# Aggressive grooming in an otherwise docile mouse?



## BlueApples (Feb 15, 2017)

So I have two female fancy mice, one older black furred named Hematite, and a younger white mottled named Star Child. I have recently purchased Star from a nearby pet store, put her through quarantine, and she is now living happily with Hematite. The two spend quite literally the whole day with each other, the only time I see them by themselves is if they're eating.

I just noticed today that Star had some scabs on the back of her ears, and since I've never seen the two fight I eventually thought it might be a case of overgrooming? Also, since housing them together I notice Star wasn't her usual hyperactive self; I don't see her in the wheel, or roaming about, or doing much of anything besides eating, sleeping, and hanging out on my shoulder while I work. This struck me as odd behavior since she and Hematite appear to get along quite well, and their cage should be plenty big enough for the both of them. I might add an attachment soon to see if that changes anything, but for now I digress.

I've seen the same ear scabs on Hematite's sister, Agate, after the death of their other sister Onyx. However, I have no clue what this means. Hematite's an extremely friendly mouse, she never fought with her sisters and (as far as I've seen) she hasn't fought with Star.
It it also worthy to note that Hematite may also have a mental disorder? A while back when I first got her I noticed she would run in circles around the cage even though she had two wheels to choose from; when I took her out for playtime she'd continue to run in circles, and if I put something in her path to block it she'd either go around or over. She also... appears to be less intelligent? It's hard to describe but she's acted much different from Onyx, Agate, and Star Child. I don't know what caused this, because she was perfectly normal when i brought her home, and I'm wondering if this is why she's grooming Star to the point where her ears are starting to bleed?

I'm not sure what to do about this, as I'd really rather not separate them. Both of Hematite's sister are dead, and Star is the only companion she's got. Has anyone seen this in their mice before and, more importantly, can you advise me what to do about it?


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

Scabs on the ears is often a sign of a mouse scratching themselves rather than another mouse over grooming them, in the case of over grooming it is often started on the face and is generally fur thinning and then missing first from all the grooming rather than scabs. The scabs come in when a mouse is scratching themselves too much that they cause damage.

I know you said you put her through QT but did you treat for mites or any parasites? If not it is possible she has some that are causing itching, they're not always visible.

Some people have also reported mice that seem to constantly scratch and make their ears bleed and had some luck trimming the claws down until everything was healed up and that helped greatly, although trimming the claws of a mouse definitely sounds hard without another helper!


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## BlueApples (Feb 15, 2017)

I think I actually might've saw some mites on her today when I took her out; I found three tiny _somethings_ wiggling around on my hand.
While it's good to know this isn't something Hematite is causing I don't like the sound of mites.. How do I get rid of them? Is it something as simple as a thorough cage cleaning (which is what I did once I housed them together) or is this something I'd have to go to a vet for and get some medicine?

Oh and I did not think to screen Star for mites or parasites. She was as healthy as could be before I started housing her and Hematite together. And, of course, I washed and disinfected everything that was to go in their cage before they ended up living together, so I'm not sure how the mites got there in the first place... Is it possible I got a bad bag of bedding?


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

It could have been from bedding, some breeders recommend freezing bedding or other such things before they put it in the cages.

As far as treatment goes, I personally have used Ivermectin Cattle Pour on diluted and then sprayed over the mice and bedding but even though a small bottle lasts forever it is probably not really practical for just a couple of pet does.

For smaller amounts of mice quite a few people use revolution cat spot on or similar.

You can call your vet and see what they recommend, they should be able to give you something for cats or dogs that will work well even for mice and can recommend dosage etc

Mites are not really something that just goes away with bedding changes and keeping things clean because they live on the mice and even if you managed to kill the adults the mice often have tiny eggs on them that then hatch.


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## FlorenceB (Jan 27, 2017)

I had lice recently on two of the baby mice I'm hand rearing. I used "Anti-Parasite Spot On" by Beapher, which contains ivermectin. It recommends a full pipette per 50g of body weight, but I only used a drop as my babies are around 5g. Within an hour I found four lice dead on the tissue paper floor of their cage, so it definitely works! I had to make sure I used a wet Q-tip to wipe away any excess that travelled down their body because they kept trying to lick themselves clean, but 24 hours later there's no ill affects.


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## BlueApples (Feb 15, 2017)

Unfortunately I was unable to find anything for mites at the local pet stores, but one of them was helpful enough to advise me to call the vet they use to see if flea stuff would work just as well.

Butt... That vet claimed they didn't service mice, so they directed me to a vet that did andd... they couldn't give me any information unless I had an appointment. :/ So. Very. _Helpful_.

Does anyone here know if flea treatment would work against mites as well or no? If not I'll have to order something from online.

Update: I've just found Star Child dead. Poor girl was only with me for a few months.. 
I can hear Hematite grieving, so I'm going to give her a bit of time with her companion before burying her.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

I'm sorry for your loss, they're always hard.  I'm having a similar problem with lice and I ordered food grade diatomaeceous earth. I've never had to use it before but was advised to. It's used to kill pests likes fleas, mites and other insects while not harming anything else. Not sure how well it works, though supposedly it's effective. DE's pretty cheap too, ten dollars for two pounds. Topical Ivermectin, diluted to the correct amount, is also highly recommended from some reading I was doing earlier. I don't have much to add besides good luck


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## BlueApples (Feb 15, 2017)

The only Topical Ivermectin I've found is for horses. I know you said you dilute it, but the size difference between a horse and mouse makes a little nervous about using it.

I've found some mites and lice spray for birds, would this work as well?


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

I hear you, I don't know if I'd mess around with that either. I'm not sure if bird mite/lice spray would work, depends on what's in it and whether you can give a mouse the proper dosage so I can't give my word. Hopefully someone else can


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

Ivermecin cattle pour on is quite commonly used over here, the bottle comes as a 10% solution, which you then dilute further 1 part to 4/5 parts water.


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