Pets for three thousand years
Fancy mice were bred in China and Japan long ago, in colours never seen in the wild.
Rodents · A little time each day
Fancy mouse
Rodent · tamed from the house mouse
A tiny white mouse with large pink ears, bright ruby eyes and a long thin tail.
- Size
- 7 to 10cm long, plus the tail
- Lives for
- 1.5 to 2.5 years
- Suits
- People who enjoy watching more than holding
Zips after you in short dashes. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the mouse
A racing heart
A mouse's heart beats more than five hundred times a minute.
Mice sing
Male mice sing to females in notes too high for us to hear.
Acrobats
They climb, balance and jump very well, using the tail like a tightrope walker's pole.
Girls together
Females live happily in small groups. Males usually fight, and smell much stronger.
Easily lost
A mouse can squeeze through a gap the width of a pencil.
The real thing
Photos of the mouse
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
Looking after one
Keep a small group of females in a secure tank or cage with narrow bars, deep bedding, a wheel and lots to climb. Clean out weekly.
Before you get one
Mice are quick and delicate, so they are better watched than cuddled. They are fascinating to watch all the same.
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