GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS - YOU DECIDE

Posts

Pages: 1
Well, I recently caught Kasumi, a female house/field mouse with a glue trap and decided to keep her in my 20 Gallon Tank Long since I wasn't using it for anything at the time. And, I'm not really sure if I should consider it a boon or a curse that she was pregnant since she recently gave birth to a small liter of pups. Unfortunately I didn't find out about this until I was in the middle of cleaning out her cage and found three of her blind pups still in there. And apparently I'm as blind as a bat at times since I didn't spot the pup still attached to her either when I managed to catch and corner her with one of those insect holders you can buy at Wal-Mart either.

At this point I don't know if she's going to take back the three that got left behind or not. Though, I'm guessing I didn't help matters by continuing with the cleaning anyway since her tank was starting to stink after a week. Nor do I know if she'll keep the one that managed to remain attached through her during the entire ordeal though I give that one a better chance at survival since I'm not the one that moved it.

And to be honest, I'm not sure I want Kasumi to keep any of them. Since I really wasn't planning on one mouse turning into a small family group in the first place. To make matters worse I may not even know which pups are male until after they've gotten a chance to impregnate her again. And I only have so much room for small pocket pets. To make matters worse most pet sites would argue that wild mice make for a shitty pet since they tend to be super skittish. So you'll rarely see them unless you go out of your way to disturb them and take a chance on potentially getting bit in the process. And that's not even factoring in the possibility of them carry ticks, ear mites, or deadly diseases.
Mirak
Stand back. Artist at work. I paint with enthusiasm if not with talent.
9300
I thought glue traps (kinda cruel stuff, imo) were made so the critter couldn't be unsticked from it without grievously hurting it so if you managed to do it I guess there must be some humane glue traps now?

And, well, I wouldn't keep wild mice due to almost everything you mentioned and because the one time I tried it, the mouse made a hole inside an old wooden dresser where it hid for days without me knowing if it took any of the food i'd leave in the hole until we finally noticed the smell of rotting animal, so yeah, a bad time.

As for the ones you don't want, I have no idea if pet stores that sell live feed for pets like snakes and the like would take in wild/caught mice even as donation, but maybe there are reptile sanctuaries or zoos somewhere in your area that might take them in? At least over here most of these sanctuaries appreciate help with feed donations since they're non-profit and receive little gov support.
I guess there must be some humane glue traps now?


From your perspective I'd say the answer is no, but it isn't that difficult to remove mice from a glue trap. All you need to do is spray vegetable oil around them. The vegetable oil will actually cause the glue to break down and allow the mouse to free itself in short order. It probably took all of five minutes for Kasumi to pull herself free after the vegetable oil had been generously applied around where she had been caught.
Update: Well all of her kids have apparently survived. I'll admit it's a bit difficult to count them at times since they tend to be rather evasive and some of them will actively try and escape if I try and lift up the egg carton they like to hide under to see how they are doing.

Though, I suppose if someone lifted up the roof of my house to check up on me I'd probably try and flee as well. Oddly enough Kasumi just tends to work herself even further back towards a corner of the tank when I do that. I guess, her kids just have a lot more desire for freedom or are just far more reckless because of their youth or their just less scared of me because they've spent their entire lives in a room with a giant as far as they are concerned.
Pages: 1