My boyfriend and I recently bought a pair of fancy mice. Even though they're both males, the people at the pet store told us they would be OK because they're from the same litter. Well, I ignored my gut instinct and we put them both in the same cage. Big mistake. One of them started chasing the other, and my boyfriend and I kept a close eye on them, and thought they were OK. But now, looking at the chase-ee, there has been extensive damage to his testicles. They used to be quite large, but now they're basically gone. Obviously, I have separated them and cleaned the wounds, but I just feel sick about it. Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing? What are his chances for recovery? Would it just be more humane to put the little guy out of his misery? Please help me, I don't know what to do!
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Mice mutilating each other
Replies (2)
Male mice are not very good cage mates. If they are siblings, they do have a chance to get along, if the cage is big enough and there are plenty of extra hiding places, two feeding dishes and water bottles. A big enough cage is good too, probably about twice as big as would be needed for a pair of females. This ensure both have their own 'territories' and can keep out of eachother's way.
Siblings can get along if they are raised together from birth till old age and even then, once they hit puberty, they can turn on eachother.
For your injured male, he will need vet attention. Only a vet can see the extent of the damage, treat for possible infection and look for problems not visible to the naked eye. The trauma can also cause problems as well. It is also very unlikely these two males will get along, given how aggressive the other is. You may have to get the other male 'fixed' and even then they may not get along.
The real draw back with mice is males are about the worse to keep. They stink, they almost never get along with other males, and keeping them solo isn't very nice, as mice are very social. Though males probably do ok alone, as they are more inclined to wonder about looking for mates than females.
Getting a pair of females is the best way to go when buying mice strictly as pets. However, females can be fickle as well but typically they resolve dominance issues easily and settle down to a comfortable life as cage mates. Only risk with females is many petstore hare clueless on how to sex mice, or just don't bother learning, as mice are very easy to sex, especially once fully weaned. About as easy to sex as human babies. Thus, since petstores tend to be clueless, they often toss males and females together which means there is often a very high chance your females may already be pregnant when you buy them (they can become pregnant about about 4-5 weeks of age, pretty much around the time they are nearly completely weaned).
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PHLdyPayne
Put some neosporin on the wound. I don't think it would be sensible to kill him over this, I'm sure it's painful for him but he will recover. If it starts looking icky you should take him to the vet and get him on antibiotics. And even though you already know this... don't ever trust pet store employees!!! Some male mice can be okay together, but I believe most of it has to do with the individuals' personalities rather than the fact that they're related. I hope your little one's wound heals up quickly, I'm sure that's very upsetting! I saw a male mouse at Petco once with his testicles missing, only he wasn't as lucky as your little guy is because they refused to separate him.
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Kadee Sedtal
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, yahoo! I'd have all my money back." -Jack Handey
