# The Smell of a single fancy female? & Multi Tameness



## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I've always loved mice but due to their smell I've not kept them for years.. I've been looking into multimammates / asf's as a possible replacement for mice and getting varying responses from breeders in terms of their friendliness..

Anyway I have come across 3 multis living with a female fancy mouse (which I have read is quite common, although normally with a male fancy)..

As it's been years since owning mice I've forgot how much they smell, so I was wondering how much smell will the single mouse make? Will it take over the room within a week?

I just thought these guys living together may provide the perfect solution, if the multis aren't that friendly, I still have a lovely mouse to handle..


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

Female mice smell VERY little. One female mouse will probably just smell like the bedding.

Multi's are touch and go-some can be tamed and some cannot, just be sure to tame them in a small room or something, they are jumpers and can often fly from your hand with no warning.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

What are multis? :?


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Jathy said:


> What are multis? :?


They are Multimammates: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jean.wright93/mm/mm.htm


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## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

ah it seems my auto alerts didn't work again!!

Thanks for the replies, I think I haven't worded my question quite right.. I understand that the fancy males themselves smell a lot and the females don't.. but what I meant was, how much will the single female make the cage smell? How many days will pass until I walk into the room and can smell the cage?

I've been told Multis don't smell at all.. so I'm just trying to work out if having a female fancy in with them will affect that too much or not?

Thanks


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

I doubt you would be able to smell a single female mouse at all, you probably wouldn't even be able to smell a pair. The smallest amount of mice I've had has been a pair of females and they didn't smell at all.

Rather than have different species in one cage (which can go horribly wrong), and since odour is obviously a big issue for you, have you considered having a pair or group of gerbils rather than mice? Gerbils have no odour at all and are very curious, tame and friendly. Every gerbil I've ever had has been a wonderful pet. I love my mice dearly but, as a pet, gerbils are far superior in my honest opinion!


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## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

Yea I had a pair of rescue gerbils a few years ago.. perhaps rescues weren't the best ones to get, but I always like to re-home an animal when possible.. but mine weren't that tame and always wanted to get away from me, rather than use me as a climbing frame.. also I love animals that climb and enjoy building interesting cage setups for them.. whereas gerbils kind of do all the building/digging for themselves!

I also have a fat tailed gerbil (duprasi) at the moment so they'd be a little too similar..

But yea I saw these girls that are already living together perfectly happily.. so i thought they might be a kind of best of both worlds solution..

I've read a lot about the successes of multis living with fancys.. has anyone else here had good or bad experiences??


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

It is very simple to have fancy mice and soft furred rats cohabitate.


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

I have most of my horde up-stairs and it's only when I have a fair few bucks around that I notice a huge amount of smell. I keep a pair of mice downstairs in the bedroom with us (they are in quarantine) and I can't smell them unless I stick my nose right in the cage. 
If you cleaned them out once a week I doubt you'd have any problems.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

tratallen said:


> Jathy said:
> 
> 
> > What are multis? :?
> ...


Oooh, I know them as Natals. Thanks!


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## Megzilla (Oct 12, 2009)

I have 2 groups of multis. Some of them are lovely and come up for tickles, but others will nip at any chance they get. I really wouldn't recommend keeping a fancy female on her own- just on a side note. If you were to keep them together, I say do it when both the multis and the fancy are young. Adult /subadult multis are territorial, as I have been told and have found out.


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## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

*Morning-Star* which bedding do you use for those two in your room? I know there are a lot of threads on it, but it's always difficult to know if people are having success with a bedding for 2 mice or 200!


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

Aubiose the same as the rest of the mice that are upstairs. -buy it in 20kg bags and its great for all the pets (mice, hamster and snakes) -it's really absorbent.


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## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

Thanks Morning star.. I'll have to see if I can find it locally, I have two horsey places near by so should be simple to find..


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## mouseman11 (Feb 18, 2010)

*Megzilla* I had actually seen some multis living with a female fancy up for re-homing, however I'd probably want to get multis whilst they are young to improve chances of making them tame. Do you breed yours? Have you noticed either sex are friendlier than the other?

Also is the general consensus that I definitely wouldn't smell a single female fancy after a week and even a pair would be ok? Even with housemates that have very sensitive noses?


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Your housemates may believe they smell them when they don't (know this from experience), but using a good absorbent bedding and a decent-sized cage, a pair shouldn't smell at all after a week. The only time my two-mouse tanks smell is when the water bottle somehow gets jostled and leaks all over the bedding.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Megzilla said:


> I have 2 groups of multis. Some of them are lovely and come up for tickles, but others will nip at any chance they get. I really wouldn't recommend keeping a fancy female on her own- just on a side note. If you were to keep them together, I say do it when both the multis and the fancy are young. Adult /subadult multis are territorial, as I have been told and have found out.


I wouldn't introduce a female ASF to a colony/single female mouse after both are adults, but male ASFs have no trouble being introduced in with female mice after they are adults.


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## Victoria (Aug 27, 2011)

All my mice live in various cages in my living room with me and I include one male (caged separately) in my colony. I clean them out every week (my boy twice a week) and I do not have any problems with smells at all. Hope this is helpful  Vicki


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

I don't know if it depends on the mice, or on the sensitivity of your nose, but I have three Siamese Satin girls, and they do smell, though not as much as a buck. I have to clean their cage out at least twice a week. To be fair, the mice themselves don't smell, it's their urine. I seem to have a doe who marks her territory in the same way that a male does!


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