# Cherry and Buttons



## MissPorter13 (Jun 20, 2012)

Just thought I'd put up a picture of my mousies enjoy their treat. You wouldn't know from the way Buttons behaves that he was wild, him and Cherry share everything and are inseparable! I've definitely satisfied my curiosity about domestic and wild being able to live together (they do very well and are all happy and healthy). 
The pet-girls in with him, Cherry and Blossom, are really relaxed and chilled out, they'll take a nap anywhere and tend to just crash out on top of their bedding so it's really interesting to see the difference in instinct I suppose between wild and domestic. Buttons will immediately set about building a perfect and elaborate nest as soon as he gets his paws on the paper/hay! It has multiple chambers and tunnels and seems to be almost woven together. 
I don't know if it's something that just develops with age (they're 9wks) but I would swear Buttons has taught them/they've learnt off of him how to make up the nest as it's now a team effort to build the house after a clean out.
Anywayyy I've rambled, but for me this little trio are fascinating to watch and certainly have me thinking a lot more about why they do what they do.

These were some very happy mice :lol:


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Do you know what species Buttons is?


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

This is so interesting! It's not surprising that Buttons is such a builder - it's wild type behaviour, after all, and males are often the most fastidious and creative when it comes to building their nests and tunnels. The question is how much Cherry and Blossom are learning from him, as opposed to their natural instincts kicking in as they mature, and have access to the materials. With females and their daughters, a breeder over here who developed the concept of "natural mouseries" observed that mice domestic mice very quickly started to get the hang of building, simply by being given the right materials as part of their substrate.

I've noticed that with material such as coconut coir and hay, mice can become very adept at weaving the walls together. It's fascinating!

Your group sound like quite the happy family!  Is the male a common wild type, or a different species?


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## MissPorter13 (Jun 20, 2012)

We're not entirely sure, we don't want him breeding with the girls but don't want him living alone either so fingers crossed he's a Wood Mouse (we think he is). 
And yes it's so interesting to see their behaviour changing so much when they're exposed to new things!
It's so nice because they seem to really adore each other, so often we'll go in to find them all sat in a circle in their bowl sharing a treat or in a big tangled pile all cleaning and grooming eachother. 
It's mousey love! :love1


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