Male or female mice preferences?

by Moose Sun 23 May 2021, 2:33 pm

Hello. I posted recently that I lost my first pet mouse, Jasper. He was a male mouse and we bonded very well. Eventually, once I’ve mourned completely and settled into our new home (we’re moving next month) I’d like to have more mice and I was thinking about having females. I’ve heard that males tend to bond better with their person than females, and I’d like to have a little cuddle bug like Jasper again, but I thought I’d ask what you all think and if you’ve had solid bonds with your female mice. I’ve also heard that females cannot be housed alone, which I respect and I kind of like the idea of having a consistent little family of mice to love, since their lifespans are unfortunately so short. Thank you

by Ashlyn Sun 23 May 2021, 3:50 pm

@Moose

I know what you mean and it's true, male mice tend to bond quicker and are more affectionate because your their only friend. However some male mice are alot smellier than others but you probably already know. My male mouse Hamlet loves getting attention! I'm still warming up my female Cecil. A draw back to females is that once a member of their group dies you need to get more females to introduce to avoid depression. This becomes a cycle from what I've heard so you have to decide if you wanna keep having mice in the farther future. I'm still a relatively new mouse owner and I'm not as knowledgeable as the others. But from what I've heard it's the luck of the draw with females. Some like cuddling more than others and though it may take more time I'm sure you will bond with them and find at least one that likes getting attention, especially with a few. But they will likely all crave attention less as they have each other's company which can be a good thing too so they won't get as easily bored. But this is just what I've pieced together so far. Good luck and hope you figure it all out!!

by Moose Sun 23 May 2021, 4:35 pm

Ashlyn wrote:@Moose

I know what you mean and it's true, male mice tend to bond quicker and are more affectionate because your their only friend. However some male mice are alot smellier than others but you probably already know. My male mouse Hamlet loves getting attention! I'm still warming up my female Cecil. A draw back to females is that once a member of their group dies you need to get more females to introduce to avoid depression. This becomes a cycle from what I've heard so you have to decide if you wanna keep having mice in the farther future. I'm still a relatively new mouse owner and I'm not as knowledgeable as the others. But from what I've heard it's the luck of the draw with females. Some like cuddling more than others and though it may take more time I'm sure you will bond with them and find at least one that likes getting attention, especially with a few. But they will likely all crave attention less as they have each other's company which can be a good thing too so they won't get as easily bored. But this is just what I've pieced together so far. Good luck and hope you figure it all out!!

Thank you! And aw! Good luck with Cecil. I love the name Hamlet for a little mouse! Jasper was a smelly boy but I found an air purifier really helped cut back on that if your boy is a little smelly too! I think I may stick with males then because I love having a little friend I can spend hours with every day and who’ll bond with me personally. Jasper was always trying to get my attention when I’d go to spend time with our hamster, lol!

by Peachy Sun 23 May 2021, 8:22 pm

In over a decade of mouse keeping, I haven’t bonded with any of my females as strongly as I have with my males (which says something because I’ve bonded to a wild squirrel in my yard... when he hears my door open or hears me calling he comes running! Laughing

), but I’ve still had great bonds with many of my females. Very few of them were ready to spend all day on my shoulder, but they didn’t hate me either. Bonding with females is totally possible, you just have to find the right ones.

Females are fun to watch live together, but something to keep in mind is that once you start a colony of females you have to continue to bring in new females as the colony ages. This adds in the time and efforts of quarantine, introductions, and any behavioral problems that pop up. Males are “nice” in that once they’re gone, you’re all they’ve really left behind so you don’t have to worry about their mousey friends. And you don’t have to worry about them not getting along with their roommates as you do with females (not common among females, but possible).