# Swaying



## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

So I have noticed that one of my mice has started swaying. She sits there and and sways her head. (like she is slowly looking from left to right).
I can't see anything visible wrong with her, her eyes are nice, bright an clear, her coat is good. No discharge. Nothing.
She is my newest addition, I got her today, she could be in a little shock as she is being housed alone for QT and before she was in a colony..

Any advice?


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## Malene (Jun 8, 2010)

Does she have pink/ruby eyes? They do that sometimes. I think they do it to focus.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

It could also be a sign of an inner ear infection (among other things). The inner ear controls balance and when there's infection, balance is thrown off.

It would be best to take the mouse to a vet to get it checked out and get antibiotics. An ear infection in an animal as small as a mouse can quickly lead to death.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

She does have red/ruby eyes.

When she walks, her balance isn't off, she doesn't fall or wobble when walking.
I'm hoping like crazy that it isn't serious, the vets in my town are great with everything but mice/rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. They had their first mouse visit last month when I brought in a rescue mouse who had pneumonia and was to old and skinny to pull through.
I'll check her in the morning and see what she is like.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

One of my young dove mice does this now and then, and it does appear to be eyesight related (although having your mouse checked for an ear infection may be worthwhile!) as she will often jump as I touch her as if she has not seen me coming. She also uses her whiskers to detect the floor a lot more noticeably than her sisters, and is much more nervous about jumping gaps. I had wondered if it was related to having pink eyes at all so that's interesting to know. 
So, if you have her checked over and its not an infection, my best guess would be poor eyesight which shouldn't have any major effect on her quality of life.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

I hate not having a vet who knows about mice up here, the closest one who says they are "exotic vets" is like 8 hours drive away. 
I'll be keeping a close eye on her tomorrow, since I've only had her for less than half a day, I want to let her settle.
I had a rabbit once who did the same thing she did. That was due to stress. (he was male and I had a female who had babies about 3-4 weeks prior.

Gosh, she's young, she shouldn't have to go through all this *sigh*


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

My pink-eyed rats always did this, and one of our cats who has a scarred eye also does. It was explained to me by the vet I got the original rats from (they were dumped), that by moving around while staring at something, they can get a better sense of the distance to it, or the shape of it. Because of the light eyes, their vision is even poorer than a black-eyed rat (who still has less than fantastic vision), and their depth perception is pretty terrible. I haven't seen a mouse do it, but then my tanks are usually just bedding, water bottle, food dish, house, stick, so there's not a whole lot of need for depth perception. If she seems well other than the swaying, and she's not doing it while she walks, I'd not worry.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

I took her out of her huge tank and put her into a smaller tub for play time, I also put food and water in there and she stopped swaying. I think it probably is her eyes.
In the tub, everything is much closer to her.


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