spiny mice biting

Question
Hello.  I just bought two spiny mice of the same sex for my four year old. She just fell in love with them and i agreed because I read they make very docile pets.  However,they have bit. (and it really hurts) How exactly can I tame them. I know by geting them used to touch but for how long at each interval and should it first just be in the cage? Do they only get assustomed to the person that handles them or do they get used to being handld by people even if just one person handles them and tames them.  In other words, could I hold him and risk getting bit until he gets more tame and then let her hold them?  How long should I expect it to take before they become tame? Also, how should I treat the bites?  Do they often cause infection?  Are there any other concerns I should have about mice bites?  Mice can carry disease can't they?
Oh also I have four cats.  Can the smell of them cause them to bite?  We do always wash our hands though.
Last thing what about asthma/allergies and these pets?
Thank you for your expertise!
Chris


Answer
Dear Chris,

I don't work with exotic species, but since our exotics expert seems to have disappeared, I will give you what information I can, hoping that you don't give me a low knowledge rating for this.  Most experts would just refuse the question.

I did a search on the Internet for you and found the following links about having spiny mice as pets.  There are some contradictions, but there is plenty to learn.   The first one is from our own expert:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/8/Spiny-mice-1.htm
http://www.pogstarhedgehogs.com/spinymice/s_care.html
http://www.hiiret.fi/eng/spiny/care.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4577208_care-egyptian-spiny-mice.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=exoticpets&zu=...

From my own experience, I have heard that spiny mice do not make as good pets as fancy mice do.  One of these articles admits that they do bite, and the others describe the difficulty of handling a creature who is always ready to jump-- and whose tail cannot be used for capture (other mice may be grabbed by the very base of the tail, which makes capture easier).  

I do not recommend even Fancy mice as a pet for such a small child.  Even a very mature four-year-old can easily damage or lose the mouse when startled or tickled or just overexcited or distracted.  Although I was 5 when I got  my first mice, my mother tells me she regretted starting me so young.  Spiny mice seem to be a challenge even for adults.

When it comes to taming any mouse, certain tips apply.  Catch it with a toilet paper tube by letting it run into the tube and putting your hands over the ends.  Hold it over someplace soft so it doesn't get hurt if it jumps.  Befriend it with food such as popcorn or crackers, starting by letting it climb on your hand in the cage to eat them.  When it has become tame for one person, it should be pretty tame for others but extra care should be taken because it might be scared.  

You are right to wash your hands before handling them.  Other than that, the only worry with the cats is to keep them out of the room with the mice, or they will terrify them.  Cats are also pretty ingenious about getting into mouse cages; and plastic cages with tubes are just  asking to be knocked over and broken.  Bites of any animal (including human) must always be washed out carefully with peroxide or alcohol and treated with an antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin.  However, mice who live in a cage in your house have no access to the outdoors or any germs not coming from you, so you don't have to worry much about them carrying diseases.

Last, as for allergies.  Many adults are allergic to cats due to overexposure from having had cats as a child (I am included).  One can also become allergic to mice in the same way-- I am well on my way to a serious allergy!  I also became allergic to my rabbit within 6 months.  Being allergic to one pet often makes one more likely to become allergic to another.  And one can also become or be allergic in the usual, out-of-nowhere way that so many allergies start.  However, this is one place where Spiny mice might have an advantage over Fancy ones.  Perhaps their fur and dander is different and less air-borne.  I have never even seen a spiny mouse, so I can't tell you!!

I hope I have at least pointed you in the right direction to finding the answers to your questions.  

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha