Mouse care advice

Question
QUESTION: Hi about 4weeks ago I went to a local pet store and brought my first mouse(black&white fluffy) along with a S.A.M plastic mouse house along with S.A.M bed fluff to go in her nesting box, kitty litter for under the wire and carefresh pet bedding for the bottom of there house. Also Li'l friends rat and mouse food which is grains and veggies also some mouse pallets the pet store said feed the mouse the grain mix and give it a pallet or two a day. This mouse was doing very well it was taking food out of my hand, was very active with a good appetite. A few days later I went to the same pet store and brought another little girl(the same color ect) so Bella(mouse A) had some company I also brought another S.A.M house and joined them so there was more room for them to play. When I put mouse B into the house it was then I noticed she was much smaller than mouse A. over the next couple of days I noticed mouse B was always hunched over, she was very timid whenever i put my hand in she would run and mouse A(bella) would come up to my hand. Then one morning I woke up at 2am looked over to check on them and they were in separate houses both had passed away, I had only been asleep since 12am so within 2hrs they both passed. Due to the cold I had a heater on to keep them and myself warm could this have contributed? I cleaned their house out with boiling hot water roughly every 3-4 days changed there food and water daily. My questions are why would both mice die together in your opinion? Is there a soap I should use to clean there house? Should I be feeding them something different? Please any advise on what may have happened I realise it is your opinion I would really appreciate your advise.

ANSWER: Dear Katie,

Unless the temperature became very hot (over 85) or very cold (under 50), the problem wasn't the temperature.  It sounds like Mouse B was sick and gave the illness to Bella.  I'm so sorry.

squeaks,

Natasha

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

QUESTION: I do appreciate you taking the time out to respond to my e-mail. I was very disappointed as I was looking forward to some advise on how I can possibly look after mice better. I did ask a hand full of direct questions eg how often should I clean their house should I use a soap or just boiling water, is their bedding safe? should I feed them something different? Is it safe to feed them the grain&vege mix and pallets? Also as treats to train them I have these mix seed bars with black sunflower seeds. I don't want this to happen again so please elaborate more on these answers than previous e-mail. I would appreciate any advise you can offer from your 30 yrs experience with mice, Thank-you.

Answer
Dear Katie,

I'm sorry!  I misunderstood.  You are doing everything just fine.  You don't need to clean the cage more than once a week-- they do like their own smell.  Use a mild soap such as a natural dish soap, to reduce chemical residue.  Boiling is great because it greatly eliminates germs.  For bedding they can use any cloth such as pieces of old socks or a sweatshirt as well as bedding you buy in the store.  Cotton is good; man-made fibers such as polyester are not.  Fresh food and water every day is great.  Yes, they can eat the mixed grains with or without pellets; seed treats; and they can also eat raw vegetables and cracker crumbs.  Never give them the candy type things you find in some pet stores-- yogurt treats, for instance.  Mice should never have sugar.  Using sunflower seeds as treats is very good because they love them.  Not too many, though, or they'll get fat!  No more than 5 in a given day.  You can cut them into smaller pieces for training.  You may also find a good training food is just a bit of peanut butter (they like the commercial stuff) on your finger.  A rare but delicious treat is buttered & salted popcorn, but only a piece each, because they (just like we) shouldn't get too  much fat or salt.  Plain popcorn is good too.

For more advice, my archives are quite varied and most titles are pretty descriptive; for a search you might try using 'mouse' and 'natasha' with your search terms (such as 'cage,' 'wheel,' whatever you are curious about).  Feel free to send any more questions; I will do my best to answer them.

Of course you will make sure nothing that came into contact with the sick mice will come into contact with the new mice without being washed.

Enjoy the world of mice!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha