Is it possible to capture and breed wood mice or shrews in captivity?
In the UK, this would actually be considered illegal. Although both wood mice and shrews are wonderful, active creatures, they are quite unsuitable as pets. This is not simply ‘another piece of legislation’ which we can ignore. Shrews in particular, are an extreme case of animals which are easily stressed and do not do well in captivity, even when supplied with a bountiful supply of food.They are also prone to nipping ( something you will not cure ) and in addition, their bite, while not poisonous, is prone to being extremely likely to cause some quite dangerous reactions. i.e. it may as well be poisonous for all the problems it can cause. Wood mice, can also be difficult to keep. As an animal rescue centre we have had a number of them come to stay 🙂 They are difficult to handle, extremely fast, and very, very good jumpers! The average fish tank of 12″ is no problem 🙂 If any of these little critters come into your possession, we would suggest you return them to their natural environm
