# average lifespan of pet mice? (fancy)



## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

basically as the title says
not getting them any time soon but its something i'd like in the future.
thanks xx


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## white (May 16, 2009)

about 18 months.


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

thankyou:2thumb:!

Any fancy mice breeders in Glasgow?x
How much would you be expected to pay for them?
Also, what cages would you's reccomend?

Sorry for all the questions; I'm just really interested in keeping mice or fancy hamsters in the future. 

Thank you in advance, Brooke x


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## PrettyxPerfection (Sep 9, 2008)

Cleo27 said:


> thankyou:2thumb:!
> 
> Any fancy mice breeders in Glasgow?x
> How much would you be expected to pay for them?
> ...


I think there is a few breeders on here that live in or around Glasgow, go onto the classifieds to find out I think I saw an advert on there not to long ago :2thumb:

I would reccomend tanks, someone on here said not to use tanks as mice suffer with respatory infections because of their urine, but if you make use of the height then they are fine, also make sure the tank has a mesh lid so air can circuate, also if you use cages mice can escape out of the bars if they are to wide, I don't take the chances with cages and mice squeezing themselves through them :whistling2:

Fancy/hobbie mice can arrange from £1 - £4 or anything like that

Hope this helps


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

PrettyxPerfection said:


> I think there is a few breeders on here that live in or around Glasgow, go onto the classifieds to find out I think I saw an advert on there not to long ago :2thumb:
> 
> I would reccomend tanks, someone on here said not to use tanks as mice suffer with respatory infections because of their urine, but if you make use of the height then they are fine, also make sure the tank has a mesh lid so air can circuate, also if you use cages mice can escape out of the bars if they are to wide, I don't take the chances with cages and mice squeezing themselves through them :whistling2:
> 
> ...


Thankyou! xxxx


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## Disgruntled (Dec 5, 2010)

I bought three female mice today, they are tans which are doberman/rottie pattern, a top colour such as black or brown with tan tummies. Mine aren't brilliant examples but they only cost 50p each...:flrt: Just need a really good tan boy now..


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

We must have had very bad luck, all ours (rescues) died by 12 months. Some were only 6 months and riddled with tumours. Poor little things, put me off getting any more.


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

LisaLQ said:


> We must have had very bad luck, all ours (rescues) died by 12 months. Some were only 6 months and riddled with tumours. Poor little things, put me off getting any more.


See this is the thing with small pets, its really heartbreaking when any pet dies, but especially hard when its a small furry- as you feel you haven't had them for long. This is what puts me off, especially when the time comes you have to say goodbye. If only there was a pet that was as easy to look after that lived long. They're great when they are here though x


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Cleo27 said:


> See this is the thing with small pets, its really heartbreaking when any pet dies, but especially hard when its a small furry- as you feel you haven't had them for long. This is what puts me off, especially when the time comes you have to say goodbye. If only there was a pet that was as easy to look after that lived long. They're great when they are here though x


 

Duprasi are easy to look after and can live up to 5 years:2thumb:


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## PrettyxPerfection (Sep 9, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> Duprasi are easy to look after and can live up to 5 years:2thumb:


I agree with this to be honest I loved my little Blanket the Duprasi he died when he was about 5 years old, they are funny to watch sleep aswell :flrt:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

PrettyxPerfection said:


> I agree with this to be honest I loved my little Blanket the Duprasi he died when he was about 5 years old, they are funny to watch sleep aswell :flrt:


They are very cute pets:flrt:


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

aww:flrt:
whats their care requirements like?
I'll have to have a search on this xx


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Cleo27 said:


> aww:flrt:
> whats their care requirements like?
> I'll have to have a search on this xx


 
They arent much different to keeping a normal gerbil but are quite happy to live alone. They cost around £20 each which isnt bad for 5 years of cuteness. You are best buying off a private breeder who has handled the babies.
I think this is the best place for information
The Fat-Tailed Gerbil Page (Pachyuromys duprasi)


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

thanks for that :2thumb:
so basically;
feed them hamster food with some hay and vegetables
provide them with thick layer of aspen for substrate 
give them hay to make burrows with
provide with bowl of sand (would playsand be ok?) 
give them a wheel for excersise (flying saucer?)
hiding places and gnawing things

what kind of cages/tanks do you guys keep yours in?
and does anybody in glasgow keep and breed these?

xx


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Cleo27 said:


> thanks for that :2thumb:
> so basically;
> feed them hamster food with some hay and vegetables
> provide them with thick layer of aspen for substrate
> ...


 
I keep mine in either glass tanks or duna type cages with a silent spinner(syrian hamster size) They are actually insectivores so mine get Gerbil food mixed with parrot food and mealworms etc. They do like a bit of fruit and veg and millet sprays. I give mine hay to nest with and tubes as toys and if you keep them on dry playsand they dont get greasy coats. If you keep them on shavings etc then you should give them a dish of chinchilla sand to bath in. I give my 5 dup`s apple twigs to chew but any safe wooden rodent toys will do


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## Cleo27 (Jan 9, 2010)

Shell195 said:


> I keep mine in either glass tanks or duna type cages with a silent spinner(syrian hamster size) They are actually insectivores so mine get Gerbil food mixed with parrot food and mealworms etc. They do like a bit of fruit and veg and millet sprays. I give mine hay to nest with and tubes as toys and if you keep them on dry playsand they dont get greasy coats. If you keep them on shavings etc then you should give them a dish of chinchilla sand to bath in. I give my 5 dup`s apple twigs to chew but any safe wooden rodent toys will do


ok thanks for all this info it is greatly appreciated <3!


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## MarissaK (Dec 21, 2012)

If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age? 


-because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

MarissaK said:


> If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age?
> 
> 
> -because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


This thread is nearly a year old... Why bring it up just to post something so pretentious?


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## Slumdog (Nov 29, 2012)

MarissaK said:


> If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age?
> 
> 
> -because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


Wow, t'is the season to be jolly and all that! Where do people find these old dusty posts?


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

MarissaK said:


> If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age?
> 
> 
> -because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


How many mice have you had? More than 17 years of experience with small furries and the oldest I've ever had a mouse live was just shy of 2 years and four months. By this point it looked horrendous and had been on his last legs for some time. And yup... I 'actually know how to treat an animal' too... 

I breed my mice fairly heavily on the grounds that they are there to provide home grown food for my snakes... but this doesn't mean they are not cared for. In all honesty I haven't found there to be any real difference in life span between 'pet' mice and breeding mice. Or any difference in mice fed a shop purchased diet and ones fed a home made tailed mix (although certainly this does affect breeding successes). At the end of the day they have short lifespans and large, regular litters because that is what nature built them to do. 
I make my own food, they are cleaned more often than is really necessary and all receive fresh foods as well as their mix and get various things to 'play' with. 

Merry christmas... lol!

EDIT: Bugger... just realised this a needlessly resurrected thread. Bah!


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## Slumdog (Nov 29, 2012)

Twiglet, I also breed my own feeders, would be very interested in what you use to make your own food? x


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

Slumdog said:


> Twiglet, I also breed my own feeders, would be very interested in what you use to make your own food? x


I use as a base either a stud horse mix or rabbit food and dog food (I go for 21 - 23% protein) mixed with wild bird seed, groats and a teeny amount of sunflower seeds. When I can get them I also include flaked peas and those dried, squashed corn flakes you get for horses.
Once a week they get a few cat biscuits for extra protein and at the moment, because it's so bloody cold and they are in an out building I'm also giving them a tiny quantity of suet pellets.. and I mean tiny. It probably works out as a couple of little pellets per mouse per week. I just figure the extra fat does them good. At the moment they are also getting a few linseeds now and then again for the extra fat and oils. 
To this they also get various hard dog biscuits (like bonios etc), dry bread, a few table scraps, some veg (usually I go for carrots as they are nice and dry but kale goes down a storm too). Every now and then they get egg food. I go easy on that because as much as they clearly love it, it makes them FAT if over done! 
I know many people swear by a 'set' diet but I have always found that mixing things up a bit stops any issues caused by a sudden change of diet when any babies I sell go to new owners or if something new is introduced.


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## jaykickboxer (Feb 11, 2008)

MarissaK said:


> If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age?
> 
> 
> -because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


5 ? I doubt it


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## Daisyy (Jan 15, 2010)

MarissaK said:


> If mice only live 18 months, how come mine have ALL lived roughly 2 to 4 years, the one male living almost 5 years before he died suddenly while eating, with no visible signs of illness or age?
> 
> 
> -because I didn't stick 3 mice in a a 10 gallon aquarium with little to play with, terrible food to eat, a tiny wheel to run on that only ruins their backs and tails, and I actually know how to treat an animal-


5 years? I'm sure you did. Are you sure your Mummy didn't replace it when it died twice? A mouse would look old at 2, let alone 5.


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