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Some questions about a run????

4K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  raisin 
#1 ·
OK so I have 2 males and now 2 females and 11 babies. I recently bought a female from a young man who was going to kill it, because it was really really sick! I think she had lice and she had breathing problems but I made sure I kept her cage clean and had fresh water, she is pretty much hairless because she was scratching so much, but I sprinkled DE on her and I think the lice are gone but the hair is also gone. Anyway she is the sweetest thing :)

So the problem I have is I have time for my animals but I don't always have enough time to hold the 2 males and the 2 females and the 11 babies every day for long enough ( I live on a farm and care for a lot of animals!) I usually hold each one for 4 minutes at the least but they are still really bored!
Since the most recent mouse I bought had lice I don't want her to get anywhere near any of my other mice, so the females are both living by themselves. The males are also living by themselves.

I was wondering if there is such a thing as making a run or something with lots of toys were I can put each one in it (other then the one who had lice) at different times? I am afraid of putting males in it and then putting a female with babies in it, because I have heard that the female will sometimes eat the babies if she wants to get bred again. So is that a good idea? And if it is a good idea how should I make the run?

Also I was wondering what do I do about the babies. Since I already have 2 males, what happens if half of the babies are males? I can't have 7 cages of males! So what would your suggestion be? Is it possible to sell them? Or would you just cull them? :cry:
 
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#2 ·
As long as your does have babies, they'll probably be fine interaction/fun wise. As to making a run for the mice to take turns in, I would not. Every time you send a male in there, it is going to mark like crazy, especially if it can smell the females that were in there before. And likewise you will put your females in heat more often, when you don't want it.

If stimulation is your worry, then I simply suggest keeping the mice in large enough quarters that you can put in a wheel or other toy, and swap out an item every couple of days to keep them engaged. Mine love toilet paper rolls, and egg cartons. They chew them down & make bedding, & hide under them for fun.

As to the males, if you can find individual pet homes, that's swell, however unlikely. I'd suggest culling, & seeing if there are any reptile keepers who would be interested in buying them.

What are your plans with the sickly/lice infested female?
 
#3 ·
I'm not sure. When I got her I could tell she was really sick and had lice or mites but since I treated her with DE she isn't scratching anymore. She doesn't have much hair but still looks healthy I am thinking if I just hold her a lot she will be fine without a companion. I am still giving her DE, I don't think she has lice or mites anymore, but I am not going to risk putting her in with my other female. The guy a bought her from said that she was like a bit over half a year old so she is getting old.
 
#4 ·
Mouse-Lover#17 said:
I'm not sure. When I got her I could tell she was really sick and had lice or mites but since I treated her with DE she isn't scratching anymore. She doesn't have much hair but still looks healthy I am thinking if I just hold her a lot she will be fine without a companion. I am still giving her DE, I don't think she has lice or mites anymore, but I am not going to risk putting her in with my other female. The guy a bought her from said that she was like a bit over half a year old so she is getting old.
Six months isn't old for a mouse! I don't know what DE is but is it similar to ivermectin? That should do the job if it's a parasite problem. If it's something different causing hair loss such as ringworm it can be treated with OTC athlete's foot cream as it contains a fungicide. Did you give antibiotics for the RI, or has that gone now?
 
#7 ·
When I let my mice out to play, I set up a bunch of toys on desk or bedside table, and just watch closely to make sure they don't fall off. When I'm done, I wipe poo/pee off the toys and spray/wipe the table with ammonia to clean it since I use the table for other things. Sometimes I will lay down newspaper to catch the pee/poo for a quicker cleanup. If you have it as a non-permanent set-up, it will be easy to clean in-between males/females. I let my male with an eye infection out to play too, but they don't share toys and I am very sure to clean after he's done.

They seem to have a good time up there. Occasionally I let one single male play with the females for a few minutes under VERY close supervision- just so they can have some mousey interaction. I wouldn't do that unless you know how they will react though. Two males in the area is of course a nono.
 
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