Aggressive mouse

by katieomms Tue 28 Nov 2017, 1:40 am

Four days ago I got two new mice in addition to the two I already had. One of my original white mice, Popcorn, has been consistently beating up the new ones, and even the other original white mouse, Doorknob, as well. They are perfectly submissive to Popcorn, but all night long all I hear are little mouse screams. My black mouse, Oreo, has little scabs all over her backside, and the grey one, Cookie, has a few scabs as well. Is there any way I can stop this from happening, or will it stop over time? The more aggressive Popcorn is larger than the two new ones, but so is the more docile Doorknob, and she gets along with the newbies just fine- only a brief squeak here and there. The Popcorn actively chases down the new mice when she isn’t sleeping- and she sleeps alone while the other three sleep together. Doorknob is still friends with Popcorn but Oreo and Cookie avoid Popcorn like the plague. They all got along just fine in the travel cage where they stayed for 2 days for introductions, but when I moved them to their larger cage, even after cleaning it, that’s when Popcorn started getting aggressive. Is this just the mice establishing a hierarchy or is Popcorn a bully? I thought females were supposed to get along. Is there anything I can do? I’m a first time mouse owner so I’m pretty clueless here.

by CallaLily Tue 28 Nov 2017, 6:59 am

If Popcorn has drawn blood on the others you should remove her from the group for a "time out." A few days to a week or so usually has the "bully" missing their friends enough that they tone things down. If blood has not been drawn, you need to let them work this out. Yes, females usually do get along but it's not always instant and very occasionally you will have one or more who never work things out - but that's not very common. Squeaking, chasing, humping can all be a normal part of them sorting out who's who. Blood being drawn is the sign to watch for that signals that it's become too serious.

For future reference, it's best to keep new mice in quarantine for at least 3 weeks. This way you can safely rule out illness and pregnancy, while also spending this time working on taming them up. Tame mice often do better with introductions. If you do separate the aggressor for a week or so, take that time to work with each of them on taming.

Also, what size is the tank you moved them into? Sometimes cage size can be a factor when introducing mice. Make sure everything in the cage is clean or new when you intro. If anything smells like one of the mice it can unbalance the territory. Even the lid.

Here's more info on quarantine and introducing mice. I hope this helps. Smile

by jubilee Thu 30 Nov 2017, 7:18 am

Hello. This sounds quite familiar, as I had the same trouble with my gold female Phoebe. After I returned an aggressive mouse due to parental request, She decided she wanted to be boss and beat up the new one. She didn't draw blood, but I heard those little squeaky shrieks from poor Sam. If they are drawing blood, remove the BULLY but not the bullied.

I would completely clean the cage, and dab a tiny bit of vanilla on the base of their tails. This sort of neutralizes their odor and helps them to be less territorial. This worked for me, so maybe it would help poor popcorn and her sisters. If you try to re-introduce them and there are still little scabs, consider having Popcorn, Doorknob and the new mice live in separate cages. Popcorn and Doorknob in one, and the two little ones in another. It might just work out for both mice, and hopefully will end the squabbles. Sometimes mice just can't seem to get along. A normal mousy squabble, as Callalilly said, is quite normal. Little scabs are a different thing.

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