# Is my mouse a bully? DRAWN BLOOD! Help!



## PipkinFiverSpeedwell (Aug 19, 2016)

Hi! I would love some advice on integrating females. I had three female mice that got along really well. Sadly, two died recently (tumours) leaving one rather fat little mouse alone (Pipkin). She is just less than a year old so could live another year and a bit. I read they can get terribly lonely so I thought I should try to get a couple of babies and try and integrate them.

I scrubbed the cage to get rid of any smell, changed it round, took out the levels so it was a smaller space (so they couldn't get territorial about parts of the cage). Then I introduced them in a neutral space (the bath) with a dab of vanilla essence on all of their backs. It went ok, they squabbled a little bit - but I expected them to whilst they sorted out the hierarchy.

I put them in the cage together and Pipkin who is much MUCH bigger than the babies wouldn't leave the shyer one alone (Fiver). She was thumping her tail and being very aggressive. I tried time outs but nothing seemed to work. So they were separated for the night.

I tried them in the bath again today, and it was ok. About three fights (all Pipkin going for Fiver) but very short and they seemed fine after. I progressed to the cage again, after about 2 hours. Same thing! After a while Pipkin went on a rampage and became very aggressive! Before I could pick her up there was a lot of blood on the bedding, Pipkin had bitten Fivers tail and drawn quite a lot of blood!

I separated them immediately but now don't know what to do. Everywhere I have read have said 'fighting is fine, as long as they don't draw blood'. I don't want to give up on the integration if there is something more I can do/ it's unlikely she'll do it again as she gets to know them better. But I absolutely don't want to risk the babies getting hurt, and I think Pipkin might just be a bit of a bully so I am inclined to just not try again. My sister said she is happy to adopt Pipkin and give her lots of human attention to try and stop depression. I'd be sad to give her away but can't take two separate cages to uni and won't be able to train two and give Pipkin enough attention to keep her happy if she's alone.

What is best? Does anyone have advice? Does blood mean an immediate halt to proceedings?

Thank you! Sorry it's a long post!


----------



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

First of all, the wounds/bleeding usually -seem- much worse than it actually is. You'll have to be very patient. I don't think she's aggressive, but it might take her a while to accept the new ones. To options I would try: either put all three of them in a small, neutral cage for a few days, or let the babies have the permanent cage to themselves a couple of days before reintoducing them.


----------



## raisin (Sep 22, 2014)

You might try keeping the younger two in their own cage, and the older one in her own cage. After a few days, switch each group into the other group's cage (without cleaning anything.) They can get used to each other's smells without actually interacting and risking a fight. You can also move things that Pipkin used into the new girls' cage (like a wheel) and vice versa. Do this for several weeks and take it slow.

Usually mouse integration involves an extra cage, even a smaller/temporary one.


----------

