# People that have ended up with pet mice because their tegu didn't eat...



## Gandolf38 (Jan 13, 2012)

Just out of curiosity;
How many of you have pet mice because your tegu didn't eat and you ended up keeping them as pets? I usually feed frozen, but my Argentine red baby was on a hunger strike, & I tried a small live mouse, which he bit, but then let go. The mouse was so cute, that the next day I couldn't feed it!!
Now I have 2 pet mice, because I had to buy a friend for the one I kept!


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## frost (Jan 13, 2012)

my fiance got a mother rat with a litter of babies. my intention was to feed a few of the little ones, but she wont let me....


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## Gandolf38 (Jan 13, 2012)

Hahahaha!!!


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## dragonmetalhead (Jan 13, 2012)

Between Kodo, my three snakes, and my dachshunds, there is no way a live mouse would stand a snowball's chance in my house. That being said, I haven't live fed in years (partially to avoid this issue). I tell people if they really want a pet mouse, by a feeder since they're cheaper and just don;t feed it to anything.


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## Aiion (Jan 13, 2012)

My hubby brought home a live pinky mouse when I asked him to bring home a frozen large fuzzy. It was way too small and my mother instincts kicked in. I was giving it feedings every 2 hours. Unfortunately... after about 7 days I was so ridiculously sleep deprived that I slept through the alarm and many hours after that. The poor thing didn't make it.


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## Rhetoric (Jan 13, 2012)

I had a couple rats for a little while, I try to avoid live prey. I got the rats and was going to try and breed them in smaller quantities, then co2/freeze them. They didn't last too long, one of my dogs kept trying to bit them through the cages... I had a rat as a kid and she was great! Generally the feeder mice/rats don't live too long though


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## ilovelizards (Jan 14, 2012)

I breed mice so my breeders are pets till they dont reproduce good anymore or i dont like them due to aggression or undesired fur color (stil trying to get black and white spoted mice)& as long as I have a back up litter or breeders ready I kill off the older ones.so I feed pre killed from tongs or frozens on a plate if I ended up frezzeing one he didnt want on the day I killed it.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Jan 14, 2012)

_My tegus don't turn down rodents, but my snakes do every once in a while. Years ago when I use to feed thumped rats, my snake took too long to strike and the rat kept coming around. The third time it came around I kept if for about a week and the poor thing was understandably terrified of me. So I tried again and my snake took it. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with an animal and I've been using F/T ever since._


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## ilovelizards (Jan 14, 2012)

Bubblz Calhoun said:


> _My tegus don't turn down rodents, but my snakes do every once in a while. Years ago when I use to feed thumped rats, my snake took too long to strike and the rat kept coming around. The third time it came around I kept if for about a week and the poor thing was understandably terrified of me. So I tried again and my snake took it. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with an animal and I've been using F/T ever since._



he only turns them down pre hibanation time..in sping and summer he will eat 5-6 no problem


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## Gandolf38 (Jan 14, 2012)

Aiion said:


> My hubby brought home a live pinky mouse when I asked him to bring home a frozen large fuzzy. It was way too small and my mother instincts kicked in. I was giving it feedings every 2 hours. Unfortunately... after about 7 days I was so ridiculously sleep deprived that I slept through the alarm and many hours after that. The poor thing didn't make it.



Awwww, I tried that once myself. The mother instinct is pretty strong; I figured it wouldn't make it, so I brought it back to the store, told them I tried to feed it, & the guy turned around & threw it into a cage with a baby monitor!!

I never thought I'd have pet mice, or that they'd even make good pets, but they're so much fun! So sweet and curious. Total opposites from each other!!
95% of the time I fed F/T to the tegus and the snake anyway, but now I do 100%!! 
The people at the pet store tease me about it, & they are of the mindset that live is best & healthiest. Their argument is that freezing kills the nutritional value as well as the bacteria. Has anyone else heard of that? It still seems to me that it is healthier-and safer for our pets-to feed F/T. 
Plus, more humane for the rodents. I've had some bad luck in the past with trying to stun rats & mice, & it was pretty upsetting.


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## Dereks-Dragons (Jan 14, 2012)

i dont have pet mice.. my mother isnt even thrilled about the freezer in the garage filled with hundreds of frozen rodents for all my monitors ect.. but last nigt me and my friend had a nice little discovery.. while de-frosting a XXL mouse to feed to my tegu we noticed she was releee fat... so we.. kinda sorta sliced her open . found about 12-15 little pinkies inside her. then fed the remains of the mother to the tegu and the little pinkies to the water dragon and the smaller of my monitors.


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## dragonmetalhead (Jan 14, 2012)

Dereks-Dragons said:


> i dont have pet mice.. my mother isnt even thrilled about the freezer in the garage filled with hundreds of frozen rodents for all my monitors ect.. but last nigt me and my friend had a nice little discovery.. while de-frosting a XXL mouse to feed to my tegu we noticed she was releee fat... so we.. kinda sorta sliced her open . found about 12-15 little pinkies inside her. then fed the remains of the mother to the tegu and the little pinkies to the water dragon and the smaller of my monitors.



That's an awesome story. Everybody won (except the pinkies). Don't feel bad about slicing her open; I skin the rodents before I feed Kodo so he doesn't have to worry about fur and it's fairly easy to accidentally disembowel a rat.


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## Dereks-Dragons (Jan 14, 2012)

well i didnt rele feel bad cuz she was F/t anyway i just wasnt too sure how some people would react to that LOL


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## Dana C (Jan 14, 2012)

That didn't happen to me with mice but it certainly did with a pair of rats. I ended up keeping them as pets. They were smart, affectionate and all in all, great pets. They both ended up dying of old age. 
I originally got them as feeders. When it came time to use them, my huge boa decided that it was preshed time and ignored them. Within a week, I grew attached to them and kept them.

As a side note, I don't know people see in hamsters. Rats make much better pets.


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## Gandolf38 (Jan 15, 2012)

Dereks-Dragons said:


> well i didnt rele feel bad cuz she was F/t anyway i just wasnt too sure how some people would react to that LOL



That is a pretty cool story; yeah, it's easier when they're F/T, bc I just view them as food at that point. You got your money's worth out of that one!!


dragonmetalhead said:


> Dereks-Dragons said:
> 
> 
> > i dont have pet mice.. my mother isnt even thrilled about the freezer in the garage filled with hundreds of frozen rodents for all my monitors ect.. but last nigt me and my friend had a nice little discovery.. while de-frosting a XXL mouse to feed to my tegu we noticed she was releee fat... so we.. kinda sorta sliced her open . found about 12-15 little pinkies inside her. then fed the remains of the mother to the tegu and the little pinkies to the water dragon and the smaller of my monitors.
> ...



You skin them? Is it difficult to do? That's a good idea; one I've definitely never heard before!


Dana C said:


> That didn't happen to me with mice but it certainly did with a pair of rats. I ended up keeping them as pets. They were smart, affectionate and all in all, great pets. They both ended up dying of old age.
> I originally got them as feeders. When it came time to use them, my huge boa decided that it was preshed time and ignored them. Within a week, I grew attached to them and kept them.
> 
> As a side note, I don't know people see in hamsters. Rats make much better pets.



I've kind of thought that it might be interesting to have rats as pets, since the mice make good ones! I don't know what people see in hamsters or even gerbils, too...rats & mice have better temperments and are smarter; hamsters can be mean, & have a nasty bite!!


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## AP27 (Jan 15, 2012)

I'm kinda biased towards most rodents. I just don't like them. And there is always an animal in my house willing to take a mouse if whoever was supposed to eat it didn't want it. So I've never ended up with a pet one. I had four for a science project in high school once, I got all females so they wouldn't breed. Too bad one was already pregnant when i got her and had 12 babies -.- 
....and the only thing i find amusing about hamsters is watching them run through their crazy tube enclosures.


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## roastedspleen (Jan 15, 2012)

i personally hate rats because one of them bit me and the cut bled for an hour... that has made me not like rodents too much. which is why i dont care abut throwing one to pokey. i just see it as food for pokey


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## naturboy87 (Jan 16, 2012)

not a rat but funny ... the first time a fed Roxy a babby chicken she dident know what to do about it.she crused around the house with the lil chick fallowing her every wher like she was mom lol then after about 30 minuts it just clicked O its ( FOOD ) she took off after the lil thing killed the crap out of it then chomped it down and was reddy for the nexed one now that she know what it is .. live food lol was funny cute and sad all at the same time


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## ilovelizards (Jan 16, 2012)

naturboy87 said:


> not a rat but funny ... the first time a fed Roxy a babby chicken she dident know what to do about it.she crused around the house with the lil chick fallowing her every wher like she was mom lol then after about 30 minuts it just clicked O its ( FOOD ) she took off after the lil thing killed the crap out of it then chomped it down and was reddy for the nexed one now that she know what it is .. live food lol was funny cute and sad all at the same time



thats a awsome story! I have a 3ft male but hes not super wide&bulky yet.He tends to grow long then widen out&bulk up after he gets longer.how big do they have to get befor they can take chicks?


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## naturboy87 (Jan 16, 2012)

well hachlings are about as big as a large mouse and up but sum of my guys dont care for them at all and sum go nuts over the treat i just hapen to use them becus i have a feed store only a mile down the rode so its easy and cheaper then mice rats and size is up to you even my lil blue loves to eat big chicks and baby quail of corse lol O and big pluss chicks dont bite or even fight back... so seem to me much safer...


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## got10 (Jan 16, 2012)

naturboy87 said:


> not a rat but funny ... the first time a fed Roxy a babby chicken she dident know what to do about it.she crused around the house with the lil chick fallowing her every wher like she was mom lol then after about 30 minuts it just clicked O its ( FOOD ) she took off after the lil thing killed the crap out of it then chomped it down and was reddy for the nexed one now that she know what it is .. live food lol was funny cute and sad all at the same time



Very cruel . shoulda whacked it first


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## laurarfl (Jan 17, 2012)

I usually feed F/T. I bought a baby spotted python who wasn't eating F/T pinkies. I went ahead and bought a little live one to see if he would take it. No go. It just so happened that my daughter brought home a gerbil from a friend and the gerbil had a litter. Out of curiosity, we put the mouse pinky in with the gerbil to see if she would accept it. She did, until it was weaned and then pushed it away. So we got rid of all the gerbils but kept the mouse as a pet.


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## Gandolf38 (Jan 22, 2012)

laurarfl said:


> I usually feed F/T. I bought a baby spotted python who wasn't eating F/T pinkies. I went ahead and bought a little live one to see if he would take it. No go. It just so happened that my daughter brought home a gerbil from a friend and the gerbil had a litter. Out of curiosity, we put the mouse pinky in with the gerbil to see if she would accept it. She did, until it was weaned and then pushed it away. So we got rid of all the gerbils but kept the mouse as a pet.



That's a great story


roastedspleen said:


> i personally hate rats because one of them bit me and the cut bled for an hour... that has made me not like rodents too much. which is why i dont care abut throwing one to pokey. i just see it as food for pokey



Understandable; I was bit by a gerbil as a kid--my dad brought it home & I reached in the box, it latched on my finger & wouldn't let go! Never liked gerbils since. When I worked at a pet store, we would use the mean gerbils & hamsters as feeders.


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## larissalurid (Feb 14, 2012)

Gandolf38 said:


> Dereks-Dragons said:
> 
> 
> > well i didnt rele feel bad cuz she was F/t anyway i just wasnt too sure how some people would react to that LOL
> ...



I've had many rats and mice as pets. I don't care for hamsters much either for the exact same reason. All of my rats and mice have been sweethearts though, like tiny dogs. They loved attention and always wanted to be held and cuddle. All my rats even potty trained themselves, even as babies never going to the bathroom outside their cage unless i was outside and put them on the grass and told them to go to the bathroom. I even had my mice and rats run around my yard without running too far from me, they would just come back when i called their name and never tried to run away. :3 They are more intelligent than people think.


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