# Mouse suicide?



## Megzilla (Oct 12, 2009)

in late November '08, my lovely BEW doe gave birth to 8 pups, who she willingly shared with me. Unfortunately, all my females fell sick and died within a few days of eachother, leaving me to take care of 10 day old pups. It was a struggle, and i lost a few along the way, but the end result was 3 doe, and 2 buck mice, all with wonderfull personalities. The first to be lost was Fry (Yellow 'Muddy bum' Broken Buck), he died of unknown causes. The next was Millie, a Black Broken Longhair Doe who had a NASTY growth on her rump which broke and became extremely pussy and horrible over night- Sadly i had to cull her ): At this point, my Last buck (Charlie) began to get sick. A few months after this, my Yellow Broken Doe began to loose lots of weight (from being obese), and she was beginning to loose the strength in her hind legs. I thought the cold wouldn't help, so i brought her and the colony inside. A few days before christmas '09, i found her dead, with the rest of her gang huddled up on the other end of the tank, acting very calm and subdued. Now, 3 weeks ago, my Last Doe, Chip (Agouti Broken) started to tilt her head to one side, and i decided to keep an eye on it and clean the eye when it got mucky (she's always been bad at grooming herself propperly haha).

I recently moved into my brothers house, and took 2 colonys of females with me, and the other day, when feeding the rest of the bunch back home, i notised she wasnt looking to great at all, and had to clear alot of gunk out from her eyes, and she was quieter than usual. I decided to take her back with me in a hospital tank on saterday, and i kept a close eye on her, making sure she had a drink, cleaning her and handling her a fair amount letting her fall asleep on my chest while i read a book etc.

Today, when i came home from college, i saw she was still active, but i thought she was just fidgeting while sleeping. But much to my shock, after i checked her 30 minutes ago, half of her digets from her front paws were missing, and there were large pools of blood on the bedding.

I picked her up gently and tried to warm her up. She took some water, and i chewed up some food for her, and she tried to swallow the paste, but had no energy left.

I know there isnt alot i can do, but i was just wondering if anyone else had come accross this behaviour. I know this sounds silly, but is there such thing as mouse suicide? i know sheep can get suicidal. Would be nice to hear about any cases like this so i don't feel like such a bad 'mother' to her (lol silly)

~She's still alive right now, i haven't got the nuts to finish her, but i can see that she's taking her last breaths )':


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

What a sad story! I've never heard of a mousie biting off it's toes. I don't know what to say. It's klind of as shame you can't put her down; I know how hard that is for a critter you've taken so much care with. *hug*


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

rodents are all about surviving and I can't see suicide being a behaviour a mouse would opt for.Was the mouse on it's own when the toes were lost?Could another mouse have done it?


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Far be it from me to tell someone else what to do but you need to put this poor animal out of its misery!! 

If she was alone when it happened, maybe she over groomed herself?... she probably has neuralogical problems due to illness, or maybe she couldn't see what she was doing? I've never heard or seen anything like this.

Willow xx


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

i have had mouse mutilation.i initially thought a parasite or infection was the cause and treated accordingly.The penny dropped when the few times it's occurred over the years,one in the cage has always been unharmed.Culling of this individual has been the cure.It's always been the tail that has been the target though.The only foot mutilation I have had is from escaped or wild mice that have bitten toes of inmates through the bars.If this is self mutilation then the mouse must either be in pain and is chewing it's feet as a mis directed frustration/agitation.Or or must have an infection affecting the area.If the mouse was in a reasonably healthy state it may have been worth an attempt at treating.This individual is chronic though and suffering.As willow says,euthanasia would seem a kind release.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

i have thought of another scenario that causes the loss of digits although I don't think it will be the cause in this case.The fine strands of the woolly type hamster bedding getting tightly wrapped around toes can lead to amputation of fingers and toes.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Euthanize her immediately.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

indepth culling talk needs to be kept to the culling forum as some people find it upsetting.With this in mind I have removed some posts.Megzilla would you like access to the culling forum as your need is rather urgent.


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## Megzilla (Oct 12, 2009)

no it's ok, she's dead, she died in my hands poor sweety. ): friend from college offered to drive to me to cull it for me, but it was too late.

What reasons could there be though? She was perfectly healthy, didn't have any lice, and she was very relaxed even on her own. All my does get along very well, although this happened when she was on her own. She didn't have any sores on her, and was in perfect condition. She loved human contact, and would chatter (not rep. illness) to me when i talked to her, and feared no one lol (even made the cat run out the door at one point when she was an escape-artist baby, very funny to watch the cat run away, then look to see what he was running from and seeing a mouse on the floor following him)

So sad to have her gone though )':


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