Care of Mice and Rats

a baby rat can walk when it is ready and has fur

Yes, they do. Their favorite thing is peanut butter, but I feed my pet mouse fresh fruit on occasion.

bedding of any sort except for pine. Newspapers will work too, but I find bedding is more comfortable especially for older rats, and also better quality

Pet mice should be kept at room temperature, depending on where you live in the world. Obviously colder environments may need some warming device and for warmer areas, you can freeze a small bottle of water and place that in their enclosure. Personally i keep my mice in a well ventilated room that is a comfortable 23 Celsius - 28 Celsius. I would also suggest buying a small cage thermometer so you can track the temperature. You will notice they are more active in warmth and vice versa. Pet Mice Rule!

you shouldn't have to do anything really. The mother will do everything. Once the babys have hair and as long as the mother doesnt stress out too much you can clean out old bedding and things like that but that's it.

my rat i had to take to the vet because mukus came out of her mouth and nose

i sugest take your rat to the vet first, if the vet says there is nothing to do so the shower thing . Also, if you just got her, stress or the new environment may be making him/her sneeze. Allthough, your rat may also have an upper respetory(spell check, lol) infection, rats are prone to those.

Black rice-sized pieces - Same as black mouse droppings ! The colour of the droppings is determined by the food the mouse eats - not the mouse's genetic make-up.

It depends on what kind it is really what kind do you got?

Baby mice usually drink their mothers breast milk but if they are lost and their mom is gone and you found the baby then you should give it milk or water out of a dropper.

rats can grow many different sizes depending on how much you feed them.how much exercise you give them and just what your rat is but rats can grow quite bis so you much consider that when purchasing one that you have enough space

Male and female mice can breed from as young as six weeks !

I personally eat them for dinner every Thursday night. You just have to make sure you boil thm so you don't get AIDS

Yes, sometimes mice will chew a holes in walls and crawl inside the holes.

I am not computer literate so I will rely on my husband (the computer genius) to post my story. Bless his heart, he has never faltered in believing me (after 37 years, he still listens).

One fine day in November of 2011 I decided to purchase a bird feeder to help the birds thru the winter. We thought it was such fun to watch them and then the squirrels (who broadcast the seed when they jumped onto the feeder). On occasion when I was running low on bird seed, I'd throw stale bread. That created a frenzy-way too much fun! More bread I'd say! More seed too. The long, dark days became fun. Until dooms day.

Dooms day was somewhere around the end of January 2012. I was in bed (my love sleeps in the next room due to his disabilities). What was that moaning sound? Moan, moan. Then nothing. Until I'd start to doze off. This would occur in no particular pattern so, of course, it could not be heard by anyone but me.

Being terrified of rodents, rats in particular, I was on the phone to Exterminator #1, a guy we had come to our home previously for bee control. He was nice and admitted he was going to retire so he didn't want to go in the crawl space. He also didn't bill us.

Enter exterminator #2. He had never heard moaning sounds and did not have a clue as to what might make these sounds- after 22 years in the business. A friend asked a local gardening store what they thought might make these sounds and an employee said he had squirrels and they were what I was hearing- the babies crying for mama. I called exterminator #2 and played him the sounds of baby squirrels (which the afore mentioned computer guru found). He was at our house the next day to once again look for evidence of squirrels. He even made an extra trip to pick up squirrel repellant (cost to us $50 for the extra trip) and left us with the valuable information . . . "If you find where she is getting in, do not plug the hole or she will eat through the side of your house to get to her babies". Exit exterminator #2.

I decided to have my older granddaughters come and spend the night to document those moaning sounds and reaffirm to myself that I am sane. Would you believe that there was absolutely no sounds made, no movement detected, no evidence whatsoever that we "had company". Remember, I am a grandmother! So now, behind my back I'm getting the snickers and rolling eyes because POOR GRAMMIE HAS lost it.

Before I called Exterminator #3, I had more occasions than I can recall to jump out of bed, take apart my bed; right down to removing the mattress and box springs and even take the mesh material off the box springs BECAUSE IT SOUNDED LIKE ONE OF THE CRITTERS MOANED UNDER MY PILLOW. Because I am relatively regarded as being intelligent and still possess all of my faculties, I did not pass on to my family my escapades during the night but instead kept this to myself. They could NOT be in my mattress- they're squirrels. NOT!!

So, now Exterminator #3 tells me a good news and bad news story. The good news, I AM NOT NUTS. The bad news, the moans I was hearing were not that of squirrels but were from a similar sized animal: NORWAY RATS. Take a peek at these guys on the internet. Twelve to 14 inch bodies. Oh, and mice too!

Did this happen because we have total slobs living at the end of our block who opt to not have garbage pickup? Folks, I never realized that this was not a requirement in my neighborhood of $300,000-$400,000 homes (we're evidently in an unincorporated section of Vancouver, WA. Code Enforcement tells me). Well, anyway, it doesn't help me in my quest to have my home back to just the two of us!

Exterminator #3: total cost about $3500 (possibly more later) has removed most of the vermin- all they could find which included rats and mice, they took out all of the insulation in the crawl space and the vapor barrier. I think I have reason to celebrate. Every possible entry has been plugged, every inch disinfected, all furnace pipes vacuumed, tunnel holes plugged and cemented; in other words my world is so good and free of vermin.

Unless you count last night. I'm so tired because of constant sleep deprivation for going on five months now. I fall into bed knowing we are critter free- now approaching $6000 because we did not replace the insulation now so we're, hopefully, not giving anybody a place to nest. The reinstall of the insulation will occur in August at a price of $2000.

I put my head on the pillow with the knowledge that we are free (are we?? Two seniors 70 or so, one disabled, now depending on social security and owing so much). I almost jumped out of my skin when the little squeal came from under my pillow. At this point I want to just give up. As I tell my poor husband, I think I have mice in my mattress, am tearing apart my bed in and enlisting help to move the mattress on our back porch. I am wondering if I have lost my mind. Time will tell. At least I did one thing right in my life when I married probably the one and only man who would say he believed me.

It depends greatly on genetics- poorly breed mice live a lot less. Diet and care also play a role in lifespan.

Average for pet mice is 1 to 2 years. Although I have had pet mice live to 4 and beyond.

Captive wild house mice live around 5 years in captivity- although it's best to leave these guys in the wild!

Rats & mice both self groom expertly. They're very thorough about it, but they can only be as clean as their environment.

Male mice should have their cages cleaned every 5-7 days, any more than that & they go on a scent marking spree & they will create more odour to deter you from disturbing their home again. Female mice you can get away with cleaning every 3 days if you really want to.

Also, the bigger their cage/tub/tank, the less smell they can create really. Most mice only poop in one corner of their enclosures.

Rats aren't that particularly fussed about their cages being cleaned so often, & their pee usually doesn't smell that strongly unless they are scent marking, in which they can add phermones to the urine to give it more whiff. This still isn't as strong as normal mouse pee.

Rats do something called "Stashing & Marinating" where they collect items they like, be it food, fabric, paper, shiney metal object, take it to a secluded part of their cage, put it on the pile, pee on it, poop on it & sleep on it. They can become pretty grtoss about it.

But, if you check the cages & clean routinely, at least once every 10 days (depending on cage size & how many you have) you can keep them clean. Also, unlike mice, you can give them a bath if they really need it.

ofcorse they do why wouldn't they!?!?!?!?! Every morning when my rats smell eggs they come running to the front of there cage! THEY HAVE NOSES! Everything does exept ........... TREES!

Domestic rats are best kept in groups of two or more. They are naturally social creatures who will suffer if lest alone, and the company of a human is no replacement for the company of another rat.

Mice can live underground, depending on the habitat/area. In wet area's near lakes or swamps, mice may live underground if they have a large family. In dry area's near desserts or bush, they live in hollow logs or trees, usually raised above the ground in case of other predators roaming around the ground like snakes or lizards.

Yes, pet mice are usually friendly. I held a mouse at the pet store and it was a being a calm little mouse. Mice are also funny. Sometimes, you will see a bunch of them on an exercise wheel at the pet store and the wheel will go all the way around and some mice fall off. They are nice, cute, funny, and if you are interested in buying one, then you should go to your local pet store. I have 2 pet rats at my house. Never put a rat cage and a mouse cage next to each other, or the mouse will be scared. Also, a rat and a mouse should NEVER be in the same cage, unless you want a dead mouse and an angry rat. The rat will eat the mouse.

All rats have poor vision-about 20/600 for most rats and 20/1200 for albino rats. Until recently, rats were thought to be completely colorblind, but studies of rat vision show that they can perceive ultraviolet light and are able to distinguish between different colors of blue and green. Rat vision is very blurry but the position of their eyes on each side of the head allows them a wide field of vision, which is helpful in scanning their environment for possible predators.