Still a very fat mouse

Question
Hey Tam it's me again I rote to you about this time of year last year about Charcoal hes still very fat there is no where to let him run around in the house still. She still hates going into the ball or cute car we bought a week ago from petsmart but she won't fit lol, so anyways do you know anything about how to make your mice loose weight without excercise or a diet ya I know that sounds stupied but i'm alredy trying a diet for her but I read this article about mice that said they may try to excercise more if their cage is more interesting is this true? Plus I was thinking of getting my dad to help me make a cage in my closet because I dont really have any clothes in there the only problem is my closet is jam-packed with toys and no i'm not willing to get rid of them. So ya if you can give me more tips on how to make my mouse Charcoal loose weight that would be great.  :)

Ps thank you for the tips you gave me last time.

Answer
Hi Dianne,

There's no need to put Charcoal on a diet - some mice are just obese by nature, and Charcoal sounds like she's in that group!  You should still let her eat as much as she wants, but perhaps limit the amount of sunflower seeds she gets (mouse blocks tend to have less fat in them than pellet mixes with lots of seeds).  You will probably never see her get any thinner, but at least she won't get fatter!  You can make her all kinds of new toys each week by hot gluing Popsicle sticks together (I'm sorry if I've already told you this last time - I'm afraid I don't remember our previous conversation) into different little houses and jungle gyms.  Since these sticks are absorbent and will probably not last too long, I recommend changing them out with new fun challenges with each cage change.

A cage in a closet isn't a good idea for Charcoal, because overweight mice tend to overheat very easily, and closets don't have the same open air ventilation as being in a regular room would and tend to get quite stuffy.  Obesity is a genetic thing - Charcoal will probably never be a skinny mouse, but that's perfectly okay!  Just let her have all the healthy food she wants, free access to water, and any kind of creative, home-made toys you can think up and she'll be just fine.  :)  Here's a link to how to build your own, small-cage-friendly toys:  http://tinyfurballs.blogspot.com/2010/03/diy-toys-for-rodents.html

-Tam