Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wonder who can help me, I bought a couple of Mice from a local Pet Shop 6 Females and 5 Males. 2 Males were white the rest black and brown. After 3 days the 1 white male was on his own the whole time and didn't play within 3 hours he died. Two days after he died the other one had the same symptoms and also died, can someone give me advise.
Thank you

From what you told us, there is nothing to go on to even guess what could cause the death of two of your males.

Are all the males and females housed together? Are the males housed together? What are the symptoms? (ie being by themselves isn't really a symptom). Are the two affected males eating/drinking? are they all bloodied up or have other evidence of injuries? (if the males are all housed together, they can and do fight and injuries can quickly kill a mouse, especially if he is attacked any time he gets near water or food).

The presence of females will guarantee the males will fight, as they will fight for the right to mate with the females. (and if you do house them all together, I really do hope you have plans for 60 babies in a months time).

If the males are housed in small groups, in a large cage with plenty of hides and at least two batter bottles and feed dishes, and the two that died show no signs of injury, I would take both bodies (keep refrigerated till you can take them, do not freeze the bodies) and the remaining males and (and at least one female) to a vet specializing in small mammals. If they have some disease, it will need to be treated. I would also see if the pet store you bought them from has any sort of health guarantee. If they do, take them all back and get a refund.
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PHLdyPayne

They may be killing each other. Male mice typically do not get along with each other. The pet store employee should have told you this when you bought the mice, but if they're like most other pet stores they're just out to make money and not to ensure a good home for the pet. Watch the males you have left. If they're picking on each other, separate them or they will kill each other.

If that's not the case, they're probably sick with some disease they caught either at the pet store or the breeder's place, and they need to see a vet. Are they sneezing? Breathing funny? Lethargic? Have a snotty/bloody looking nose or discharge from eyes? Those are all signs of sickness, which can most likely be cured by a round of antibiotics.

The males are probably fighting, so first thing you should do is watch them, and if you see any blood, separate them all permanently. I have tried and tried to keep males together, and out of 7 males I ended up having two of them neutered so they could live with females, and I had several unsuccessful pairings before I finally got lucky with two pairs. One died, so I tried putting the remaining boy in with a new one, and the new one killed the older boy. That was my last time trying to keep males together, except the pair I still have. They just don't usually get along. If you can afford to have them neutered (some vets charge completely unreasonable fees for this, so chances are it'll be impractical), do that and let them live with the girls. Even then I didn't have any luck putting both my neutered boys together with the girls. The boys were still boys, and I had to break up the group till one of the boys passed away. Male mice are such a pain!!! Good luck with them.
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Kadee Sedtal

home of old lady Lucy (boxer/lab/garbage disposal), pretty girl Fancy (beagle), Crusher (yorkie), the rats-Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Pachebel, Fillmore, and Franz, the mice- Vivaldi, Schubert, Bartok, Johann, Giordi LaForge, Dorothy, Glenda, Em, and Rosa, and the wonderful winter white dwarf hamster- Feather
"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