very budget mouse care

Question
Natasha,
I'm a teen and i am trying to convince my mom to letting me get white mice. I only have about $20 and i get $2 a week for allowance. We always have bird seed around. Can i feed it this? And can i use shredded paper as bedding? Also, what can i say to my mom to let me get one?
Thanks

Answer
Hi--

Though wood chips are not very expensive, shredded paper is OK for litter (shredded cardboard would be better if you have a shredder), with kleenex (change regularly) or (better) cut up old socks for bedding.  The best toys are toilet paper rolls, and you can make little houses out of a cereal box.  The things you absolutely need are a wheel, a water bottle & holder, and of course a cage.  

You can probably take care of the first three with $20, but you still need a good cage.  Do you live in an area where you can use Craigslist?  People give away critter cages all the time, sometimes with the critters in them.  You might also find something in your local paper or even put in an ad yourself for what you are looking for.  There are always people who used to have pets; the challenge is to find them.  You can also use any aquarium, even slightly cracked if you tape it, if you make a sturdy lid out of 1/4" galvanized steel mesh, which isn't that expensive (hardware store).  Mice are strong, so it must fit tightly and you may want to use a heavy book or stone on top to make sure (don't block the air though).

Birdseed isn't appropriate for the only thing they eat, though it will help.  Make it about half their diet.  You can add some oatmeal or other grains, dried beans, uncooked pasta, pumpkin seeds, varied cracker crumbs, and especially raw vegetables (change daily) to their diet.  No junk food or sweets, and only a little fruit.  Normally I would recommend a more structured diet such as a bought mix, but really, mice eat everything in nature, so if you keep it varied and healthy, the mice should be healthy too.  

One home-made mix is described in this link, and though you won't be able to go out and buy all this stuff, it will give you an idea  of what grains would be good for them.  I'd skip the dog food, though:

http://www.afrma.org/food.htm

Whatever you do, do NOT get a pair.  You can't afford to breed. If you want one mouse, get a boy, because they live alone.  For this reason, most feeders turn out to be males, so in a sense you are saving a life if you get a boy.  But you can only have one.  You can put two girls together.  Make sure the pet store would take the mouse/mice back if they make a mistake and give you a male and female.  Mistakes are made.

You also need to be emotionally prepared for the fact that you won't be able to get to a vet if a mouse gets sick.  They cost just as much as other pets.  However this is true for a lot of mouse owners.  We use home remedies, love, hope, and compassion.  

As for convincing your mom.. Mice are the smartest small pet you can get.  They cost very little to maintain.  They are quite clean if you keep their cage clean (but they do poop and pee on you, so don't wear your best outfit holding them!).  They are very friendly, curious, tenacious, and creative, besides unbelievably cute.  They are very loving.  They don't tend to bite, like hamsters do; they are easier to hold than gerbils.  They stay in their cage so no one has to deal with them except you.  You will be learning how to care for a pet, and by extension, how to be responsible for something other than yourself; that is a very important life skill.  They only live 18-30 months, which means frequent tragedies (well, learning to deal with mortality is a skill too..) but they are not a long-term commitment.  You can leave them in their cage for up to three days (no more) as long as they have lots of food and water, including wet vegetables or fruit (carrots, apple) in case their water bottle clogs-- so you can still sleep over someone's house and Mom doesn't have to tend to the pet.  They are easy to transport to go on vacation with you or stay at someone else's house while you are gone; no in-house petsitter needed (she can't say that for the plants, now, can she?).  

Make sure you do wait until you have the appropriate cage and accessories before buying any mice.