How can I get my pet mouse to be more social?

Asked by Frankie (4032

) August 17th, 2009

I recently bought two mice, and I want them to be social with humans and not be afraid of being held or pet. I’ve been successful training one of the mice to trust me, and she now runs into my hand willingly if I lower one into the cage. The other mouse, however, is still very nervous and runs into their little house when anyone comes near the cage. The only time I managed to get a hold of her, she was very frightened and ended up biting my hand, so I put her back in the cage and didn’t bother her for the rest of the day. But since then, I’ve been trying a couple times a day to get her to sniff my fingers or take food from my hand, but she seems just as nervous as ever, even though the other mouse seems to love human interaction.

Is there anything I can do to make her not be so afraid of humans? I’m unwilling to try to catch her and hold her again since she seemed so frightened the last time, but I can’t think of any other way to get her used to being held by humans. I’m also worried because I’m going to have to clean their cage soon and I don’t want her to get stressed out and possibly harm herself when I have to move her into their plastic ball. Any tips?

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8 Answers

You have the right idea. Treats from a distance. Try a tiny dab of peanut butter on your palm, and hold still.

dpworkin (27085

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Patience and a lot of treats.

MrGV (4170

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Successive approximation:

Start slow. Just touch her head or pet her one time, then a reward. In a few days, two times. Then three pets, and a little peanut butter. Then four pets and put your hand under one foot and peanut butter. Continue adding a little more of the action you want, followed with a reward, until you get the behavior you want.

PerryDolia (3481

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A tiny mouse cocktail to relax him?

marinelife (62485

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I see we have a Skinnerian in the group.

dpworkin (27085

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You need a snake, it would solve you mice problem.

bumwithablackberry (932

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you just got to hold them daily even if they run away. put them on a towel and let them roam around but make sure they don’t escape. be patient, she will get used to being held and she won’t have a problem (=

mizkendall3939 (151

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Thanks for your help everyone! I’ve been approaching her every day trying to hold her and pet her and offering her treats, and earlier tonight she finally climbed into my hand for the first time…yay!! She kind of freaked out when I lifted her out of the cage and held her, but still, it’s pretty awesome that she went into my hand all by herself. Thanks again!

Frankie (4032

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