wondering about adopting mice...good or bad?

[kala83]

I just went onto petfinder.com and saw that my local humane society has I think three or four female mice. I was wanting to look at getting one from there cuz I want to get two females but I don't want to plane white mice I wanted two with different colors and that I could tell apart. I was either looking at possibly trying to find a breeder or looking around more before I got my mice. The only thing I am unsure about is I am not sure how healthy the girls are from the humane society. All it really says for all of them is they are active and sweet or something like that. But not a thing about how their health is, I know its probably dumb of me but I just don't want to adopt anything that might be sickly...is all and I had never heard of adopting mice before at all! I am thinking of three possibilities for getting mice
1. going with what I had originally thought and just get two from a local pet store in town...(most certainly not petco or somewhere like that, somewhere I know that the breeders are local people)
2. get one from a pet store and one from the humane society
3. or opt out of those options and and see if I can find a breeder I can buy from.
(and yes rest assured these will be girls not a boy and a girl or just two boys by themselves I have done my homework better then to do that!)
Anyway any advise on the matter would be great. As of right now I can pick up the mice until at least the second week of November so I still have a bit of time to figure things out...but any advise on the matter would be very, very great appreciated.
Thanks!

[pinkie1205]

You could always go check them out at the humane society and see what they really look like and you can listen to their lungs to see if they're sneezing and stuff like that. Most likely they are healthy or the human society wouldn't have put them up for adoption.
I would stay away from the petstore even if the mice are coming from a local breeder. Just because it's all local doesn't mean they're healthy.
If there are 3 or 4 at the humane society just adopt them all (if they're females, boys usually fight when kept in pairs and whatnot) since they're already together. You wouldn't want to seperate them!
Mice make cool little pets if you give them the chance. They are smart and friendly. Mice usually don't bite unless provoked.

[kala83]

As of right now I am still not sure what I am gonna do I only have room fro two girls not all four. But I am thinking seriously of getting some from my humane society......even though I have seen the pet stores in my local area and most of the the local petstores have a lot better quality animals then you would ever find at places like petco or petsmart. (really cuz I think these people know what the **** they are doing.) but that is just my opinion..but the locally owned pet stores just seem to do things a lot better. I think before I go in and get any mice from there if I do I willl try to make sure to look the girls over and make sure they are in good health befroe picking them up...that for if I was getting them from the pet store or the HS. If any of you guys know of any resources online that give details of checking mice for their health visualy. Since I have never delt with mice before on my own that would be most helpful. Hopefully I will find a nice healthy pair to bring home. And I will eventually get pictures up by mid November when I get the girls home.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Go check the ones at the shelter and if they appear healthy,then why not adopt? I agree with Missy,if they are up for adoption they are probably healthy.

Pet store mice are often sick (not always) because they are on improper diets,housed on pine,do not recieve vet care if needed and a number of other reasons.

A healthy mouse will be lively,have a sleek and shiny coat and bright eyes,will be quite active and have no sounds coming from their lungs.

Sickly mice have dull coats and eyes,hunched backs,are lethargic or skinny,missing fur,sneezing or breathing weird.They may also have discharges coming from their eyes,nose and even the ears.

When you look at mice from anyway,whether a shelter or pet store or even a breeder,look for those signs.

[Vanilla_Rat]

This website has a little bit of info.

Mice as Pets - Introduction and Choosing a Pet Mouse

[kala83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat This website has a little bit of info. Mice as Pets - Introduction and Choosing a Pet Mouse

Thank you very much for the link! I am not sure if I am going to get these girls or not...since I have found a breeder in my area that has wonderful lil mice in her nests. So I am thinking I will either get some from her or some from the HS I will have to look into it a bit more before hand.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Quote: Originally Posted by kala83 Thank you very much for the link! I am not sure if I am going to get these girls or not...since I have found a breeder in my area that has wonderful lil mice in her nests. So I am thinking I will either get some from her or some from the HS I will have to look into it a bit more before hand.

Your welcome and good luck.

[kala83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat Your welcome and good luck.

Well sadly I am not going to be able to adopt the girls....this time I have decided to go with a local breeder in my area and have already been asked to be put on her list of people waiting to litters in about two months from now. Though I do think that after the two I am getting from her I might consider doing Adoption. I feel bad that I am not getting the girls that were up but I just don't have the room in my house to keep them...I hope they get to find wonderful homes and hopefully some day in the future I can help a little mousie by giving them a new home...just now right now sadly!