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Mice

dolly1

Hi I was just looking for advice on how to deal with something.  My daughter has been wanting mice for 3 years.  We said no and compromised on her last birthday and got 3 guinea pigs instead.  However she saids she needs to hold them and breed them!! She sets up "humane traps" at every opportunitey. I suggested finding a pet shop where they had mice and seeing if we could hold them but they have to be at home.!! When seeing a medical professional in the week she spoke about this need and the professional thought getting mice away from the home was accepteble ie at a local field.  She has seen this as yes you can have a mouse.

I can't stand mice, she has now caught 2 in traps and is keeping them in a tank in our garden.  I want to just get rid of them but this would be a complete betrayal to her and she wouldn't be able to deal with it as she now has the thing she wants more than anything in the world.  Has anyone any suggestions how I should deal with this, she is 14 and has Autism

Thanks!!!!

  • This seems easy on the face of it but I know some people are phobic of mice so I am trying to put it into context by imagining how I would feel if my daughter wanted a pet tarantula (which would trigger similar feelings for me).

    I would like to say I'd let her have one if she wanted it that badly (she's a similar age) but I'm really not sure I could cope with it in the house.  I'd be terrified of it somehow escaping and, unlike other pets, I really don't think I could step in and help if for any reason she wasn't able to care for it properly.

    Hopefully she will have a home of her own one day and could have one then, otherwise there are sometimes certain things we just have to accept in return for being looked after by others (there is always a difficult balance to be struck between everyone's needs in a family, but this does not mean we have to agree to everything our children want).

  • I have had pet mice and they can make really lovely pets. They are not like wild mice at all. it is like the difference between a wild dog and a domestic dog. Wild things need to stay wild or it will just kill them to be trapped.

    why don't you go to a local RSPCA and get a couple of rescued mice? Then get a big cage that is suitable for mice (with small distance between the bars so they can't escape). Then put in lots of toys, small hiding places, a wheel for them and a few tunnels. They will be happy and your daughter can watch them and handle them too if she is gentle.

  • And yes, if the mice are still in the tank in the garden they must be set free.

  • Hi dolly.

    I agree with stateofindependence- keeping wild mice in captivity is cruel, they are used to and need freedom to be content. Wild mice can also carry disease which can be transmitted to people. Humane traps once set need to be checked within a 6 hour period otherwise any mouse inside would begin to be distressed. I would discourage the use of them as toys or to catch mice for the sake of it.

    Domestic mice from pet stores are clean and have gone through generations of breeding for the purpose of captivity to get them used to it.

  • The only logical reasons I can think of for not letting her have pet mice is that keeping them in a small cage or tank is cruel, and that wild ones can have diseases.

    I would tell her firmly that the wild ones are going to be very distressed by being caged, and let them free. Whether she likes it or not. Get rid of the 'humane' traps. 

    Then let her have a couple of (non-breeding) pet mice. If this is what she wants more than anything else in the world I would be thankful that she has chosen something cheap and low maintenance. At least she is not pestering for a pony!

    But do get a very large cage, with all the right equipment, so they have room to explore and play, and are not traumatised by their incarceration.

    Re you hating mice, I suggest hypnotherapy!