# My first mouse intros



## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Hello!

I've started introducing Tully, my young doe, to my older two females. For rats I find this works best in the bathtub so I followed old habits. On the first day, everything went well. I kept it brief, maybe 10 minutes, and no one bothered each other, just sniffed. The second night, the older two would chase Tully down and nip at her. She was very squeaky. I'm assuming this is normal and just takes time? No bloodshed, but I thought the two older ones kind of went out of their way to bug Tully who's still smaller than them. I don't foresee her growing much more really. Should I put vanilla on their rumps to help the process? Or just keep doing as I'm doing and letting them adjust?


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

put them in a clean cage, you can put vanilla on them and around the cage to help, and just leave them to it. Might take a week or two but they should settle down once they work out who's boss, without any real harm to each other.

I often find does are all squeak and chase but rarely do any real harm.

though I would keep an eye on tails and bums for bites just in-case (though this wont be a problem unless they are bad bites, at which point separate).


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Thanks! Both older ladies went for the bum and I was more concerned for Tully's stress levels than her physical state (though as I said she is tiny in comparison). I'll try vanilla tonight in the tub and will put them in a clean tank tomorrow when I can watch them for a few hours.

Just a question about female social needs...if I plan to breed Tully in 2 weeks, should I bother putting her through this? I don't like her living alone but perhaps it's the lesser of two evils as I'd plan on giving her her own tank to raise her babies. Ideally, my end result will be the three adults and a few daughters in the same tank (I'll have to grab another 10 gallon or a 20). I'm just wondering what the least stressful route would be for her. Wait until she has her daughters or would that be even worse?


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

I sort of came to my own conclusion about the ladies and decided to keep them on their own given Tully will be bred soon and will have her daughters to live with. I would worry about the older ones hurting the babies so I'll get another tank.

I introduced her to her mate yesterday and it went really well. They've been interacting in the bathtub so I finally put them in a tank together yesterday. He seemed happy to see her and played with the new setup. She was fine so long as he didn't touch her. They napped together for a few hours...at least beside each other which I take as a good sign. (and yes, I understand she may potentially be pregnant now but the timing is okay given they're out of QT) I'd be surprised though. She's quite a squeaker and kicked up a fuss if he touched her.


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