Female mice aggression?
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Female mice aggression?
by caram1234 Sun 30 May 2021, 5:02 pm
Ok so I adopted an older female mouse at a shelter the other day to pair with my other female mouse. At first when I introduced them things went well! other than some tail shaking from the elder one things were okay and that night I cleaned the big main cage and put them together. They seemed okay and even slept together. Today though my new older one has been chasing away my other mouse. She’ll be walking or sitting there and the older one will chase her from behind making her speak and hide. Is this normal? No blood has been drawn or anything so far. Should I be worried?
caram1234- New Member
- Join date : 2021-05-21
Posts : 11
Re: Female mice aggression?
by caram1234 Sun 30 May 2021, 5:10 pm
Also my younger mouse seems to be staying in one of the houses most of the time now when before she was out exploring a lot. I think this is because of the older mouse chasing her around. Is that normal?
caram1234- New Member
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by Poot Tue 01 Jun 2021, 1:28 am
I'm having the same issue! I've only had mice for 2 weeks now, and my first female Nugget has been a lil brat chasing my Sugar around nibbling her butt fur, making Sugar screm at 2 in the morning and she hides for hours after that. Nugget doesn't bother the other 2 females though, oddly.
From what I've read, people (much more knowledgeable about mice keeping than I) tend to respond to this with 'Seperate the lil brat mousie temporarily' and sometimes permanently, or 'Put the Nibbler and the Nibbled in a brand new smaller cage together with nothing familiar in it so they can figure things out' or even the funny but sad 'squirt the female with a spray bottle when she goes to butt munch'. I've tried the second option but it doesn't seem to be working all that well. I'm trying the first option tonight though, giving Nugget a cage to herself only for the night, so I can sleep and Sugar can go out of her lil house for once.
I'm not actually sure what does and doesnt work since I'm new, but I hope someone else much more powerful can pitch in on this, I fear for my lil Nugget cause I want her to have a social life, heh
From what I've read, people (much more knowledgeable about mice keeping than I) tend to respond to this with 'Seperate the lil brat mousie temporarily' and sometimes permanently, or 'Put the Nibbler and the Nibbled in a brand new smaller cage together with nothing familiar in it so they can figure things out' or even the funny but sad 'squirt the female with a spray bottle when she goes to butt munch'. I've tried the second option but it doesn't seem to be working all that well. I'm trying the first option tonight though, giving Nugget a cage to herself only for the night, so I can sleep and Sugar can go out of her lil house for once.
I'm not actually sure what does and doesnt work since I'm new, but I hope someone else much more powerful can pitch in on this, I fear for my lil Nugget cause I want her to have a social life, heh
Poot- New Member
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by caram1234 Tue 01 Jun 2021, 11:54 pm
I understand your frustration! I hope mine are getting more used to each other. They’ve been sleeping together more and I even caught them using the wheel at the same time. I haven’t seen any chasing lately but I still hear squeals / squeaks from time to time but i assume that’s to be expected.
caram1234- New Member
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by caram1234 Wed 02 Jun 2021, 1:14 am
Okay I totally lied I just witnessed the unprovoked chasing again and I’m very confused by it
caram1234- New Member
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by Poot Wed 02 Jun 2021, 2:08 am
Yeah I don't know whats up, I've seen Nugget do it again today but it seems she just wanted Sugar to stop so she can sniff and make friends? I'm not entirely sure if I'm fully understanding the vibe of it, if it really is just an attempt at friend making, but so far putting aggressively possibly loving Nugget in her own large bin at night has helped with my sleep xD they do this more at night I've realized, so its definitely happening a lot less for me now.
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by MousieMomma Tue 08 Jun 2021, 9:43 am
I’ve had the same issue myself, and have received a lot of advice from others on this forum. Some great advice I received would be to watch closely at the suspected aggression, and see if the mouse you suspect to be being aggressive is grabbing the other mouse’s back and/or attempting to bite at her. If you do see blood drawn, remove the other mouse immediately, this is how you can tell the aggression could lead to serious injuries, and even death.
First off, make sure you have at least 2 water sources, and at least 2 wheels, and see if that solves the issue. If that doesn’t work, as Poot mentioned, the best way to deal with this situation is to separate said aggressive mouse temporarily every time you see aggression. Think of this as a little time out for a misbehaving child, separate her for about 5-10 minutes, then put her back. Increase the time by five or so minutes every time you do it, until it stops. If it does not stop, try separating overnight. If that still doesn’t work, try the squirt method, squirt the misbehaving mouse every time she attacks. If that STILL doesn’t work, you may have to separate the aggressor permanently. I had to do this to my aggressive mouse, Storm, so she now lives a solitary life with lots and lots of interaction from me. I have actually tried introducing her to other mice (through bars), and as the other mice began trying to sniff her through the bars out of curiosity, she began to shake her tail, put her ears back, and make wicked high pitched sounds, so I stopped the interaction entirely. Now I know she must forever be alone. She also hates her reflection, which is kinda cute, but another indication that she cannot be with other mice.
Good luck with your mice! I hope you find a solution!
First off, make sure you have at least 2 water sources, and at least 2 wheels, and see if that solves the issue. If that doesn’t work, as Poot mentioned, the best way to deal with this situation is to separate said aggressive mouse temporarily every time you see aggression. Think of this as a little time out for a misbehaving child, separate her for about 5-10 minutes, then put her back. Increase the time by five or so minutes every time you do it, until it stops. If it does not stop, try separating overnight. If that still doesn’t work, try the squirt method, squirt the misbehaving mouse every time she attacks. If that STILL doesn’t work, you may have to separate the aggressor permanently. I had to do this to my aggressive mouse, Storm, so she now lives a solitary life with lots and lots of interaction from me. I have actually tried introducing her to other mice (through bars), and as the other mice began trying to sniff her through the bars out of curiosity, she began to shake her tail, put her ears back, and make wicked high pitched sounds, so I stopped the interaction entirely. Now I know she must forever be alone. She also hates her reflection, which is kinda cute, but another indication that she cannot be with other mice.
Good luck with your mice! I hope you find a solution!
MousieMomma- New Member
- Join date : 2020-08-22
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by cerial Wed 09 Jun 2021, 12:14 am
Ok, these are fearful mice. I have Spaz and Freak who are both fearful mice.
Spaz is over a year old and Freak is 3 months. This fear is a bit dominance based. Now Spaz would draw blood and I would separate her raising my voice when I seen her stalking another mouse on something before pouncing. Freak is a bit better. Â But is much more dominant to every other mouse in the cage. Although I have not seen her ever mess with Spaz or draw blood. But she has chased other mice around even my male house mice more to smell them and lay on them.
Now these fearful mice are just super cautious of everything. Yelling and grabbing them to get them off or away from other mice does not help things. That will make them fearful of you.
What does help and will also help with very dominant mice is moving things around when you clean the cage every week and adding new things to the cage at that time. This lets them get use to new things constantly as well as never having "my side" of something.
These things need not be expensive. A cardboard box instead of a plastic house or a stick from outside will have your mice much more relaxed around new things and other mice. Your fearful mice will be super careful at first about these new things while the other mice explore the things getting their scents on them. Expect lots of happy hopping for a couple hours and everyone getting along for a couple hours doe to the new things.
If you have a smaller cage then simply moving stuff will have the scared mouse less on edge as she gets use to things changing.
After 2 or 3 once a week cleanings you should see less aggression. You will see her still on edge and frankly that's something that won't lessen much. But they will eventually get along as long as the other mice respect who is in charge.
As far as separating them that can actually make the fearful thing worse. If your going to do that for fear of blood being drawn then do things like clean the normal mice's cage and take things that smell like them into the fearful mouses cage. Just place these things into the cage overnight letting the normal mouse have a box instead for a week.
You can expect the fearful mouse to do things like go into a corner or hide even tail rattling at the thing in the first hour. Go ahead and remove her house at this point leaving her with the other mouses house. She will be cautious once again. But she will smell it and you may even see her sleeping in it for a night.
It is best to do this before the mice go to sleep. I know my mice sleep schedule. All 23 of them are quiet and sleeping away currently being quiet for another 2 hours before there is a hour of grooming followed by a hour or two of super hyperactivity then a hour or so of relaxing before going back to bed.
Your fearful mice will be in the same way around other mice. But when she is by herself every thing even turning on the lights may freak her out. So try to place the thing in the cage when the mouse is tired. You want her sleeping in it so try to leave her alone or be quiet around her. After a day or so you can do something like letting the normal mouse play around the fearful mouses cage. Now just let her roam around the fearful mouses cage for a bit before putting her away and then just (slowly) set your hand into the fearful mouses cage and let her come to you without any treats. You may need to do this for a day or two but once she comes to you or near your hand you can pick her up slowly and gently before letting her explore around her cage  where the other mouse has been.
A few days of the fearful mouse smelling around the cage and you can actually introduce these mice once again for 10 minutes. Now I do this in the normal mouses dirty cage with nothing in it but a single box around 2x2x8" with a hole 3 holes for the mouse to run out. Â You can expect a bit of running and such and for that first 10 minutes keep your hand in the cage(wearing a glove or not is up to you). This lets your normal mouse know she can run into it. Your fearful mouse will be hesitant to run towards your hand. Now watch them but eventually the fearful mouse will sleep in the single box while the normal mouse will sleep in a corner. You can do other things but just keep a eye on them. As long as that fearful mouse has a place to hide she will be relaxed. If you see the fearful mouse walking over to the mouse move your hand into the air quickly over the cage not yelling or anything and the fearful mouse will stop before running into the box. If the normal mouse walks towards the fearful mouse place your hand into the cage and leave it in there for a bit before removing it. After a few hours you can put the fearful mouse back in her cage.
This will take several attempts extending the timing longer each time. But eventually the two will be sleeping together in the single box and while there may be some butt pulling or excessive grooming. They will be able to be in the cage and you will find them sleeping together soon enough.
Spaz is over a year old and Freak is 3 months. This fear is a bit dominance based. Now Spaz would draw blood and I would separate her raising my voice when I seen her stalking another mouse on something before pouncing. Freak is a bit better. Â But is much more dominant to every other mouse in the cage. Although I have not seen her ever mess with Spaz or draw blood. But she has chased other mice around even my male house mice more to smell them and lay on them.
Now these fearful mice are just super cautious of everything. Yelling and grabbing them to get them off or away from other mice does not help things. That will make them fearful of you.
What does help and will also help with very dominant mice is moving things around when you clean the cage every week and adding new things to the cage at that time. This lets them get use to new things constantly as well as never having "my side" of something.
These things need not be expensive. A cardboard box instead of a plastic house or a stick from outside will have your mice much more relaxed around new things and other mice. Your fearful mice will be super careful at first about these new things while the other mice explore the things getting their scents on them. Expect lots of happy hopping for a couple hours and everyone getting along for a couple hours doe to the new things.
If you have a smaller cage then simply moving stuff will have the scared mouse less on edge as she gets use to things changing.
After 2 or 3 once a week cleanings you should see less aggression. You will see her still on edge and frankly that's something that won't lessen much. But they will eventually get along as long as the other mice respect who is in charge.
As far as separating them that can actually make the fearful thing worse. If your going to do that for fear of blood being drawn then do things like clean the normal mice's cage and take things that smell like them into the fearful mouses cage. Just place these things into the cage overnight letting the normal mouse have a box instead for a week.
You can expect the fearful mouse to do things like go into a corner or hide even tail rattling at the thing in the first hour. Go ahead and remove her house at this point leaving her with the other mouses house. She will be cautious once again. But she will smell it and you may even see her sleeping in it for a night.
It is best to do this before the mice go to sleep. I know my mice sleep schedule. All 23 of them are quiet and sleeping away currently being quiet for another 2 hours before there is a hour of grooming followed by a hour or two of super hyperactivity then a hour or so of relaxing before going back to bed.
Your fearful mice will be in the same way around other mice. But when she is by herself every thing even turning on the lights may freak her out. So try to place the thing in the cage when the mouse is tired. You want her sleeping in it so try to leave her alone or be quiet around her. After a day or so you can do something like letting the normal mouse play around the fearful mouses cage. Now just let her roam around the fearful mouses cage for a bit before putting her away and then just (slowly) set your hand into the fearful mouses cage and let her come to you without any treats. You may need to do this for a day or two but once she comes to you or near your hand you can pick her up slowly and gently before letting her explore around her cage  where the other mouse has been.
A few days of the fearful mouse smelling around the cage and you can actually introduce these mice once again for 10 minutes. Now I do this in the normal mouses dirty cage with nothing in it but a single box around 2x2x8" with a hole 3 holes for the mouse to run out. Â You can expect a bit of running and such and for that first 10 minutes keep your hand in the cage(wearing a glove or not is up to you). This lets your normal mouse know she can run into it. Your fearful mouse will be hesitant to run towards your hand. Now watch them but eventually the fearful mouse will sleep in the single box while the normal mouse will sleep in a corner. You can do other things but just keep a eye on them. As long as that fearful mouse has a place to hide she will be relaxed. If you see the fearful mouse walking over to the mouse move your hand into the air quickly over the cage not yelling or anything and the fearful mouse will stop before running into the box. If the normal mouse walks towards the fearful mouse place your hand into the cage and leave it in there for a bit before removing it. After a few hours you can put the fearful mouse back in her cage.
This will take several attempts extending the timing longer each time. But eventually the two will be sleeping together in the single box and while there may be some butt pulling or excessive grooming. They will be able to be in the cage and you will find them sleeping together soon enough.
cerial- Full Member
- Join date : 2021-05-30
Posts : 80
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Re: Female mice aggression?
by caram1234 Fri 11 Jun 2021, 12:15 am
Thank you so much for your advice! I would definitely call my dominant mouse a fearful mouse. She is very sensitive to quick movements near the enclosure and won’t even get close to my hand. She still chases my younger mouse from time to time or will warn her to leave her alone by sqeaking at her.
They still sleep together and even use one of their wheels at the same time. I’ve been doing the changing their things around when I clean their enclosure for a bit and hopefully that helps! I really want my dominant mouse “Tilly” to be friendly and to trust me but it’s been maybe 3 weeks or more and the process is going very slowly. With my younger mouse “Salem” it was so easy but she came from a pet store and the other came from an animal shelter while i don’t think she got any attention. Their actions towards each hasn’t been aggressive lately other than some squeaking so i’m hoping i won’t have to reintroduce them but if anything gets worse i’ll do what I have to.
They still sleep together and even use one of their wheels at the same time. I’ve been doing the changing their things around when I clean their enclosure for a bit and hopefully that helps! I really want my dominant mouse “Tilly” to be friendly and to trust me but it’s been maybe 3 weeks or more and the process is going very slowly. With my younger mouse “Salem” it was so easy but she came from a pet store and the other came from an animal shelter while i don’t think she got any attention. Their actions towards each hasn’t been aggressive lately other than some squeaking so i’m hoping i won’t have to reintroduce them but if anything gets worse i’ll do what I have to.
caram1234- New Member
- Join date : 2021-05-21
Posts : 11
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