# health crisis, has anyone seen this before?



## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

I have maybe 6 adult fancies I use for breeding.
Today I was making my rounds for feeding,watering and overall checks.
The breeding par and nursing doe in separate cages are fine, but
the three adults in one tank are worrying me.
I'm taking them to a vet but I wanted to know if anyone has experienced this before.
All three are...lethargic, cold and pale.
they get a little perky when warmed with a heating pad but they are still cold and shivery.
No coughing or sniffling,no diarrhea, nothing else.
I had one do this to me unexpectedly a long time ago, but she died on the way to the vet.
No parasites either.
I didn't change the diets, water is available 24/7.No changes to bedding.
I didn't move them, and there are no new cage-mates (which wouldn't matter because of quarantine anyway)

Im just a little overwhelmed and seriously worried. I've come to recognize that you have to be very sick to get so cold.They were fine this morning, hopping around and being cute as usual.
has anyone had this happen before?
*Edit
All three of those mice passed even though I took them to the vet. It was awful and the vet said not to use a certain kind of paper in the shredder for bedding. The glossy magazine type paper. 
^ ^ All my guys get a mix I make myself with high quality dog food and grains/oats with the weekly scrambled eggs. The water bottles were fine and none of them had parasites. I've switched to plain printer paper and non-glossy newspaper so this shouldn't ever happen again.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Getting cold in and of itself can make mice very sick. If you've no changes to diet, water, bedding, or cagemates, I'd suggest keeping tabs on how warm/cold/damp/drafty the room may be.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

When the body temp drops it is too frequently too late. Don't over warm them or raise the temp too abruptly, though. Good luck!


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## m137b (Sep 22, 2010)

Those are symptoms I've usually seen when the mice are dehydrated from a water bottle malfunction.

My mice are fine year round outside in Maryland weather, so unless they were compromised I don't think the cold would make them ill.


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## Kallan (Aug 16, 2009)

I second dehydration. When you pinch the skin up, does it ping back or remain slightly hunched?

It usually happens when a water bottle has gotten an airlock - the bottle may be full, but the mice can't get at the water.


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## Wight Isle Stud (May 19, 2010)

yep. All my bottles get a rattle every day. I want to hear the ball bearing in the tube. In boxes where I dont fill the bottle every day I just give it a squeze when I am doing the rounds to check for empty bottles. These symptoms can also happen when a box of mice has no food- but you would of checked that. I hope its nothing more serious, let us know.


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

I shred my newspapers in a document shredder for bedding.
The vet said I had probably included some with ink that was toxic.
So I'm switching to plain, printer paper with no Ink.
I lost all three of them, poor things.
they tried hard to fight it, but they became harder and harder to wake up.
I feel terrible about it.I really thought the piebald female was going to make it.
but I guess it just took longer for her.
At least now I know what did it and can avoid hurting the other guys the same way.
Still doesn't make it suck any less though. thanks for the support by the way, It really helps.
My fiancée just brushed it off cause he isn't interested in them like me.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Newsprint is usually safe with soy based ink. The stuff in printer cartridges is not safe. though, I avoid paper for other reasons.

I'm so sorry you lost your meeces. *hug*


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## Kallan (Aug 16, 2009)

I shred newspapers and printed material for my mice and so far no issues. I think a faulty water bottle happened


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

I did check the water bottle lol , that one in particular always leaks.
It was still leaking when I had tested it that night.
And the skin wasn't too floppy and snapped back as usual.

Im just going to play it safe for now and throw away the bottle, and switch to printer paper.
Hopefully that keeps it from happening again.and thanks for the hug moustress.


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## Kage Davies (Dec 21, 2008)

That sounds like what happened when my partner forgot a couple of my boxes feed for a couple of days. Starvation, basically DX. I fed them up on really high quality food and they recovered completely. 
Could be your food, or a lack of food? I dunno. Just my experience.


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