Pet Mouse

Question
I just got a pet mouse from a pet shop 3 or 4 days ago. The tank smells really bad even when I change the litter. The mouse itself smells really bad and he has green, watery poop. I feed it some type of gourmet mouse food, I'm not really sure what brand of food it is. The bedding is a recycled paper bedding(i think). The mouse lives in a 10 gallon tank. I only have one mouse, I wanted to get two, but my parents wouldn't let me. I know that the mouse is a male. In the tank there is a hiding place made of wood, a plastic hamster wheel, a water bowl, and I scatter the food around the tank so he's entertained at night and won't get bored. In the pet shop he lived with two other mice. He's always smelled bad but now he has strange poop and is acting really tired. He didn't want to play as usual and was sleeping all day. Is he sick?

Answer
Firs you may wish to change his food to something different to make sure it is not an intestinal issue with your mouse and the food. TRy another brand of food that your local Walmart or pet stores offer. Get once high in protein that will help with digestion. Diarrhea in mice is often caused by eating too much green vegetables. Foods like lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, etc. The first thing you should do if you notice your mouse has diarrhea is to eliminate these foods from their diet. If this fails to resolve the problem, or the diarrhea lasts more than a couple days, you mouse might have a more serious problem. If the diarrhea is accompanied by either skin rashes or sneezing you might have to take your little buddy in for a visit to the vet.

An herbal cure for diarrhea in both humans and mice is arrowroot, available at most supermarkets for cooking. A very small amount of this diluted in water can be used to cure most non-pathogenic cases. However, if it lasts more than a day or two, nothing is going to be able to give you the assistance an experienced veterinarian