smelly pet mice

[Sumatra503]

I might switch to african soft furs since they have almost no odor (with regular cleaning). Just don't like their attitudes

I've realized that most little rodents with soft fur and cute faces have nasty additudes.

You should try gerbils if you are switching. They have great personalities and smell a whole lot less. Mine don't smell at all with regular cleaning.

They breed the same as mice, but you have to keep them in pairs, no colonies.​

 

[silkiechicken]

Hamsters get such a bad rep. I bet the evil hamster mantra comes from all the ill handled, poorly bred, pet store varieites weaned too young and not well socialized.

I have and have bred the regular ol syrians and have never had one bite or even nip in fear. I can pull them out of their sleeping spots without any issues, and sometimes they don't even wake up! I can put my fingers in their mouths to look at their teeth and they just take it while laying on their backs. Play with them 3x a day as soon as their eyes open and you'll have big fat gentle hamsters. The key is finding someone who breeds them, or choosing wisely at a pet store. Handle them all and pick one based on temperament.

The best part of the syrian hamsters, I have them all potty trained to tidy cat litter! No smell!

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I breed both rats & mice.
My male mice do smell more then my male rats, but neither one smells horrible. I spot clean the cages daily and clean the whole cage weekly.

 

[Epona142]

African Soft Fur rats are NASTY MEAN!

At least my breeding group was. Wasn't worth keeping around once my picky snakes switched over.

I love rats. I bred the most lovable line of blue rex dumbos ever. I miss having rats. They didn't smell near as bad as the mice.

Gerbils are good too, but mine were never personable. My rats were like little dogs

 

[drafthorse39]

Quote:
Hamsters in general are super territorial. Every one I owned came from local breeders, and they just didn't like being fidgeted with. I have multiple mice and I can put my hand in and check babies, I rarely, if ever get bit. I'm sure there are sweet hamsters out there just like their are mean mice, but I haven't come across it lol. I have had sweet dwarf hamsters though, until our raccoon at the time broke into the room they were being kept in. Didn't end well.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

If you can't get the odor under control please think about giving the males away and getting him a couple of females. They really aren't quiet as bad. The experience of raising the critters will do him good in his walk thru life.

 

[Akane]

Gerbils are just as likely as hamsters to have problems and bad personalities. A better suggestion is to skip the petstore rodents altogether. Find a breeder or someone who has had a litter and handled them from birth. Our gerbils and hamsters were nothing special but we handled the offspring multiple times a day as soon as possible which for the gerbils was immediately. All the dwarf hamster and gerbils pups we raised were exceedingly tame, never bit, and always wanted to come out of their cages. If you walked in my sister's room a dozen dwarf hamsters would start hanging on the front of the cage wanting treats or to come out and when you opened the door they'd just tumble out on the dresser and start following your hand around. I never got bit by any of those hamsters. I have been bit by every single petstore hamster I touched. In my room the gerbils would repeatedly bash their heads in to the lids of the cages wanting to come out and when let out knew to stay on whatever surface you put them. They would frequently wander across my bed and the windowsill while I was watching tv without me having to keep track of them after a certain age. The petstores near us will not sell gerbils because they end up with critters they can't sell due to bad attitudes and biting. It's the breeding and handling that makes any rodent a good pet or not.

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
Gerbils are some of the most entertaining animals ever bred

I had a pair, I swear they where constantly going "Oh my god! Oh my god! OH MY GOD!" They where real sweeties, didn't like getting picked up but loooovvveeddd being petted. My female passed away and my male soon after, they where such a sweet pair. I adopted them from the petshop, no clue how old they where but loved the spunky little fellows.

 

[Sumatra503]

I've had several rats bite. Even those that were raised by a breeder as pets and handled often. Sometimes rodents just snap.

I've never found a gerbil that bites and also have only met a few hamsters that didn't. In the defense of all hamsters I have seen some sweet ones. My gerbils are the sweetest. They are very personable. They also smell less than rats do and are smaller.

The problems I had with rats was them escaping and killing my other pets. One of them murdered my dove. This was with multiple rats from different places and with several different cages. Seeing those rats in my bird cages was too much for me. I will no longer own one now.

My mice always died from unknown conditions and my hamsters always bit me.

I have had gerbils for a few years now and have not had any problems with them. My current pair I rescued from a bad pet store. They were never handled until I got them and they were friendly as ever.

All rodents have the potential of biting if handled incorrectly. That is why many are judged to be biters when it was the error of the owner. Their main instinct is to bite when they are frightened. If you move too fast or squeeze them they may bite.

Not to paint a bad picture for rats I have met a few that were friendly.

 

[cheri222]

Im glad I asked the question. You are all a great source of information on critters. He would never let me trade in his boys for girls, like I said he can't smell them.