Divided mouse factions

by Mirabelle Thu 10 Aug 2017, 8:57 am

I had 6 mice, 3 pairs. My original 2, 2 sweet but overly skiddish little grey girls, and 2 very rude orange ones. The rudest, Saffron, I'd noticed getting more sluggish in her bullying of the greys, and then one morning I was sad to find her no longer with us. I'm sad to say though I was a little relived it was that mouse of all of them because she seemed to be the lead bully. Poor thing could have even been in pain and it was making her mean.
Since then, things have mostly quieted down, but I've caught Ginger, the other orange mouse, picking on the greys horribly now too! (everyone gets along with my original pair) I've even caught her humping the lighter of the 2, Sigourney. I of course rewarded this by snatching her up and throughly reevaluating her gender, but they've been together for longer than 21 days and there are no babies so I think we're safe.
This morning I woke up and went to check them out and poor Sigourney's butt is just meat! Roswell seems to have gotten through ok tho. I at the least have never noticed that blood has been drawn before and I'm very worried for her. I'm almost entirely positive it's Ginger that' done this, but with her sister gone I cant separate her off and I dont want to separate off the greys incase Ginger decides to start taking it out on Mocha and Makkuro next! I've had the 2 greys for 2 months now and it cant help but feel that it's the faut of being constantly bullied that i haven't tamed them at all. Any motion outside of the cage or inside if it's orange) and they're GONE.
I know you all say something has to be done now that blood's been drawn but I'm unsure. I did just clean the bins and give them new furniture so it could be territorial, just gone very badly. Any advice would be appreciated.

by Peachy Thu 10 Aug 2017, 10:12 am

How big is their enclosure and how did you introduce them all?

I know it seems mean and harsh to separate the bully when we stress that mice are social and very dependant on friends... but if she's drawn blood it's necessary to give her a time out.

If you give it a week or two you can work on taming everyone, which at least wouldn't hurt your chances of getting them to get along. This will also let the bitten girl heal up a bit and give everyone a chance to settle down. This is important because everyone needs to be at their best for reintroductions... Anyone being overly tense will stir up more troubles!

Put the bully alone in a fun enclosure all by herself and work with her. When it's time to reintroduce her to her friends, she'll hopefully be missing colony life a bit and will be so happy to have them back that she'll be on her best behavior!

When you get to reintroducing, do it neutral territory, in the bathtub or playbin. Leave them alone for 20-30 minutes, maybe introducing a simple, clean toy to gauge how things are coming along. If they're doing well at the end of 30 minutes you can move them to a clean tank. I prefer to keep it empty for the first 5-10 minutes, and then put in a box or hide for them. If they don't start fighting I'll slowly add in other toys, like a toilet paper roll. Keep it pretty simple until at least the next day though, so you can make sure everyone is getting along and sharing before you add in the super fun stuff.

by Mirabelle Thu 10 Aug 2017, 10:42 am

Their enclosure is just 2 regular sized bins. I introduced them 1 by 1 on neutral territory. Everyone seemed to be doing fine on those terms so i connected their bins after a very very thorough cleaning. The orange girls had already been introduced to my original 2 successfully this way but the poor greys have had it rough.
I've tried putting the bully in a time out box before, but aside from the 2 bins connected that they live in I only have a very small carrying case for timeouts so I've only had her in there for short periods.
I suppose I could disconnect them again and separate Ginger that way. The bins are just stacked and I have some leftover plastic from making them, I can just place some between them and remove the tube.
Should I wait until Ginger picks on one of the greys again so she knews why it's happening or just remove her now?
Right now poor Sigourney seems to be resting now that she's cleaned all the blood off her bum.

by Peachy Thu 10 Aug 2017, 10:53 am

Separate her now, no need to wait for another disaster. I would also advise, ehen you reintroduce them, to just leave off the second bin (at least initially). That could definitely cause issues like this.

by Mirabelle Thu 10 Aug 2017, 10:59 am

Ok, I'll rearrange things accordingly.
I have heard that having too much room can cause fights but from what I was seeing online I thought it'd be a good amount of space for 6.

by Peachy Thu 10 Aug 2017, 11:10 am

Ah. When you're calculating space, it's often best to make sure it's undivided space. Smile

by Mirabelle Thu 10 Aug 2017, 11:29 am

She's separated. I feel bad for her having to be alone, especially after losing her sister. They at least never bullied each other.
It's for the best though, while I was making sure everyone was on the right side of the fence Ginger ran into Sigourney and immediately started chasing her, Siggy squeaking bloody murder. I hope reintroductions go smoothly, poor thing's not used to living alone, just with another b***h of a mouse. She's the most energetic so I gave her the most interesting structure for climbing... which she has knocked over as I type this...

by Sponsored content

Divided mouse factions

Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions

Re: Divided mouse factions