A Cool way to keep Pet Mice
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 11 Dec 2008
Music by Frank Mills: Music Box Dancer.
Fancy mice are naturally afraid of heights. Therefore you can easily keep them on a shelf a few feet off the ground and they will never leave. Add a barrier for bedding, several hiding places, nesting material, food, water and some toys and your mice will be very happy. This is a really fun way to keep them - the mice have a greater sence of freedom and you have an unobstructed view of your mice eating, sleeping, socializing and playing.
Warning: there is always a slight risk that a mouse will jump/fall, so it is important to keep a set up like this in a room that is usually closed off to the rest of the house and to put something soft, like a piece of carpeting underneith, just in case, to break a fall.
I have kept mice like this for months at a time and never had anyone leave. On the rare occasions that someone did escape, it was for the following reasons: one mouse is being badly bullied by another so sees it has no choice but to jump, very young mice going through the 'hoppy phase' and one very old and sick mouse. Currently I have my first real 'jumper', Evelyn. In her case she has come to expect that I attach a rope to her shelf home every evening so she can have to run of my studio during the night. If I do not attach the rope soon enough for her liking she will jump, although her companion, Quasimodo, who is just as eager to have his free time, will not. So personality and motivation also plays a role if they will stay or not, but in general jumpers are very rare.
To be on the safe side many people keep their mice in regular cages and then let their mice every day have a few hours of fun in a shelf mousery set up as a mousy playground. Be sure to visit our sponsor https://www.rightpaws.com and subscribe to help us make more videos about pet mice https://www.youtube.com/user/creekvalleycritters?sub_confirmation=1