Traveling mice

Sometimes you find the right mice to adopt far away from where you live and the mice there can’t find a home nearby. That means a longer trip for your new friends. And then you have to know how to make the journey as comfortable as possible for the small rodents. Here you find what has proven in praxis.

There are different cages and carrier you can use for a transport, e.g. Dunas, kritter keepers or pet carrier. Unlike cages or boxes with bars the risk of draft is noticeable less und bedding cannot fall out. You can buy all types in different sizes. Bigger ones are best for bigger rodents or groups.

Put used bedding from the enclosure into the carrier to make sure that they have a familiar smell in the transport box. That lowers the stress level.
Exception: Recently (because of parasites) treated individuals have to get fresh bedding to avoid introducing the parasites with used bedding to their new home.
Don’t put too much bedding into the box. Otherwise it might fall out easily. The bedding should be about 5 cm high.

If the mice have something to hide, they will have a reduced stress level. A proper amount of hay and/or furniture made from cardboard will work best for it. All furniture has to be very lightweight.
Avoid using houses made from clay, ceramic, wood or similar heavy stuff. Such furniture might become a deadly bullet when breaking heavily!

Scatter the food on the bottom of the box instead of using a dish. Dishes made from clay or ceramic (or something similar) are too heavy and might turn in to deadly bullets if you have to break heavily!
Pass on dishes or bottles with water. Because of the permanent swaying of the car they will spill all the water sooner or later. Use vegetables with a high content of water like cucumber instead. Pygmy dormice can receive melons and other fruits instead of vegetable.

Some people have friends or relatives visiting them and bringing the mice with them. But that would be a lucky case. If you don’t have any one, you can ask people from an internet agency for arranged lifts whether they would take tiny little rodents with them. Ask politely and you are likely to find some one.
Keep the following subjects in mind:

• The driver has to be a non-smoker (or shouldn’t smoke while driving).
• There will be no loud music during the journey.
• The car has an air conditioner (only important in summer).
• The mice don’t travel in the boot or only with a heat source (in winter).
• The mice travel in a boot only when it isn’t closed to the passenger area completely (fastback, station waggon).
• Don’t pile any luggage on boxes that have (nearly) no ventilation at the sides.

A second option might be a pet courier, but this is quite expensive.
Never send rodents via a courier when it is quite hot or cold. Maybe not every courier driver takes perfect care of the temperature in the car.

When it has more than 25°C/77°F and sunshine outside, you have to cool the mice or use the air conditioner of the car. Take care that the rodents have enough vegetable to derive water from it.
The box has to be placed in a way that there is no direct sunlight on it which would heat it up quickly. The backseat is a good place for example. Don’t place the box in the draft of the air conditioner.
When it has sub-zero temperatures the boxes mustn’t be put into a boot (exception, the boot is heated in some way). You better place it on the backseat, the front seat or in the foot space. Please note: Don’t heat the foot space directly, when there is a box. Otherwise the box will heat up quickly and there is the risk of a heat stroke!
When there is cold and/or wet weather outside, keep in mind to keep the boxes warm and without draft while carrying them from/to the car. You can use old towels or something similar plus a hot-water bottle or an instant heat pack.