Hi Everyone,

I have a genuine fear of rodents, but want to get over it somehow. Does anyone have any thoughts?

I want to gradually work up to being happy having them around me. My niece has a pet mouse, and I want to spend more time with her, but the mouse is always around!

Cheers, petlover2011

Why not start by just watching them in the pet store? They cant get you and you might realize that they are adorable. Its just a thought. I bet you can find better ideas online

You could maybe spend time with your niece and see how she handles the mouse/cleaning etc, if she doesn't mind and you don't you could even try gently placing your hand in the cage and letting the mouse run by or even onto your hand, but do whatever you feel comfortable with, good luck with this

That's also a good idea. I didn't want to rush, but facing your fear is best. Watch her play with it and when you feel comfortable put your hand in there and let it sniff. But don't rush anything. The last thing you need to hurt yourself or the rodents.

I HAVE A HUGE FEAR OF WILD MICE AND RATS as in screaming running and crying when they show up. But love me pet rats and miceTHEY ARE SO DIFFERENT.

I have a vendetta against wild mice since we invaded their home!!! Pet mice are very clean and you know what their eating and making *ahem* love to!! lol
If you are afraid spend some time in the same room as someone who owns rodents. Overtime, and only when you're ready, touch more and more things that the mouse has been on. When you're not afraid of its smell and feeling then take your time touching things that have been crawled over by a pet rodent. It will not be easy!! lol I'm scared of spiders but since my neice was born I pretend not to be for her sake and have grown a better appreciation of spiders. I can be around the ones that are in webs and nets now !! lol

The first time I touched a mouse, it was so much different than a hamster, mice vibrate. Its weird, when they're in your hand they have such high metabolism that they feel like they're vibrating in your hand as they sniff and whatever else they do, they also have a denser weight. A hamster is lightweight and does not feel like its vibrating. If you feel better about it, maybe go touch a hamster before a mouse?

Mice are lovely little creatures I hope you work this out.

What ever you do, when/if you want to pet or hold a rodent, dont hold one that is known to bite. You dont want to be scarred for life, LOL!
But yeah, as everyone else said, just having them around and looking at them and getting used to them really helps.
Ive never had a phobia of any animal (except for large, flying, buzzing bugs...), but if something creeps me out a little, Ive found that once I handle it and spend some time with it, its not half as bad as I thought it would be. Once you realize that the animal you are scared of is a little living being with a personality, feelings, ect you start to appreciate and understand them a little better, IMO.


Exactly what is it about rodents that freaks you out?

Thanks everyone! I truly appreciate your ideas. I like the idea of watching them in the pet store. I hadn't thought of that. It's a no risk start. Then I might see if my niece can help me through my fear. I'm sure she'll enjoy sharing her mouse with me...

To answer Jess: I think in my mind I haven't been able to seperate the feral wild mice/rats with the friendly pet ones... I'll work on it!

Thanks again. I'll let you all know how it goes.

It's natural to fear animals that can bite or scratch, especially with wild animals that can have diseases such as rabies.

The association between wild and domesticated rodents is a good rationale. The wild ones are tenacious chewers, dirty, carry fleas and god knows else, skitch around and make nests in the walls, and generally are a little nerve racking. I always had pet mice as a kid and really only first experienced wild ones when I moved to this house in August. I loooove mice and thought I knew about their habits and diet but seeing them here with probably a very intricate maze throughout the walls and knowing that they were climbing up and helping themselves to my bunny's hay I got pretty freaked out. You need to keep in mind that domesticated mice are so much cleaner than wild ones, through selective breeding and whatnot.

I totally understand where you're coming from !!!! lol

It should be best to go at it slowly Good luck and hopefully we'll see a picture of you holding a little rodent in no time!

Aww, I think wild mice are cute! We had a few of them over the summer that fell in our window well, and they knocked their heads pretty good so we didnt want to just throw them back in the woods... So we kept the little guys and fed them raspberries until they passed away (which was less than a day), so at least they were comfortable in their last moments. It was really sad, actually. My sister cried when her mousey died!

And I think they're neat little survivors and I would help them out too. . . I just do not like them crawling in my walls stealing Acacia's hay!!! GRRRR *I did plug up the holes I found with steel wool, the house is over 100 yrs old so the mice are here to stay :/
Less than a day for the little mice? They probably had concussion! lol

Yeah, they couldnt walk straight, and they kept rolling over and spinning. Poor dudes.
At least the toads survived! They had, like, hundreds of babies in there that we had to rescue too, LOL.

Aw reminds me of a wild bunny i tried to help. It fell out of its box and was bleeding from it's ear. I know my dog who brought it to me didn't do it becasue it wasn't messed up like she was trying to get at it. She brought me the bunny and whined until I took it...Anyway good luck with the mice!

Thanks Purple-Hops and Jess, your stories of your own pet mice are very much settling for me! I did go to a pet store yesterday and watched the mice through their cage... The store assistant asked me whether I had any, and I politely told her the story. She said lots of people can't seperate the wild vs pet mice and never get any.

My challenge continues!