# Not sure what to do...



## fayefleetwood (May 28, 2013)

So just over a week ago we picked up 3 little girls - Molly (mainly white with a few black spots), Daisy (black and white, 50/50) and Lily (mainly white with one tiny brownish smudge under her ear). 
My concerns are with little Lily... It is the first time we have had mice, so we are at a bit of a loss!

They are already on their second cage as Lily kept escaping from the first one, and now I'm not quite sure what to make of her. 
All 3 girls are spoken to regularly so they get used to our voices, they are handled very regularly when they are awake, fresh food and water everyday, time everyday in their balls exploring the place etcetc. My partner and I love them to bits. Molly and Daisy have settled in very nicely to their new home. Daisy was a little shy at first but now she climbs into our hands no problem and allows us to stroke her back while she explores, as does Molly. However Lily is quite different.

Despite being handled everyday and seemingly having little problem climbing into our hands, she really doesn't seem to like being touched. As soon as she is in your hand she is off up your arm, trying to find an escape. When you try to stroke her back, she kicks you away. She nearly fell out of my partners hand yesterday. It seems she only likes being handled if there is a means of escape. She spends most of her time clambering upside-down on the inside of the top of her cage. She is VERY active. And either she is TOO playful or is bullying the other two girls. Quite often we hear squeaking from the cage and it's generally Molly or Daisy as Lily is BITING THEIR FACES AND EARS? She rarely lets the other two have a go in the wheel, and when they do get in, she often climbs in too which prevents the wheel from turning and will bite at the other girls until they get off.

We are unsure as to what could be the problem... She definitely isn't shy or scared that's for sure, as she is a little daredevil, but she has made no progress on the handling front whereas the other two have come along in leaps and bounds!

Is it that she doesn't like the cage? Is she hurting somewhere which is why she kicks us away and squeaks when we try to touch her? Should we get her checked out? Is she not happy? Or are we reading too much into this and she is just a little too pushy when she plays?

We have somewhat decided that we will give her another week, and then mousery_girl has said she would take her in, but obviously we would prefer to keep her - we just want her to be a happy mouse 

PS - all three are sisters

PPS - Lily has a very obvious kink in her tail... Is this normal?


----------



## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

It could be that Lily's tail was broke due to improper handling? Some mice that I got had been mishandled, and it took them the whole of the quarantine period to let me intentionally pick them up without squeaking or jumping.

*Edit: Since mice often show dominance by forcing themselves onto other mice, and she is a dominant mouse, it could be that she sees your hands as trying to dominate her? Honestly, none of my mice are really into being stroked, but then they are less of pets. :/


----------



## bonsai (Oct 14, 2012)

Hello.
My first ideas about Lily were,she is in pain,probably pregnant or she suffers from mites.
If you are unexperienced with micekeeping,I would let check her up by a vet.
If you are sure that none of the mentioned things are the reason for her strange behaviour,you have a new base to work with.Every mouse is different and some needs more time to become tame,often depending on their experiences as newborns.
How big is the cage?
With little space,and not enough things to do,mice could sometimes create a stereotype behaviour like climbing or biteing into the cagesurrounding.

Best whishes.


----------



## thammy24 (Dec 20, 2012)

I have two mice and the one mouse, Sally, is almost just like your mouse, Lily. Within 24 hrs of bringing Sally home, she already escaped and she absolutely HATES hands. She used to not go on my hand at all. I had to put them in an aquarium because Sally can squeeze through bars and when I caught her I put her in there with Sam. For the first month she would evade my hand, but jump on my wrist and race up my arm and try to escape. It took me a looong time but she eventually learned to trust me and started being happy in her cage and not try to escape. It took me about 2 months though. She still won't jump on my hand in the cage but will jump on my hand when I have them running around on the table. They have a 20 gallon cage so usually there's no squabbles. Last month, when I just put in the hammock, she'd get into fights with Sam about it, but they eventually got that figured out and I also discouraged it, so she'd eventually stop. I would comfort Sam and give her a mealworm but not give Sally one. They might be mice, but they're not stupid, hahaha.

Here's my advice... never chase her with your hand when you try to catch her to take her out of her cage. Use a tunnel or something to get her out. I have these plastic critter trail tunnels that Sally jumps in as soon as she sees them. That's how I take her out of her cage.

Then just walk to the bathroom and sit in the bathtub and put the tunnel on your lap and let her explore everything and if she tries to escape, who cares, not anywhere where she can go anyway. The floor is generally to far away for them to attempt to jump down. Initially it might take a while for Lilly to come out of the tunnel, but eventually she will. That's what worked for me and Sally. Sally has a temper though. She'll rattle her tail when she's pissed of at me and glares at me . She escaped just recently when I was cleaning their cage and holy moly was she mad when I caught her again, hahaha.

As for her chasing the other two, as long as they're not bleeding, i'd let it slide. you can probably break it up to let her know she shouldn't. I used to do it by taking off the lid and saying, hey hey, that's enough, and usually Sally would look up and forget about chasing Sam. How big is their cage? and how many toys do they have? I know when housing males together (which rarely ever goes well and I do not suggest with pet shop mice) but in the cases it does work, in Europe with well-bred stock, they still need a rather large cage with each their own wheel, hammock, and own food dish so that they are able to live together. You might need to put in a 2nd wheel or add more toys so that Lily has more distractions. To me it sounds like she's just a high energy mouse and she might get bored and take it out on her cage mates.


----------



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Okay, I wouldn't read too much into Lily's behaviour at all. Some mice are just like that, some mice will never like being handled. As long as her behaviour is not aggressive (and from what you tell, it is definitely not), then I wouldn't worry one bit. I would just let her be. Keep handling her a bit, but not too much, as she's obviously not fond of it.
About the biting heads/ears, it's dominance. If she were for real and wanted to hurt them, she would go for genitals, and she would bite till the others were seriously injured. If she ever starts doing that, or if she ever starts biting anywhere else causing blood, or if she ever bites one of you, I would "kick her out of the house" so to speak.
She sounds like a very curious, playful mouse (and healthy) with a tendency to dominant behaviour. You are not doing anything wrong, but there is nothing much you can do about it.

About the kinked tail, there's no way of saying what could have caused it. Could have been born with it, could have happened in the cage, could have happened during handling, who knows? It might affect her balance, but as long as she walks and climbs like a normal mouse, it doesn't mean much.

What kind of wheels are you using? This type of wheel can be bad for them, as it can cause their tail to bend over their backs. This sort of wheel, however - called a Flying Saucer or a Running Disc - is much better for them, and if you buy one of the bigger ones, two can easily run on it together.


----------

