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 The best place always to buy a mouse is directly from a private or hobbyist breeder but this may not always be possible and therefore many mouse owners buy their first mouse from a pet shop.
The advantages of buying from a private or hobbyist breeder is that breeding has usually been carefully planned and thought through with regard to producing robust, healthy mice of good temperament. They are not the result of commercial breeding of mass numbers of mice. You will also have the opportunity to see the parents and know the date of birth of the mouse you intend to purchase. Private and hobbyist breeders regularly handle their babies and so any mice they sell are used to being handled. Unfortunately the same cannot always been said for mice sold in pet shops that have come from commercial breeders.
If you are buying a mouse from a pet shop what should you look for? How do you tell a good pet shop from a bad one? The first impression of the pet shop will usually indicate their standards. A clean, tidy shop is often a good indication that the shop owners take pride in their shop and therefore are likely to take pride in the mice they sell. An untidy or dirty shop is best avoided.
It is always a good idea to find out about mice before you go looking for one. You can then ask information from the pet shop staff and this will give you a good indication of whether they are actually knowledgeable about the mice they are selling. Males and females should be housed in separate cages and staff should be able to tell the sex of the mice they are selling.
If you are not satisfied with the pet shop, their knowledge or their mice, walk out and find another one. It is no fun buying a unhealthy, pregnant or weakly mouse and then dealing with the problems this presents afterwards - it can cause a lot of heartache so take your time and find a good healthy mouse.
Shops have a wide variety of cages and equipment for your mouse. Avoid cedar shavings and fluffy bedding as both of these are dangerous to mice.
What should you do if you find a bad pet shop? Apart from leaving and finding another shop to buy your mouse you can report the shop an Animal Welfare organisation or your local authority if you feel the conditions warrant it.
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