In my experience with tame mice (I work in a lab) and cats (I bring home spare mice for a friend who needs feeders for her snake), even good hunting cats don’t necessarily respond to the smell of mouse alone. Oddly, they don’t seem to “get” that the mouse is prey until it starts to run away from them. Then they chase it. The lab mice, which have no fear of cats, were pretty safe from them. YMMV, of course.
The snake, on the other hand, killed them immediately.
We used to have a bevy of pet mice. They are cute and fun, but IMHO they are not as intelligent or affectionate as rats. The main advice I can give is that if you decide to get a second mouse as a companion, and the second mouse is of the opposite sex, be ready for a population explosion. It is amazing how rapidly these little critters can reproduce themselves.
We started with a wild mouse that I caught by her tail in the pantry. She was preggers. Several generations later, we had some really interesting-looking mice. Some of them were a beautiful golden color, like this cutie.
If you give your mousie an exercise wheel, I recommend the plastic ones rather than the metal ones. Metal exercise wheels get all gooked up with mouse urine & feces, and they corrode. Plastic is much easier to take care of. The downside of the plastic wheels: some mice like to gnaw on 'em.
Wow, I got to this party waaaay late. Looks like you have lots of great advise.
Any commercial mouse/rat chow is good. They love sunflower seeds. Like most rodents, their teeth grow constantly so things to chew on are a must. The cardboard centers of toilet paper and paper towels work very well. Small sticks also work. You mouse will want a nice, small secure area to sleep in. I find that small PVC T-joints work very well - they give the mouse multiple exits, they can be washed in the dish washer, and they’re cheap.
Mice don’t like having their environments disrupted. They become agitated and stressed if the cage is cleaned to often. For a single animal in a 5 inch by 8 inch cage, I recommend changing the bedding once every 10 to 14 days. There will be an odor. When you do change the bedding, put some of the used litter in there. It will let the mouse know that this is “home” and not a strange place.
Since this is a wild mouse, I advise some caution. If its female (I’m at home right now, but I can email mail you a mouse sexing guide from work if you would like), she may be pregnant. (Mouse motto: Live fast, die young, leave lots and lots of progeny.) If the mouse’s figure goes from slim to more of a pear shape, you may have pups on this way!
Gah. I’d recommend keeping a close, close eye on him; I’ve just today discovered that thetwo mice (plus at least one more I saw while cleaning) in my place have been living in my biking gear bag, eating some power-bars I left there last fall, chewing up my spare inner tubes, and generally making an incredible mess.
Apparently they can sense my evil intentions, as none of them have voluntarily approached me. Those with ‘Pied Piper’-like auras looking for a free mouse, let me know before I go nuclear on the little squeakers.
Yes, get a wheel so the mouse can have exercise and not be bored. I don’t know about mice, but I’ve often read that hamsters can get paralysis in their hind limbs from lack of exercise if they don’t have wheels. The wheel I like best is the Silent Spinner.
My advice is to weigh down or otherwise secure the entrance to his abode. We caught a completely wild mouse in our kitchen once (I witched him into holding still, I claim) and he leaped straight up onto the underside of metal top to his Habitrail™, forced the metal up, and escaped easily.
I had some mice when I was younger, if it gets hot where you live I advise keeping their cage in a spot out of direct sunlight. One of my mice died when I was in school when I accidentally left it’s cage near the window after I changed it before school, it must’ve been in direct sunlight for only a couple hours. It had lots of food/water…just couldn’t stand the heat. Poor thing.
The Secret of NIMH - a cartoon movie from the 80’s? I think? Anyway, it was about:
A bunch of super-intelligent rats that got loose from a research lab. or something. Anyway they help this little mouse-wife, who’s husband died in heroic endeavors. And there’s a cute crow which I always loved. And cute little kids who almost get run over by a tractor.