Nullis
Moderator
LOL... some you folks are hilarious, afraid of mice and their poo. But really there is a greater risk of the mouse catching a disease from you than you getting anything from the mouse. Most of the health problems that mice are susceptible to are a direct consequence of their captivity by humans.
While rodents have been linked to epidemics in the past, the greatest example being the aforementioned plague; one has to consider that the conditions for people back then were horribly unsanitary. People lived in direct contrast to the way that we do. Aside from the fact that there was practically no such thing as personal hygiene, there were also no standards or precautions taken in regards to the disposal of human wastes including garbage and feces. Food wasn't likely to be stored properly either and people were totally unaware that bacteria even existed, let alone what the sources of contamination were. There were no 'expiration dates' on food. Stale bread, produce and meat verging on rotting that we know should be disposed of, they would have considered edible.
Wild mice and rodents can still carry various diseases and should not be handled or kept as pets. But, mice and rats from pet stores are bred and raised specifically for the purpose and should be docile such that they can be handled. A pet mouse should never be released into the wild for this reason, it will not survive.
I also keep mice as pets, they are very sweet and fun to watch- unlike a snake, which just sort of does absolutely nothing all day. The soul-less, inconsiderate among us are largely unaware of their own insignificance and/or the actual significance one may find in witnessing a life so seemingly small.
Unfortunately a lot of the food sold for pet mice really shouldn't be eaten by mice. It is often too high in protein and contains too much corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc. I feed my mice a custom diet made from cereals (Cheerios, Total), other whole grains like oatmeal, flax seed, brown rice, dehydrated fruits and vegetables and hemp seed. Mice absolutely LOVE hemp seed and it is good for them, but they have to eat other things too. They'll also chew on the stems of the cannabis plant if you happen to have any laying around. They are also very social and prefer to be with other mice, not by themselves. The complication is that males tend to fight, especially if they weren't litter mates. And males + females tends to = a lot more mice. If you have a girl I would highly recommend getting another female mouse to accompany her.
Don't use pine or cedar bedding with mice, they have sensitive respiratory systems and the aromatic oils are not good for them. Aspen wood shavings can be used, but paper-based bedding is preferable. It is sometimes referred to as 'virgin wood pulp' which is pulp that isn't suitable for making paper with and hasn't been printed on. I also bring this up because while both aspen and paper bedding can be composted, aspen will take much longer to decompose.
So if you use paper-based bedding (like Care-Fresh) you definitely CAN compost the used bedding along with the mouse poop that is in it. The only thing you should do is remove and dispose of any un-eaten food, but the soiled bedding and mouse poop is good to compost.
While rodents have been linked to epidemics in the past, the greatest example being the aforementioned plague; one has to consider that the conditions for people back then were horribly unsanitary. People lived in direct contrast to the way that we do. Aside from the fact that there was practically no such thing as personal hygiene, there were also no standards or precautions taken in regards to the disposal of human wastes including garbage and feces. Food wasn't likely to be stored properly either and people were totally unaware that bacteria even existed, let alone what the sources of contamination were. There were no 'expiration dates' on food. Stale bread, produce and meat verging on rotting that we know should be disposed of, they would have considered edible.
Wild mice and rodents can still carry various diseases and should not be handled or kept as pets. But, mice and rats from pet stores are bred and raised specifically for the purpose and should be docile such that they can be handled. A pet mouse should never be released into the wild for this reason, it will not survive.
I also keep mice as pets, they are very sweet and fun to watch- unlike a snake, which just sort of does absolutely nothing all day. The soul-less, inconsiderate among us are largely unaware of their own insignificance and/or the actual significance one may find in witnessing a life so seemingly small.
Unfortunately a lot of the food sold for pet mice really shouldn't be eaten by mice. It is often too high in protein and contains too much corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc. I feed my mice a custom diet made from cereals (Cheerios, Total), other whole grains like oatmeal, flax seed, brown rice, dehydrated fruits and vegetables and hemp seed. Mice absolutely LOVE hemp seed and it is good for them, but they have to eat other things too. They'll also chew on the stems of the cannabis plant if you happen to have any laying around. They are also very social and prefer to be with other mice, not by themselves. The complication is that males tend to fight, especially if they weren't litter mates. And males + females tends to = a lot more mice. If you have a girl I would highly recommend getting another female mouse to accompany her.
Don't use pine or cedar bedding with mice, they have sensitive respiratory systems and the aromatic oils are not good for them. Aspen wood shavings can be used, but paper-based bedding is preferable. It is sometimes referred to as 'virgin wood pulp' which is pulp that isn't suitable for making paper with and hasn't been printed on. I also bring this up because while both aspen and paper bedding can be composted, aspen will take much longer to decompose.
So if you use paper-based bedding (like Care-Fresh) you definitely CAN compost the used bedding along with the mouse poop that is in it. The only thing you should do is remove and dispose of any un-eaten food, but the soiled bedding and mouse poop is good to compost.
