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Taming!....all imput and suggestions welcome.. :-)

911 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  bethmccallister, 
N
Hi Lovely mouse lovers!!!

I wonder if you can help...

In July i bought my first Mouse....and i must say im totally hooked!! His name is Nemo, and he is a dark grey/black and white lil mouse. he is soooo funny and has had me in stitches! he never fails to put a smile on my face.

I bought him in July after falling in love with him in a pet shop. Hes never ever tried to bite me.....this i take as a compliment for sure.

Well since then ive been trying to tame him..... its been a long and slow process, but now he will take food from me and will happily walk up my arm and come and sniff my face.
But id like to take it to another level...
Id love him to be on me for more than just a few minutes each time. Even more so, id love it if he would hop into my hand most times i put my hand in. I have been working on this by coaxing him onto my hands with treats. But he still needs treats to get into my hand.
I would also love him to hang out on me a lot longer, and if he would accept me stroking him then wow! Bingo i can give him some lil tickles what an amazing thing that would be. At the moment he freaks if i try to touch him, and he runs away and its like ive taken a step back with him. I dont want to break the trust thats been gained already.

He is majorly in love with his wheel, and hes always on it. Obviously i have to clean it and have noticed hes more eager to hop onto me when its not in his space....

Has anyone got a mouse from being not tame to being totally tame?
does anyone have any suggestions on what i can do that will help Nemo and i achieve what seems the unachievable?
any tips and tricks would be really welcome.....

Much peace..
Kirsty:)
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M
Usially it has worked for me to just hold them and make them walk from one hand to the other every day so they get used to you but this time I deceided to earn their trust by letting them come to me.I had a mouse that seemd to be naturally timid and did not like when I just picked her up so I started giving her some yummy seeds once a day in her cage she just turned around and started to love me and was so exciedet when my hand was in the cage and is now crazy about being picked up, always want´s to come out and play...so treats worked for her. Then I stopped putting the seeds in the cage and started giving it to her on the play area. (my play area is just a plastic bin that I use for dogfood, just put some toy there and treats and they can play there while I clean out the cage, it´s too high for them to jump of so they just stay there) and she just looooves her playarea.

On the "play area" you can take him to for ex. keep the wheel there so he has to travel with you to go to the fun wheel he loves. That way he could be more excidet to go to you because it´s going to be fun.
I just try to pet mine every chance I get just a little, while I lift them up to a play area or when I´m lifting them up to my shoulders. My mice also love to nest in my hair :lol: when I have my hair down they play in it and like to just sit there and relax on my shoulder or neck with my hair all around them haha :)
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B
For me I find any empty plastic tub thats tall enough they can't just out. I think that putting the mouse in that tub removes all other distractions that might be going on. I find a nice quiet area and then sit with my hand resting in the bottom of the tub and wait for them to come check me out. I try not to move until they have all four feet on my slightly cupped hand and then slowly lift them up to get a treat and then slowly left my hand back down. At first they are eager to leave the hand but over time they will start to not want to leave the hand and try to climb up your arm when you don't raise it.

With mice I find it best to allow them freedom to do what makes them feel comfortable. It takes tons of patience but pays off in the end.
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M
I agree with bethmccallister. I also wait for them to enter my hand, then I lift them a little bit up and when they peek down I put the hand down and they jump off. Then I just wait and usially they enter the hand again, exspecially if they have a "boring" cage. So they have as bethmccallister says, the freedom to do what they wish.
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N
Hi All!!!...

Weve come a long way in the last week!!! Nemo is now running all over my back and shoulders..... and is more eager to come sit on my arm.....hes had half a pumkin seed everytime, which is definately working. PLus we had an hours session in the bath one morning when he was still up! running around... and playing! i took his wheel out and cleaned it, and so we had no distractions. at first he was a little flighty, but then realised that everything was ok.... and that i was actually quite good fun to escape from the bath on, and to use as a climbing frame...... so now hes coming on me more and more.... BIG breakthrough!!!

Many thanks for your advice guys... ill keep practising what youve suggested.... and ill keep you updated!!!

Xxx
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B
That's really awesome, thanks for keeping us posted, its fun for us to hear about too!
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