# How to tell who's dominant?



## TanithHH

Hi,
Just wondered how to tell which of my mice is dominant? My only reason is curiosity, I'd just like to know which one it is! Who is most likely to be dominant in a mixed group of buck and does? Is there like a 'pecking order' as in chickens where there is a top one, then second, then third, etc. or is there just the dominant one, then the others are equal? Oh, and is there any connection between tameness or health and dominance?

Sorry if these questions are silly, very new to mice 

Thank you!

tanith


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## CheezieSpaz

Don't worry the question is completely normal for new mouse owners. I'm not exactly an "Expert" on this kinda thing but I did have experiences with dominant females with my pets.

What I usually saw was every time someone new was introduced, there was one mouse who would go investigate and follow the new mouse around the cage. She would jump at the new mouse and squeak to assert her dominance then cuddle with them after they settled things. Once she just full on attacked and wrestled a new runt I put in the cage [after outside introduction] and after I broke it up they started to cuddle. From what I saw, after they cuddled they were fine.

The behavior of my dominant mouse and from what I've seen in pet stores was: The rest of the mice would be huddling in a pile or in their hut or home and the dominant female would be the only one roaming around, most likely to rearrange bedding. Mine would steal food from her cage mate's hands and jump on the wheel even another mouse was using it and pretty much acted like head hancho around the cage.

That mouse has died recently though and the mice I had left in the cage didn't really know what to do. When I introduced a new mouse to the cage there was no fighting or anything and now the newer mouse is taking the roll of leader by rearranging bedding, taking dominance on the wheel and stealing food. she's a lot nicer about it though.

usually it's one dominant mouse and the rest are about equals. I'm not sure how it works with a male however, just with females but I've heard a friend of mine, who was accidentally sold a male mouse, said that the dominant female would continuously attack the male when they put him in their cage [this was when they thought they had all females]

Hope this helps!


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## kyrabbit

I'm no expert by any means, but I feel like I can contribute a bit because there is a very noticeable hierarchy in my tanks, haha.

In one tank I have a buck and two does. I notice that they are more like a wolf pack as far as their structure. Of course, the buck is the dominant head honcho, but I have an indisputable dominant female as well. Any time a new mouse is introduced to the tank, even if temporarily, she becomes extremely defensive and will cover the other doe with her body. She did this for a couple of days when they were introduced to the buck even.

In general, and this applies to my feeder tank, I notice that the dominant mouse will come out of the nest more frequently. She will rearrange bedding and furniture and do a perimeter check on a regular basis. Since my feeder stock is in rotation, I notice that some alphas will even place bedding in the food bowl (hiding their stash) or they'll take several pieces into the house. I had one mouse who had a massive stockpile of food hidden in his nest house. I had been wondering where all his food was going :lol:

I also notice that the dominant/alpha mouse tends to be less flighty. They aren't usually bothered by an accidental bump of the tank when roaming about, but the subordinates will generally stop what they're doing, flock to the nest or scamper over to the alpha.


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## TanithHH

Thank you, this has been really helpful. I have one mouse, she comes out in the day more than the others, is the tamest and rearranges/carries bedding to the nest a lot, so I suppose she must be dominant? Thanks!


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