Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I began a new 1.4 colony of mice last week that i picked up from the pet store. I figured since they were all in the same aquarium when i purchased them that they were already introduced so i could just add them all to their new home instead of separating the girls from the male for a week. Well lets just say that that was not the brightest idea ive ever come up with. A couple of hours after putting them in i notice the male attacking one of the females which was a bit smaller than the rest so i separated the two and added a few more hides and toilet paper spools. It seemed to have helped because i didnt notice anymore problems for a few days but when i cleaned their cage a week later i found the smaller female dead. She was alone in a hide on the other side of the cage, buried under some shredded paper which i use as substrate. The others are fine and all sleep in the same hide as the male. Any suggestions?

I use a 30 gallon fish tank
Feed a mixture of purina kitten chow 40% protein/12.5% fat, Vita-vittles 16% protein/6% fat, and Nutro natural choice dog food 21% protein/12% fat. Is this ok?

>>I began a new 1.4 colony of mice last week that i picked up from the pet store. I figured since they were all in the same aquarium when i purchased them that they were already introduced so i could just add them all to their new home instead of separating the girls from the male for a week. Well lets just say that that was not the brightest idea ive ever come up with. A couple of hours after putting them in i notice the male attacking one of the females which was a bit smaller than the rest so i separated the two and added a few more hides and toilet paper spools. It seemed to have helped because i didnt notice anymore problems for a few days but when i cleaned their cage a week later i found the smaller female dead. She was alone in a hide on the other side of the cage, buried under some shredded paper which i use as substrate. The others are fine and all sleep in the same hide as the male. Any suggestions?
>>
>>I use a 30 gallon fish tank
>>Feed a mixture of purina kitten chow 40% protein/12.5% fat, Vita-vittles 16% protein/6% fat, and Nutro natural choice dog food 21% protein/12% fat. Is this ok?

With a tank that big you could set it up with rats! Personally I would put the mice in a smaller enclosure, but I guess it isn't a big deal. As to the fighting and killing. I personally would take the number of mice you want in the group, one male and his harem. Then I would leave them the heck alone and not move anyone, remove anyone or separate anyone. The more you tweak the social structure the longer it will take the killing to stop. Mice are just like that. So, I guess what I would say is now that they seem to be settled I would leave them the heck alone. If you want more girls raise a daughter or two once the litters start.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Who can say for sure if they were housed together in the first place. Sometimes a weak one is picked on until they are killed. Mice can very aggressive towards each other. I've added females to established harems and gotten mixed results. But listen to them when they say, don't tweak them and leave them alone. Mice stress very easily and will kill, fight, and even eat each other.

Hi. I'm sorry to say that I think I replied to a post from you last week when you were asking about this. I'm sure I told you something like "leave them alone, they'll be fine." Sorry to hear about the female. BUT... I agree with the last two replies, this stuff happens. Compared to rats, mice are vicious little beasts. I have several snakes who aren't yet big enough to handle even rat pups, so I am forced to keep mice around. In the past year and a half I have frequently been alarmed at just how nasty these little critters can be with each other, but it is usually only when the colony is first getting started or if you add a new mouse to the mix later on. If the remaining 4 seem to be getting along, leave them alone as much as possible. There may be more carnage as each of the 3 females have their first litters, so be prepared for that. After that things will settle down.

I may have been wrong about my male killing the female. Walked into the room where i keep them to get something today and found my cat locked inside the tank. Now how he got in there beats me but apparently he must of lifted a loose side of the screen top and squeezed in and it fell back in place or something, i dont know, maybe he's been hanging around my ferrets to long and starting to pick up some of their behaviors. Either way i fixed the problem and hopefully shouldnt have anymore problems unless the mice start eating babies.

Jaye