Improper supplies

Pet shops have thousands of different supplies available for cages and for different rodents. But not everything is good and healthy for your pets. Here you find a list of things you should avoid buying and offering them to your mice.

In the shops hamster bedding is sold for small rodents to make nests in it. Some brands look like white cotton, others are light brown.
Never offer it to your mice, because the fibres are very strong and long. So it may happen that a mouse gets caught in it with a limb and in the worst case the limb might get strangulated and finally lost. Above that this bedding isn’t breathable. Moisture accumulates and therefore mould and germs can grow in the nest quite quickly.
Never trust a text on the package saying the product is “digestible”. All kinds of hamster bedding can cause serious problems in the digestive tract. In the worst cause the mouse dies agonizingly of an intestinal obstruction.

Jogging or exercise balls are colourful more or less transparent balls with a diameter of about 10 to 25 cm/ 4’’ to 10’’ where the mouse or hamster is put inside. There are different types available. Some balls have a frame to put the ball in and the mouse runs in it like in a wheel. Others don’t have a frame and the rodent inside rolls over the floor while running in the ball. In both types the rodent can’t get out whenever it wants and it has no orientation while being in the ball. These facts cause tremendous stress on a flight animal like a hamster or a mouse. Above that it is forced to run regardless whether it wants to run or not. Because of the lack of orientation it runs scared until it is really panic-stricken.
In a large part these balls have no or only insufficient ventilation which may lead to breathlessness and choking fits.
Also the risk of serious injuries is also to mention because the rodents can fall down the stairs (or a table, or …) in such a ball or bounce against furniture or something like that.
In Germany vets who work on animal protection regard exercise balls as harmful to health.

Most wheels sold in the shops are not healthy for your rodents, especially metal wheels with a double suspension, too small wheels and all wheels that don’t meet the criteria of a healthy wheel. Please read up on the right wheels before you buy one!

The more or less flexible metal spirals you can buy with a cage or as its supplies have a high risk of injury. That’s why you shouldn’t buy them!
Secure climbing on them is impossible to the mice and they can pinch their limbs, get stuck or even strangulate.

Avoid buying plastic houses or tubes because if the mice chew at them the pieces can cause serious intestinal injuries or intoxications when swallowed. Above that, moisture accumulates quickly in such a house. That means an increased risk of getting a cold for the mice and the nest may mould. Even though you can’t see any mould, spores might be there and cause health problems on your pets. So never rely on proper ventilation only because a house looks well ventilated. Usually they aren’t.

Translation
Angelus Noctis
Proofreading
Jedediah