Any good retired mouse enrichment tips?

[J-Lu]

The 2 little dudes came home today! I am giving them time in their new containers but will but them back in their home containers for the night. Interestingly, they are both reticent to walk into my hand without me wearing lab gloves. They run away. But once I catch them, they are alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll into being pet around their heads. This will take time because they’ve never been handled without gloves. I didn’t think about that!

They are currently exploring their new homes and will spend the night and day in their old homes to keep them comfy. The little dudes! I say that I hope they have 9 lives because I have enough enrichment for them to live 9 lives. Their horizons are now expanding and I can offer new/changing enrichment on a regular basis.

The little dudes! I volunteered to euthanize the rest of the group not adopted, which I worked with. I wish I could have taken them all. The little dudes.

[Rackonteur]

@LookinForSpace

Puhleese give them a piece of apple or Cheerios and video their reaction, then post it here.

Yes. Puhretty Puhleese!

[Annie10]

@GoodTimes

When we were kids my sister and I had an assortment of dwarf hamsters and one cute white mouse. They were all very friendly and liked to be handled. We had a bunch of playmobile horse jumps and different obstacles for them to climb over, under, and through. So we would make a “track” for them to go around. They’re very fast, and learned very quickly that they would get a little treat when they got to the other end.

I wish so badly for a video of the hamster track

[Annie10]

@J-Lu

The 2 little dudes came home today! I am giving them time in their new containers but will but them back in their home containers for the night. Interestingly, they are both reticent to walk into my hand without me wearing lab gloves. They run away. But once I catch them, they are alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll into being pet around their heads. This will take time because they’ve never been handled without gloves. I didn’t think about that!

They are currently exploring their new homes and will spend the night and day in their old homes to keep them comfy. The little dudes! I say that I hope they have 9 lives because I have enough enrichment for them to live 9 lives. Their horizons are now expanding and I can offer new/changing enrichment on a regular basis.

The little dudes! I volunteered to euthanize the rest of the group not adopted, which I worked with. I wish I could have taken them all. The little dudes.

I’m so sorry they are being euthanized but I’m
Glad someone who cares is doing it

[J-Lu]

The little dudes! I’ve been slowly introducing them to their new environment, which are two plastic rat cages that are pretty high in size. I’m using the “Space building set” I found at the barn to build them a “3-story” structure. Tonight, I got home late after riding and put them into their new cages. I’ll probably let them spend the night and then put them into their old cages for some hours tomorrow where I can see if they mastered the drinking bottle or not. Both were more active than I’ve ever seen them climbing on their structures for about an hour. And then, independently they both stopped and mellowed out on their new bedding thingy. I’m pretty sure they both thought “I’m now tired and sore, must mellow out”. Their new set-up tests agility that neither really have although they both thought they did. The nice thing is that I can rebuild the structures when they get bored to add something “new”. My colleague was soooooo excited to take the other two home today.

Pictures coming if anyone is interested!

@Annie10, I hated to do this but on the flip side, they won’t go through the end-of-life debilitation. I very much cared and held and pet them all before euthanasia. These mice were unique in that the study made them very friendly, and I volunteered to euthanize them and give them a good face scratching before euthanizing each one. That particular lab is all about the health and welfare of the animals and I love love love working with them. Other animals have been adopted by members of this lab. And major kudos to this independent vivarium for promoting adoption. I never knew it was a “thing”.

[moonlitoaksranch]

I’m, I don’t see any Mouse Senior Living Apartment photos here. Ahem!

[Marla_100]

Ahem,. indeed.

[J-Lu]

Senior mouse retirement facility pictures:

Cages from the side. Both have that protected area you see on the right were they can sleep under during the day. The cage on the left shows the bedding under a similar area. They also have cardboard rat tubes to chew up, and “in the wings”, rodent nylabones, mouse wooden blocks, cardboard huts, plastic huts - all things to chew on. I’ll shake things up. Plus, I’ll occasionally rebuild their structures.

From the top. They have platforms at various levels and those plastic “rods” that are very grippy that they can climb on. They both have the black wheels that actually turn. I tilted some platforms so they can easily climb level to level. They seem to be very active in climbing these structures.

CA14 in his home. During the day, I put that lid on. It’s open the the environment and their cages are next to the porch door. I’ve had the screen door open and they are interested smelling scents they haven’t smelled before. At night, I put on the rat cage top which is 3 inches taller and has a filter on it. I think that gives them much more room to be in at the top levels when they are most active.

The little dudes. CA9 out for his face scratching and petting.

CA14 getting his head scratched by my thumb. As I took the picture he opened his eyes to say “Ummm, why are you stopping”?

It is so interesting that since they’ve been in their retirement house they are not so interested in being picked up. But when I hold them, they are ALL about being pet. I take that as a positive sign that their environment is FINALLY more interesting than human contact. However, they’ll always have human contact at least twice daily. They can’t pet themselves!

[DawnJL]

Yay!! Happy wee mice!

[J-Lu]

I discovered today that Cheerios are a big hit! I have to introduce them to the Cheerios slowly because they’ve only ever had boring rodent food. I’ll give them a quarter of a pecan and some bird black-oil sunflower seeds later in the week. I’m being very careful about their digestion since they’ve been on a food-restricted diet their whole lives.

[Simkie]

I 100% expected them to be red eyed white mice! Those are super houses

[ShenanAnna]

You’re being so wonderfully careful with these little guys!

[J-Lu]

They are C57BL/6 mice. The strain was developed in the 1920s and came from “mouse fanciers” which were big in the day. Quite a few of the research strains came from mouse fanciers in the early 1900s. The C is the initial of the guy who founded the strain (and Jackson Laboratories) the the BL = black. They are the “workhorse” strain of laboratory mice and are most often used. I’ve worked with the white mice with red eyes and some strains, such as the CD1 (IRC) strain are so pleasant! I’ve also worked with C57BL/6 mice that developed a mutation in the breeding colony and produced “chocolate” offspring. Those were cool looking mice!

Thanks! We found them at the barn when the BO was renovating the theater and no one knows where they came from! I thought they’d be EXCELLENT for these little guys! They really like climbing on them although it’s the first thing they’ve climbed on in their lives and they aren’t particularly graceful yet! And they sometimes struggle to hang on when they slip! I’m sure they’ll get much better with practice!

[CanadianTrotter]

If you can’t fit a running wheel in their cages, how about a hamster ball to put them in outside of their cages? We had one for Charlie the gerbil and he loved it.

[J-Lu]

I was thinking about this, thanks!! I’m thinking about the in-cage mouse disk wheel which is possible because I can reconstruct their jungle gyms. I also thought about the gerbil balls. These guys are coming out of 2 years of a boring mouse-sized cage. When I first put them into these cages, they were both nervous. They are still a bit nervous. It’s actually more space and more enrichment than they’ve ever had. They’ve never climbed on things and I’m sure they’re sore because they’re “old men”. I’m not sure how they’d react to gerbil balls where they’ll bump into things because they’re old and have only lived in a cage and I don’t want them to stress out if they think they can’t escape the ball and try. But those are on my radar…I want to see how they continue to do with new items. Their whole world has changed and I’m grateful for the suggestions! Thanks!

[Simkie]

It’s a rare mouse that actually uses a ball, they usually just sit in one place. It’s pretty disappointing tbh, you’d think they’d be fun!

I used to be one of those fanciers My favorites were the blue roans, in rex or angora.

Pictures!

Varieties of Mice

[J-Lu]

Sad to report that both of my retirees died on Friday.

One (CA9) was found dead in the morning when I went to feed treats. The other (CA14) was jumping up and down. I got delayed at work so I didn’t ride, but took the remaining mouse out for extensive petting and running around on my desk. For hours. I offered my hand to him, which he took, and I was rubbing his ears and nape when I felt him twitch and flip to his back. I tried CPR on his chest but he didn’t respond. At least CA14 died while in a state of bliss having his ears rubbed and his eyes closed enjoying it.

The were equivalent to people in their 80s. While I knew they couldn’t live forever, I’m really sad that these little angels aren’t a part of my life any longer. What an adjustment.

[trubandloki]

I am sorry for your loss.

[gailbyrd]

So sorry to hear. You are a good egg to have taken in these little ones for a perfect retirement. And good for your institute to allow you to do so. With 4 cats (at the moment, I’ve had more than 4 in the house at one time), I would never be able to give any of “my mice” a retirement home like you were able to do.

[chestnutmarebeware]

I’m very sorry.