Care of Wild Mice

Question
My sister and I LOVE mice and catch them and raise them. We recently caught one pregnant mouse who had 2 babies. She is in an aquarium with hay. In another bucket, we have a female mouse with no babies. In another, we just caught a doe, buck, and two babies who are about a week old. The dad was with them so i do not think he will try to eat them but we will separate him with the other female mouse. We wear gloves when we handle them, but we feed them and water them twice a day. Yes, they are all wild mice. We feed them wild bird seed, and they love it, but what would you suggest feeding them? We give them bread as a treat. They have never tried to bite us because we wear gloves. The doe with the two babies seemed very tame, we can hold the babies right next to her and lay them back down and they will nurse without her seeing if they are scented or her own. What would you suggest feeding them and please give us info on caring for them as we just started this year. :) Thanks,

Samantha and Aly

Answer
Dear Samantha & Aly,

I just saw your question in the "question pool" and don't know if anyone has answered it.

It's wonderful that you love mice.  Mice are definitely one of the most fascinating and watchable critters in the world.  

Pet stores have seed mixes made especially for rats and mice.  They also have pellets or chunks for them.  The seed mixes are much more fun, of course.  I usually use them.  You can also give them vegetables (take out what they don't eat so it won't rot) and grains, and they love popcorn!  If you butter it and salt it they will go nuts for it but just don't give it to them too often.

How did you catch the family?  I'm worried about whether there were other babies in the family that you didn't get.  

For the most part, female mice can live together, though I wouldn't put a new mouse in with the little babies.  When they grow you can put the girls together.  Boys generally won't live together well unless they are littermates.

One absolute must for all mice in captivity is a mouse wheel.  Mice need their exercise to stay healthy and happy.  They figure it out almost immediately and are so cute!  They also need something to chew on, because like all rodents, their teeth never stop growing and they need to wear them down.

There are tons of mouse books and resources on the web, and my archives are full of answers about raising wild mice and outfitting mice with cages and toys and the like.  Just click on View Past Answers by my name on the mouse experts page.

If you have any questions feel free to send them to me.  

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha