Responsibility

Okay, so today two things happened.

One, I accepted a job that I was offered, and I'm super excited. Two, I asked my room mate if I could get mice, and she said yes.

These two things play into each other. The job means that I can care for two extra tiny mouths, and I'll have a more strict schedule because I'll be either at school or work 6 or 7 days of the week (hopefully six... I asked that I only work 3 days because I'm a student). Both factors mean that I will be able to care for little pets. This is important because I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't have pets if you're not going to care for them or be around. Even if they're ones that don't need a lot of human contact. 

I've been wanting pet mice for a while. Actually, what I'd really like is a pet rat or two, but they're illegal/banned in Alberta, which means that a cuddly intelligent rat companion isn't an option. Instead, I move to the next choice in the rodentia family. I thought about gerbils, but they're not quite my thing. I know what a lot of people would think in terms of having mice as pets. Mice are smelly, dirty, so on. Actually, they're not. I would be getting two or three female mice. Females do not have smelly urine because they don't need to mark their territory, and I read that wood shavings are not an ideal option for mice because of the dust. Females also seem easier to care for because they are social creatures, and as long as they're in numbers, they're fine. 

And yeah. I asked my room mate. She said yes, just no males. Fair enough, and my thoughts exactly. I was super excited to get this answer, because I've been pining for little companions for ages. I'd prefer to have a dog or a fox, but those definitely aren't options. Now, though, I'm really nervous and undecided. There's just too many things to consider. The idea is kind of stressing me out, mostly because I feel like I'm under a time crunch. I want to have some time to train them and have them get used to me before I start working, and have time to figure out what they like eating and what their temperaments and favourites are. The main reason I'm undecided is because of all of the factors.

One... Their home. I don't want to use wood shavings for bedding, and I don't know what options are. I heard of someone using cloth rags for their rat. I'm also worried about space, whether or not they'll be comfortable in my apartment, what kind of cage would be best... Two, what if I can't take care of them properly, or find out that mice aren't good for me or they get horribly ill as soon as they enter my home...

I'm rambling. On one hand, I really want mice. I think they're so cute and terribly clever. My friend already agreed that he will adopt them from me after he's out of residence, if it happens that I can't care for them. I think I have issues with the idea of responsibility. That's why kids scare me. That's why I have issues with having piercings. Lord, if I can't handle my piercings, can I really take care of small rodents? I mean, sure, I've raised a puppy from 8 weeks old and had loads of experience taking care of all shapes of animals. But small ones? The smallest I've taken care of was a class hamster. It came to my house one weekend. Guess what happened? It rolled down the stairs in its exercise ball and then almost got lost in its basement. Miraculously, we found it and 'Squeaks' hadn't eaten any mouse poison. I almost killed Squeaks. Then again, three or four other people had lost or killed the hamster and had to replace it. I'm practically a hero. And I guess these would be my own mice. And I'm not 11. And I wouldn't put them in an exercise ball to roll off into oblivion.

I'd like to have mice, but now I'm wondering if mice would like being with me.