# Male Aggression



## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

So I had just finished setting up Foxy's new cage for him to go in. I washed my hands thoroughly and dried them off as always. Foxy has always been a skittish mouse but never bit me, never squeeked. I just put a TP roll in his cage and he would jump in and I would move him to either the exercise ball or a new cage.

This time however, was totally different. I put my hand in the cage and he climbed on my hand. Shock, Horror. 
Then it got a little.. ugly. While I was walking over to his new cage, He bit me, drawing blood. I was shocked and sad to say, dropped him. 
Of course, my luck, our mouse catching cat was on him in a second. I'm not sure if the cat actually got him in his mouth or not. I pulled away our cat as fast as I could react and grabbed Foxy. He squeeked a lot which made me think he was in the cats mouth for a bit.. 
He bit me again, more blood but I managed to get him to his cage and in he hopped. No limping, no blood on him, he seems fine. Of course I can't know that for sure.

A friend had something similar happen with a cat grabbing her mouse. She took the mouse to the vet, nothing physically wrong, the mouse acted normal but they told her to put it down. (The vets here know very little about mice)

My questions..
What could have caused him to bite the first time?
I know I should take him to the vet but I'm almost certain they will just tell me to cull him.. What do I do?


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

if he appears fine, as you say, he likely is fine. the decision regarding what to do is yours. i personally cull any mouse that bites me. but of course, i'd make an exception for a mouse with unique genetics. only you can decide whether you wish to cull him or not.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

sys15 said:


> if he appears fine, as you say, he likely is fine. the decision regarding what to do is yours. i personally cull any mouse that bites me. but of course, i'd make an exception for a mouse with unique genetics. only you can decide whether you wish to cull him or not.


The only mice I have been bitten by are wild mice that the cats brought in when I try catch them which is understandable.
I don't like the idea of keeping any mice that bite me. Once bitten, I have a huge fear of handling them again especially if they draw blood. 
He is just a pet shop mouse, I only really adopted him because I was hoping for some selfs but I have yet to put him over any girls but since his sudden aggression, I don't want to.

Only problem, I have no idea how to cull and older mouse..


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

I found my cat with one of my mice sitting directly in front of her, staring at her. She had already killed one of my others but I think she wanted to play chase before getting to the killing part with this one. She had obviously had her in her mouth because her back was wet with saliva. She was a bit shaken up and didn't react when I went to pick her up until I had her in the air. She must have been petrified. Any other mouse I would have expected to go into shock and die shortly after but she is pretty spunky! Shes fine and its 3 weeks later now. I think you should just keep an eye on your boy to see if he goes into shock. If he does it might be kinder to cull. If not, its up to you if you can deal with him biting. He sounds like he is just scared to me. How long have you had him?


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Had him for over 2 months now.


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## besty74 (May 26, 2012)

I have always culled biters and never bred from them, and the result is that now i have no biters.
I always found this best as i too would be wary of a biter after the first bite and this does not help the situation at all.
It is a shame but better in the long run.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I've only ever had one biter, and it was a mouse that was about to be culled anyway. That said, if the mouse knew you were about to put him in an exercise ball, that might be part of the reason. I understand that some folks use them, but I personally find them less than humane.

I've had a cat corner and even pick up runner mice. She's a much better mouse-finder than I am! When I've not found blood on the mouse, they've been fine. The most common injury with cats and small animals are puncture wounds, very small ones caused by the sharpness of the cat's teeth. They can puncture lungs or other vital organs, but the mouse won't make it through the next 12 hours, or will deteriorate rapidly if that's the case. Keep an eye on him, and if things go south, it's likely fatal.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

He has never had a problem with the excercise ball and he has never bitten before till now. Most of the Tim when cleaning the cages, I already have another set up so tr mouse can go from one cage to another. That's how I have been doing it with him for the last 5 or so cleans.
Ever since I got him, if he went into the ball, the cats would go outside. Two of our cats have no interest in them in the ball but our older cat has started to have moments so they all go outside for my mice safety.


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

In the past I had a buck which went from being really friendly to aggressive in a very short space of time, so I know the shock of being bitten by a mouse which normally enjoys being handled. I'm also in favour of culling mice which start to bite. If you need help with this, become a member of the Culling section - I've found it very useful.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Oh I am a member of it. I'm just a whimp when it comes to force.
Ever since he bit me, he has been in his new tank and he keeps trying to jump out. His personality has completely changed from being friendly and calm to aggressive and trying to escape.
I've never had a male who did that.


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

Sounds exactly like Jasper. Look in Culling under Rhasputin's excellent post about making a CO2 chamber - no force necessary.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Thank you for that. I will see if Dad has any tubing and such laying around. 
I hate to have to do that to a healthy mouse but his sudden aggression scares me a little.


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

It does sound a bit scary as it happened so suddenly. It could even be something like a neurological disturbance. Who knows? But there's no place for an aggressive biting mouse in a mousery.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

MojoMouse said:


> It does sound a bit scary as it happened so suddenly. It could even be something like a neurological disturbance. Who knows? But there's no place for an aggressive biting mouse in a mousery.


Not that I have a mousery. Haha.
I'd love to be able to call it that one day though. But yes, I understand that there is no place for it. Its like with cattle, any that show any sign of aggression are never sold, they are put in our freezer.


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