# Female Bully Mouse - What to do?



## Vhendi

I'm currently looking over my mouse-care links to see where I have read a few tips on what to do about this kind of problem, but extra advice can't hurt...

I have a trio of female mice in a 10-gallon aquarium with a small shelf - they were purchased together and have been doing fine with no trouble at all (aside from them being people-shy)... now this past week one of the females has been aggressively hounding just one of the others. No problems during the day, when they're least active, but at night I'm constantly woken up by high-pitched squeals and fighting sounds so I jump up and try to stop them. This happens about 4 or 5 times every night night now, at least.

They're all the same size, except the grey one is more smooth-coated than the other 2 so she looks "thinner", but its the grey girl that's aggressive. She chases the chocolate one and bites her butt (so far there are no physical injuries or signs of hair loss on the choco girl)... and the tan girl is completely oblivious to all this, lol. The tan one grooms both the others and can push them around, but is not aggressive or loud about it.

They are my only mice, no males are around, no chance of pregnancy, no signs of illness - is their habitat too small? is she just being dominant and her mood will eventually taper off? or should i take some drastic measure to isolate her for a bit (though i know this is not good for mice)?


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## racingmouse

It`s a tricky one. You obviously have a female that likes to dominate. Sometimes the loud squealing can be in retaliation at being picked on and you hearing this during the night as this is when mice are more active. It`s not good though that one has suddenly started to cause problems for one of the others. Bullying can happen, so rather than removing this bully mouse, you could try a few things.

I hav`nt a clue what 10 gallons means in terms of inches! But it could be that they are too confined with nothing much to do except annoy one another. If your trio are pets only, I would suggest looking for (a) a bigger tank, or (b) a barred cage with levels.

Mice love things to do and play on/in. Cardboard egg boxes, a decent sized wheel, toilet rol tubes, an old oven glove! Anything they can explore really that is safe.

Feeding: Always give them at least TWO feeding stations, or scatter the feed in different ends of the tank/cage. Have two water bottles also. This allows for the mice to eat and drink in different places incase one mouse is `ruling the roost` and dominating the accessories and food dishes.

Sometimes things can escalate for a few days and then calm down again. Maybe it has something to do with the female oestrous cycle? I don`t know, but I sometimes see females being quite for a week and then one suddenly decides to go on a humping spree!

Intervene when you hear or see the chasing mouse and just approaching and making your presence felt is enough to make things calm down. is this happening quite often or just randomly a few times a week?


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## Vhendi

I did some measurements, lol, 10 gallon tank is 20" by 10", and with my added shelf, that's 10" by 5" more floor. They have two wheels but those same two want to have the same wheel at the same time no matter what. @[email protected] I try to keep lots of interesting things in there for them - some of those loofah bird-toy things they can chew and climb on, a rope attached to the "ceiling" for them to climb on, a toilet paper tube, a paper towel tube which i hung up on the side so they can crawl through. I'll look into getting them a bigger cage, maybe that will help. Can't hurt, at any rate.

So far, for the past 9 days/nights, it's happened several times every single night - and it goes on for a while. I'm used to hearing a squeak every once in a while, but not drawn out with a lot of scrambling and running around like this.

Maybe if it continues, and I get a bigger cage, I can let them hang out together during the day (when they're most calm and sleeping) and stick a divider in the cage at night to keep the dominant girl on one side... or buy a second cage to keep her in at night. I am reluctant to get one of those wire cage-toppers since I've heard they don't always fit well and mice can squeeze out of them.


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## moustress

You have a mousie that likes to barber, one form of which is grabbing the hair on the butt of another mouse and pulling and hanging on while the other one runs away. I'm afraid there's not much you can do about it except house the other one separately or put up with the noise. It's stressful but probably not fatal for the barbered mousie(s). It can result in a very rough coat on the rump and scabs in the hide on the rump, and stress can affect the health of the bullied mousie.

You could try a time out for the bully; I keep a tiny Kritter Keeper for that purpose. The offender goies in the little tank, which is then placed back in the tank for first five minutes (right when you see the mousie doing it), for ten if she does it again, then fifteen. It's up to you how far you want to go trying to remedy the behavior. More room might make a difference; I'm sceptical on that count.


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## racingmouse

I can tell you now that your tank is too small for three mice to actively live happily together. I would advise looking for a larger barred cage. The cage should have 1cm bar spacing or less. Adult mice won`t escape from this. Chances are they are squabbling over the small territory they have and they can`t get away from each other as much in such a small space. My barred cage is 26" inches long by 25" high by 20" inches wide with three seperate shelves inside.

Seperation is`nt the answer unless the bully is drawing blood. Never let this happen. Barbering is usually when a mouse will overgroom another and is usually seen around the face/whisker area and the barbered mouse will appear bald in these areas. It`s not life threatening, just overgrooming. Tail biting/nipping and chasing is dominant behaviour.

A tank topper (even home made from mesh?) might be the short-term answer until you find a decent cage. Just make sure it has a solid level between the top of the tank and the caged part. A small meshed ramp could be made from the same mesh. Just take a double piece, fold it over a few times to make it more solid and fold over the top end to act as a `hook` at the top. It`s not ideal, but it would give you time to find something bigger for your girls.

Small tanks like this are fine for breeding females because they are meant to be smaller to reduce injury to the mum and her babies. Pet mice need enrichment, which you already give them, but they also need space to roam and climb.


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## Vhendi

So I changed to a "new" cage... this one is 12 x 16 x 24 and had a full 2nd floor and a half one higher up. It is made of wire and I've cut some mats to pad the wire flooring so they can walk on it safely. My mice like it very much - there's more room to explore and space for more toys, and they like sleeping in the highest nook best and playing in the bottom one. So far, it seems like the fights have stopped, since the change I haven't woken up to a single fight at night, and they have seemed rather happy during the day.

My new problem, lol, is that they have decided to kick their poo out of the higher levels so I'm constantly picking it up from up to 1 foot away from the cage. Ugh. I've put down a mat for now to catch their droppings.

So long as they are happy, that's what counts. Though, I will keep an eye out for the "perfect" habitat ...


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## racingmouse

Wonderful!  The top levels on cages do tend not to have `sides` so poo can find it`s way onto the floor. You could line your shelf with one sheet of newspaper. Sometimes poo sticks to the paper so this prevents it from moving. A small square tissue box with two holes cut into it (an entrance and an exit) and place a few sheets of toilet tissue inside. The mice will pee and poo in there, so all you need to do is change the toilet paper sheets daily.  Put this on your upper level where the mice can get in and out. Should make a difference.

Keep everything where it is until the mice get used to their new `layout` and this helps them to settle when they know where everything is. My girls know exactly where all their accessories are and I actually see them going up the ramps to make sure everything is where it should be! If I replace something, or add something new, they detect it right away and do that` wary` stance and approach it with caution until they know what it is and then jump into it!

You may still hear the odd scrap now and then, but usually that`s just over the wheel or one humping the other! But you should`nt get really bad chasing or tail nipping. If you do, just monitor the one doing this and intervene just by talking to her and say `Oi, that`s enough` and tap the cage. This is usually enough to stop the behaviour without removing her all the time. Removing a dominant mouse who is`nt really causing harm never solves anything. Just open the cage door, say the `oi, behave` thing and make your presence felt. They usually calm down eventually once they settle. Some mice always act like dominant bullies and like to follow other mice around, bum sniffing and being pushy, but unless she is actually drawing blood or attacking physically, I would just intervene.

Glad the cage is helping though!


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## geordiesmice

I have metal dishes with chinchilla sand in the Mice poo etc in those.You then just empty the contents out.If the bullying is bad all you can do is put her on her own or give her away really if the problem is bad its cruel if you let the bullying continue.I have two Gerbilariums they have levels try one of those Mice dont need as much room as people think large Faunariums are good also.
http://www.thenationalmouseclub.co.uk/newcomer.php


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