# My mice are fighting



## Tinkers Mousery (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi there just need some advice. i have 5 girls in the same tank and they have been together since 4 weeks of age. they are now allmost 7 weeks old and last night they started fighting. i have had to seperate 2 girls from the tank as they keep trying to mate with the other girls and are pulling the fur out of the other girls. y is this??? Also i have 2 males that were kept together then they were put into 2 seperate tanks with 2 females each to mate. now it is time for me to seperate the boys from the girls but shall i keep them in seperate tanks on their an i put the 2 males back together??? i am worried about them fighting. thanks


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## AnnB (Jan 14, 2011)

I would be inclined not to put the males back together as the likelihood of them fighting now will be quite high. It's more unusual for the girls to be bickering to the extent that they are pulling out fur though.


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## Tinkers Mousery (Feb 20, 2011)

ok thanks. i will keep my males seperate. but i want to try and get my girls to all live together. Also i have 1 female that has given birth in a tank on her own....once her babies are old enough to leave her will she be ok to go back in the tank with my other girls?


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

I agree with Ann regarding your males. Once you seperate male mice, it means they have to stay that way and only be used as stud bucks. They would almost certainly fight now and it`s not ever worth that risk. But if you breed mice then your going to have males living singly as a result unless any offspring are kept together as pets.

It`s difficult to say what`s going on with your females, especially if they have always been together since birth. Does`nt sound good though so seperating the trouble makers was a good move. One of my females humps the older one (and she`s smaller!), but it`s not a constant thing and not aggressive. I keep a close eye on them anyway and if I hear one squeaking, I always go over to make sure things are okay and one is`nt becoming a bully.

I would say take things slow and keep the harmony. Switching and changing mice from one tank to another from time to time will almost certainly cause friction. But a group that have always been together should`nt really become overly aggressive, although it does and can happen sometimes sadly. Just try and pair up the ones causing the problems and see if that helps. It depends how often you change things. Sometimes females can be as bad as males if you get a one that does`nt fit in.


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## Tinkers Mousery (Feb 20, 2011)

ok thanks. thats great advice. and what do you think about my female thats just had babies? her babies are only 4 days old at mo but when they are old enough for me to seperate them from their mum, will the female be ok to go back in with my other girls?


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

I would imagine so yes. I will let other members answer that though since breeding mice might require different handling once they have been seperated and had a litter. Some have another female in with them while they actually have a litter (a nanny).

Introducing mice to one another should be done on neutral terrirory (or a fresh, clean tank) for a few hours with nothing except a water bottle and some scattered food. Once they seem fine, you can clean out the main tank/cage and then transfer them all back into it. If you were to just put a strange female in with an existing group, you might get some chasing and friction, so it`s better to do this in another neutral tank. Something like a Duna or a Rody tank. It keeps all the mice close together and helps to bond them.


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## Tinkers Mousery (Feb 20, 2011)

ok thanks. they seem to of settled down now.


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