Who’s the dominant mouse?

by PeachesandPepper92918 Sun 02 Dec 2018, 9:19 am

Hey! I need some help on how to tell who is the dominant female in a pair/group. I always thought it was Peaches, but now that Pepper is becoming more comfortable being out and about while I’m in the room, I think it might be her. I’m not really sure, and I think it’s important to know as I’m going to introduce my newest female to them in a few weeks. Any tips would be great!

by Sparrow Mon 03 Dec 2018, 3:57 am

I've had the same issue when I only had two females, Foxy and Stella. Foxy was always more outgoing and curious, she was also far more demanding for attention. However, after Stella started to be equally as tame as Foxy, it was hard to tell who was dominant. Neither one was bossy towards the other, both would steal food from one another, despite sitting in the same bowl of food at the same time. When on the saucer wheel, they would take turns as to who is on top or else run side to side, never pushing each other off.

I started to observe them more, for the same reason as you - I wanted to introduce my girls to other mice.

What I noticed was that more often than not, Stella would follow behind Foxy, never the other way around. Foxy would be the first to eat or drink and the first to try new toys, unless she was asleep at the time. I took that as a clear indication that Foxy was the dominant mouse. Sure enough, when I introduced a trio of mice to my two girls, Foxy was trying to be dominant over the new crowd. She doesn't play with Juno, one of the new girls, because Juno is also very dominant. But they get on fine aside from not playing together.

I think it will become very obvious to you which mouse is dominant the moment you introduce the third female.

Who’s the dominant mouse?

Who’s the dominant mouse?

Re: Who’s the dominant mouse?