Pet mouse very cold constantly

by Sergeant Tumtum Fri 16 Feb 2018, 12:58 pm

So, I've had my girl Tumtum for a little bit now. I got her on February second from Petsmart and originally thought she was a boy! I got her the day after my first mouse, Saluki, passed away, as a gift from my dad. She is Saluki's sister.

Now, she's never really been warm per se, but lately when I get up in the morning to feed her and her+her friend Graybird, she's very lethargic, cold, and barely moves. She seems pretty skinny, whereas she used to be fairly weighty. And she also used to not be lethargic or tired in the morning when I woke her up.

Her brother, Saluki.. well, I'm not entirely sure what was wrong with him. He was fine his entire life [though it wasn't very long, less than two weeks from the time I got him], but was also never warm. When he died, he had started getting very very shaky, and before he died, he was hopping instead of walking. After that I knew he would die so I picked him up and he started having seizures, and died in my hands. Since Tumtum is his sister and is, apparently, having the same warmth problem.. could the same thing happen to her?

She lives with one other mouse [like mentioned before, her name is Graybird] and she is always warm and very active.

Could anyone offer any advice?

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Fri 16 Feb 2018, 5:31 pm

Not that this is a diagnosis, but persistent hypothermia can indicate circulatory problems, including anemia. With anemia, you also get weakness because of the reduced delivery of oxygen around the body. Once the hypoxia drops to a certain level in the brain, it can trigger violent muscle contractions. If your mouse has pink eyes, you can tell the anemia/hypoxia is serious if the eyes look black. The cause could be any number of things, including birth defect, malnutrition, blood disorder, disease, organ failure, or internal bleeding, most of which cannot be fixed by home remedy.

But as I said, that is not a diagnosis. Just something to consider, based on your description.

To warm up a perpetually cold mouse, especially one that is losing weight, you need to add calories to what she is eating. You probably cannot get her to eat more than she is used to or is comfortable eating, so you have to increase the amount of calories in what she does eat. If there is something she will eat for you, try brushing it with some syrup or sugar water or thinned honey. When my little mousie April had a brief struggle with hypothermia, we vanquished it in two days by stirring maple syrup into the baby cereal porridge she loved to eat. Plus, in case anemia is behind this, give her some greens (kale, collards -- that kind of stuff) and/or a little meat, to give her iron. Sunflower seeds are a good source of iron too.

You can also try placing a heating pad under part of the tank to create a warm spot, with some air space between the pad and the tank so you do not heat the entire tank by conduction. That does not guarantee Tumtum will go over to sleep on the warm spot, though.

You could also try warming up the whole room they stay in a little bit, but if Graybird seems to be fine as it is, you should be careful not to take her out of her comfort zone.

Most importantly, your little Tumtum should see a doctor. You've already been through something like this with Saluki, so you've seen how quickly this can go bad.

I hope you get some more advice here, and I hope it helps.

Pet mouse very cold constantly

Pet mouse very cold constantly

Re: Pet mouse very cold constantly