Failed introduction
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Failed introduction
by Bthny Sun 04 Jun 2017, 2:38 pm
Well, I tried to introduce my girls again. I attempted their introduction previously when I had the girls in pairs, and it didn't go well. I didn't see any blood drawn the first time, but there was fighting (attacking really), and one girl broke a claw which was bleeding after. Since I'm down to two girls who are each living alone, I wanted to give it another shot. They've been alone for a little over a week, so I swapped around a lot of bedding between their cages and set up totally neutral territory. There was about 30 seconds of investigating before Desdemona went after Celia and left a bloody spot near her mouth 
Fortunately, Celia is alright. I cleaned the mark with a q-tip, she groomed it, and she's eating with it done bleeding already.
Here's my question: I hate to have two girls living alone for the rest of their lives. Desdemona is about a year and 2 months, and Celia is 8 months. In the introduction, Desdemona was the aggressor. What are the chances that I'd be able to introduce either of them to another colony, if I got a few more girls? I'd love to have more mice, but I'm nervous that 3 separate colonies is going to be a lot to handle long term, since I'll be dividing my time between them, rather than interacting with everyone together.
My other concern is that I think Desdemona is going to be too bored living alone. I've been getting her out for short playtimes (basically letting her run around on my arms or legs) a few times a day in addition to her play-bin time. But she's been picking up bar biting and in general seems a little neurotic. I have a few Crittertrail type cages that I got for cheap/free secondhand, and was wondering everyone's thoughts on switching her to different cage. Individually, all the cages are smaller than her current one, and I never used them because I didn't want to split up the colonies, but are there any really negatives to linking them all together if she's alone? She'd get a little bit more space overall, plus a change in scenery. I also have a spare 10 gallon I can put her in, but it's smaller than her current cage, and she loves to climb bars.
Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Fortunately, Celia is alright. I cleaned the mark with a q-tip, she groomed it, and she's eating with it done bleeding already.Here's my question: I hate to have two girls living alone for the rest of their lives. Desdemona is about a year and 2 months, and Celia is 8 months. In the introduction, Desdemona was the aggressor. What are the chances that I'd be able to introduce either of them to another colony, if I got a few more girls? I'd love to have more mice, but I'm nervous that 3 separate colonies is going to be a lot to handle long term, since I'll be dividing my time between them, rather than interacting with everyone together.
My other concern is that I think Desdemona is going to be too bored living alone. I've been getting her out for short playtimes (basically letting her run around on my arms or legs) a few times a day in addition to her play-bin time. But she's been picking up bar biting and in general seems a little neurotic. I have a few Crittertrail type cages that I got for cheap/free secondhand, and was wondering everyone's thoughts on switching her to different cage. Individually, all the cages are smaller than her current one, and I never used them because I didn't want to split up the colonies, but are there any really negatives to linking them all together if she's alone? She'd get a little bit more space overall, plus a change in scenery. I also have a spare 10 gallon I can put her in, but it's smaller than her current cage, and she loves to climb bars.
Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Bthny- Jr Member
- Join date : 2016-06-17
Posts : 38
Peachy- Moderator
- Join date : 2016-04-06
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