How many hours a day do mice sleep? - briefly
Laboratory mice typically sleep 12–14 hours per day, distributed in many short bouts lasting a few minutes each. Wild individuals exhibit comparable total sleep time but with a more fragmented pattern.
How many hours a day do mice sleep? - in detail
Mice typically rest for 12–14 hours within each 24‑hour period. Their sleep is polyphasic, consisting of many short bouts rather than a single extended episode.
The species is nocturnal; activity peaks during the dark phase of a standard 12‑hour light/12‑hour dark cycle. Sleep episodes are concentrated in the light phase but also appear intermittently throughout the night. Average bout length ranges from 2 to 6 minutes, with occasional longer periods of up to 30 minutes.
Key variables influencing daily sleep time include:
- Genetic strain (e.g., C57BL/6 versus BALB/c)
- Age (juvenile mice sleep more than adults)
- Sex (males and females show slight differences)
- Environmental lighting (constant darkness or altered photoperiod)
- Ambient temperature (extreme temperatures reduce total sleep)
- Housing conditions (crowding, enrichment, stressors)
Sleep architecture mirrors that of other mammals. Approximately 50 % of the total sleep time is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, while the remainder is non‑REM (NREM) sleep. REM bouts are brief, typically 30–60 seconds, and occur several times per hour during sleep periods.
Field observations of wild house mice report comparable totals, generally 10–13 hours per day, confirming that laboratory measurements reflect natural patterns when environmental factors are controlled.