2 replies to this topic

[Zula]

With my future cage upgrade for a Syrian next year, my room will be rearranged slightly with the potential for a second enclosure. I really miss having mice (I had 3 fancy mice from Mar 2020 - August 2021) however, due to the amount of health problems, stress and cost that they bring, since their passings I am unable to really continue having fancy mice. Or at least while I am still a minor.

I have recently been looking into harvest mice who I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, are:

-more hardy, less prone to illness
-a more arboreal species
-have little to no odour (in comparison to fancy mice)
-require aquarium or diy style enclosures with very fine mesh for ventilation
-live about 1.5 years
-a “watch don’t touch pet”
-social animals but can only live with others who they have lived with from a young age (?) unlike fancy mice who can be introduced to new individuals.

I have some questions though:

-is their diet similar to that of fancy mice or is the GA particularly different?
-do they get spooked by large, open spaces?
-are there any illnesses or health problems they are particularly prone to?
-can they be housed in any same sex group, or like fancy mice is it only females that can be housed together?

Also, I would probably house them in a diy enclosure made from a chest of drawers (a dresser, for everyone in the US[?]) that I have. It is 74cmX40cmX74cm or 30”X16”X30”. Therefore having about 450 sq inches of floor space. I would replace the back of the cabinet and ventilate part of it. As well as remove the rail parts on the inside and add a base. Then, add a front to allow for deep bedding and build 2 front opening plexiglass doors. And of course then seal it.

This is the chest of drawers I would use:

Spoiler

And this is essentially what the inside looks like (so you can see what I mean about the rails and things like that) currently just larger since this is a small version.

Does this sound like a decent idea? It wouldn’t be for at least a year and a half, but I love brainstorming future pet ideas and researching thoroughly. And any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance <3

Edited by Zula, 23 October 2021 - 06:43 PM.

[daisy~]

Harvest mice haven't been studied at all so we've no idea what kind of nutritional requirements they have. Since they're tiny I think people tend to feed them diet based on small seeds, plus native (to the UK) grasses and leaves.

I think males can be housed together. Being mice, and being native to grassy areas and hedgerows, I would assume they prefer a cluttered tank rather than open space.

I looked into getting harvest mice once but the time wasn't right. Maybe in the future. The best/only group for them seems to be a Facebook group called something like keeping and breeding harvest mice.

[Zula]

Harvest mice haven't been studied at all so we've no idea what kind of nutritional requirements they have. Since they're tiny I think people tend to feed them diet based on small seeds, plus native (to the UK) grasses and leaves.

I think males can be housed together. Being mice, and being native to grassy areas and hedgerows, I would assume they prefer a cluttered tank rather than open space.

I looked into getting harvest mice once but the time wasn't right. Maybe in the future. The best/only group for them seems to be a Facebook group called something like keeping and breeding harvest mice.

Thank you for this information, I hadn’t realised that they hadn’t been studied at all, so that’s interesting to know.

I will have a look and see if I can find the Facebook group, thanks daisy!