Because of their size, pet mice are very fragile—they don’t make easy-care entry-level pets for children. There are some welfare considerations to consider when making the decision to keep pet mice.
torment breeding
Some breeds fall under torture breeding. These include, among others
- Curly and Angora mice
They are highly susceptible to parasites, have an impaired sense of touch and are prone to inflamed eyes. - ‘Self’ and ‘Shaded’ colourways
This includes mice with red, yellow and orange fur. They owe their color to a specific gene that causes obesity despite a strict diet. As a result, there are health problems that significantly reduce the life expectancy of the animals. - albinos
Due to a metabolic disease, albinos cannot produce melanin, which protects the skin from sunburn. - nude mice
They are completely hairless and must be kept in warm rooms to stay healthy. Nude mice also suffer from an immune deficiency.
children and colored mice
Color mice are not suitable for children. The skeleton is delicate and fragile and can be easily crushed if handled improperly.
behavioral problems
Colored mice show a variety of behavioral problems. Some of these are usually caused by adverse housing conditions. Known abnormalities include tail chasing, wall pawing, jumping up, looping, manipulating. Unfortunately, kronism (eating one’s own offspring) is also part of it and can occur if there is too little space or if there is a high occupation density.
Pet mice are active at dusk and at night
As a rule, the little ones have to rest during the day. Waking them up to deal with them only causes stress for the colored mice.
Color mice and other pets
Colored mice need a conspecific of their own species. Even if you think that some animals are so similar, you should avoid socializing with small animals of other species (hamsters, degus, guinea pigs, …). Such attempts only lead to stress in the colored mice, in the worst case even to death.