How much do live feed mice cost and do they make good pets?

Do they have any advantage over fancy mice and rats, as far as illnesses and lifespan, or would it be reasonably logical to buy two live feed mice as pets, instead of fancy mice?





My cousin wants two pet mice, and I'm trying to help him and his Mother gather information. (We all know that she'll end up taking care of them, anyway.) I am unable to find much about price range for feed mice (or fancy mice) online (Outside of independent retailers and independent breeders. I'm thinking more petco/petsmart, as to where the mice will be purchased.), and can't find anywhere locally to check prices, so that information is vital.





Thanks in advance.|||Feeder mice run about $2 a piece. But!!! I would not recommend them as pets. I have a snake and we got her a mouse awhile back, she wouldn't eat it so my husband put her on my computer desk in a hampster cage. She became my pinky and I loved that little mouse. She was well taken care of - but died in little over 2 months. Afterwords I asked the people at the pet shop about it, and they said that feeder mice have much smaller life spans because they are not breed to be pets, only to be eaten - so they allow inbreeding and such which severely lowers life span.





Fancy Mice - about $4-5 in Petsmart. Sometimes you may pay up to $10 but that's still not bad and they are not (supposedly)inbred and they have much longer life spans (though no mouse lives forever).





Pinky (my feeder mouse pet) was very well behaved and loved to be petted and to run around in a hampster ball. They are very easy to get attached to - so for that reason alone I would recommend the fancy mice because of the longer life span.|||Feeder mice are inexpensive, I have seen them for $1 USD. Fancy mice range $1 USD to $10 USD. I know several people who bought feeders at the *big box* pet store, and they have had a lot of success with them as pets. However, if you can find a fancy mouse I would suggest that as the better option.





I have a LOT of pet mice and spend a LOT of time with them. I agree with you, it was difficult to locate information about mice. I started buying all the books I could find, then happened upon a couple of *mousery* web sites, which led to more sites, etc. When I checked Yahoo!Groups, I was delighted to see several groups expressly for mice!





If your cousin is very young, always have someone supervise the activity because mice are fragile. And be prepared for some *smell* (the males are the worst). Buy at least 2 of the same sex - I recommend females as they tend to live together quite well.





Hope this helps.


Regards


SuzieQ . . . ~~~(O8:%26gt; . . . . (squeak)|||You've gotten some great advice so far but I thought I'd add that at the Petsmart I work at we don't sell ANY feeder mice. In fact we jack up the price of most of our small animals so they won't be used as feeder animals. I believe most Petsmarts are the same way, so if you're looking for a feeder mouse you might need to look elsewhere. I'm not sure at all about Petco, so that might be a good place to start. Most people in this area look to the independently owned, smaller pet stores for feeder animals. Good luck!|||at my petstore, which is a privatly owned facility. we breed our own mice, not buy them from companies who probably treat them like dirt before they get to the store. we sell them for 1.39 and if you raise them from babies they are amazing little guys. just make sure you get two of the same sex or babies will happen times 20000%|||It's my understanding that there really isn't much difference between "feeder" mice and fancy mice. You can find more information on this topic and on general mouse care here:





http://www.rmca.org/Resources/mousefaq.h鈥?/a>





I would also recommend trying to find a small animal rescue group in your area. They sometimes have mice available for adoption, and often the mice will already be hand-tamed. You can search for one by going to http://www.petfinder.com and searching for "small and furry" animals in your zipcode by using the search function on the left-hand side of the screen. Good luck!|||They're relatively cheap. And yes, they'd make excellent pets. No different to "fancy" mice. Maybe just not as pretty as far as markings go though.





Can I recommend that your friend gets a rat instead? I had pet rats as a teenager, and they're just the best. They're intelligent and affectionate, and not as likely to get lost as mice are.





Good luck with that. Excellent choice in pet either way.|||our cat thinks mice make good pets for a short while