Mice are nocturnal animals - more active at night than during the day.
Mice are able to see some colors - they see shades of black and white and may be able to distinguish blues, but they can see red.
Mice are exceptionally clean, and often organize their home into areas specific for food, shelter, and bathroom purposes.
Mice range in size from 4 to 8 inches long (including a long tail). They weigh from .25 to 2 oz. The coat color ranges from white to brown to gray. Most mice have a pointed snout with long whiskers, round ears, and thin tails.
All species of mice are native to Eurasia and Africa, where they range from lowlands to mountaintops. The five species in the subgenus Pyromys are found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and mainland Southeast Asia. Much of their range originally consisted of open grasslands or grassy patches in forests.
In nature, mice are herbivores, consuming any kind of fruit or grain from plants. In captivity, mice are commonly fed commercial seed-based mouse diet. These diets are nutritionally complete, but they still need a large variety of vegetables.
Mice are nocturnal and very social. Many mice scurry along the ground, but some can hop or jump. They will be very active in the evening and night, but don't expect much during the day. Being social, they are best kept in groups. A pair of females is the easiest, although larger groups are fine if you provide the cage space. If you have ever seen a group of pet mice playing, you realize they can be quite entertaining pets. They are a bit skittish and harder to handle than some of the lager rodents such as rats, but they can become quite tame and will take food from the hand and allow themselves to be handled if started at a young age.
Mice are not at all endangered and are quite often kept as pets.
Although mice may live up to two and a half years in captivity, the average mouse in the wild lives only about four months.