Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just adopted five 7 month old fancy mice from an animal shelter. Unfortunately, Daisy died from mammary gland cancer the second day after the adoption. This is the first time I have owned mice and could use all the advice I can get.

I do have two questions:
1) I think my one mouse - Petunia - has a cold because she "chatters" when excited or cleaning herself. She did not do this when I first got her, it started about two days after Daisy died, when the weather changed and got very humid. Can I just treat her with mouse vitamins, or should I take her to the vet?

2) How long does it usually take to clear up mouse diarrhea? I gave my girls too many treats (Cheerios) and now Petunia and Violet both have diarrhea. I have stopped giving treats and only feed them FortiDiet (for mice) to try to re-balance their poor little digestive systems. It has been 3 days and they have shown improvement, but are not totally better yet. (They didn't have diarrhea when I got them.)

Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Z.

First I am assuming you have all females and housed them together.

The chattering is normal noice a mouse makes. I can't remember what it means. Respiratory infection will cause sneezing, nasal discharge, labored breathing etc.

Runny stool certainly can be due to change of diet and stress of being moved to a new environment. As long as they are all active, healthy looking and eating and drinking normally, I would give them a few more days to a week on their current diet to see if the diarhia clears up. If their overall health, activity, eating/drinking changes or if their stool becomes really bad, it could be a condition known as 'wet tail' which will need vet treatment.
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PHLdyPayne

Thank you so much for your response! Yes, they are all females housed together. I haven't seen a change in behavior or eating habits. They are all very active and love their toys. Also, they are all eating and drinking well. Petunia, my little girl who chatters, does not have any discharge from her nose or eyes and has not sneezed at all. I'll keep wathcing for any changes in their bathroom habits and seek veterinary help if it grows worse.

Once again thanks again for your help!

Z.