Hi all,
Just a quick question here,

I have purchased a cage, bedding, food, dishes, etc. and I'm planning to surprise my BF by getting him two female mice for Christmas. He used to keep/breed mice and is well experienced with them, I know he misses having them as he talks about them a lot, and even dreams about them! We've talked about getting mice in the future when we have the means and now that we have our own place, I think he'll be thrilled when I surprise him with them.

Anyways, I will be picking the mice up on Christmas eve since the pet store is closed on Christmas day. but I don't want to give them to him until Christmas morning. The cage, food and accessories are all wrapped up and still in the box.

So here is my question: What is the best and safest way to keep the mice overnight, since they won't be put into the cage until Christmas day. My biggest worry is that they would escape somehow, or have to suffer in a small dark container

I'm thinking of maybe using some tupperware and poking holes in it?

Any suggestions?

I suppose the worst case scenario would be that I give them to him on Christmas Eve. But I really want to wait until Christmas.

Thanks in advance!

That is a very thoughtful gift idea, how did it go?

I know I'm late to respond, but just for the heck of it, I'll throw in my two cents so that maybe another reader will find it useful. When I have to temporarily house mice overnight, I just use one of those little plastic critter keeper boxes. They are about ten inches long, five inches wide, and maybe six inches tall with the slotted lid on top. Definitely too small to be a permanent home, but fine for a short time, like overnight. I think they cost about five bucks. I usually set it up with a paper towel on the floor, a dish of water, a dish of food, something for the mouse to sleep on like shredded tissues or an old clean sock, and I'll scatter a few treats around for the mouse to find. I'll usually add an item for the mouse to either hide in, chew, or climb on, too. One thing to remember is that mice like to do their own decorating and have a tendency to cover their water if it is in a dish. I have found that if I put them in the critter keeper overnight and give them a large absorbent item, like a whole tissue, they will drag a corner of it into the water dish and by morning, all the water will have been drawn up into the tissue and saturated all the bedding. That is why I shred the tissue, if using that, because if they put a piece into the water dish, it will usually stay contained in the dish, keeping the rest of the bedding dry.

So if I were in your shoes, I think I would have picked up a critter keeper to house them in overnight and then included it in the gift.

I hope he liked it!