not be very happy loose in the house. I hope you have no cats.

Squeaks,

Natasha



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Natasha, My girlfriend actually was able to find her later that day, hiding on our bar by the kitchen. She was able to use a plastic cup to catch her. She escaped two more times from the cage before I got home, so we had to switch to a 10 gallon aquarium to hold them. She now jumps from the ground to the cage top and hangs. Its really entertaining to watch, but now I know we have to keep an eye on her since shes an acrobat.

Answer
Hi Joe,

I'm so glad you got her back. She needs far more than a 10 gallon tank. Although 20 is usually suitable, it sounds like she really wants space. I would suggest a 30 gallon (reptile) tank. Or a 20 gallon now, and then when she gets bigger, a 3 story wire cage. Some mice need more room than others.

If you get a 30 gallon tank you can actually fit a small bird playground into it. She will like to play on that. Although many bird playgrounds are ridiculously expensive, I often find them at Amazon for about $20. In any case, she needs climbing toys.

Mice have such different personalities!  Have fun with them.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha