[Maplewood Stud]

heya,
as a few of u know i had to separate rusty and smokey about 2 weeks ago as they had a bit of a scrap that i believe resulted in rustys ear being torn. anyway they're both ok now and living on their own in separate cages.
in their cage (still the crittertrail y) they have a wheel, lots of twigs to gnaw and run along, loo rolls both on the floor and hung from the twigs to run through, they have a twiggies ball each where i sometimes hide treats or they are able to sleep and they have plenty of toys such as string balls they can pick up as well as balls with bells in that they like to roll along the floor.
as well as this i hang treats up for them such as pieces of vegetable or cheerios i tie on a string and then i hang in different places so they have to climb or be clever to get to.
they have all this as well as coming out for a few hours a day for a run on the sofa, a cuddle and a run round our lounge floor in a ball.

can someone please explain to me what i must be doing wrong as they both look so bored and spend most of their time looking through the bubble ends of the cage at each other, i know they miss each other, but what can i do as they wont go back together without one of them getting seriously hurt.

is it definitely because they're missing each other, or am i just crap at setting up cages?

please help x

 

[Angelmouse]

I would say they miss the company of each other, I mean how can they be bored your cages sound very full of fun! There isnt anything you can do apart from move the cages away from each other so the mice can not see each other. They will get used to being on their own and it sounds like they have plenty of time out of their cages so get plenty of attention. Its nothing to do with what your doing its just them

 

[Maplewood Stud]

ok, do u think it will be ok to move them away from each other,... as they do still play with each other when theyre out its just living together theyre not happy with x

 

[Angelmouse]

Really they still play with each other with out fighting? perhaps thats the problem if they get to play together then they will miss each other when apart, if they dont get to spend time with one another then they will forget. Difficult I know! other than that I dont know, sorry.

 

[Maplewood Stud]

well this is their cages atm

and this is them playing when theyre out of their main cages, right before they had a fight..

it doesnt make any sense.... :?

 

[Cait]

Those cages are quite small. I can see that you are trying to give them lots to do but there just isn't much floor space for you to do so. If you really want to give them company you could consider getting them both neutered and giving them a doe each.

 

[Maplewood Stud]

i understand what ur saying, but i wouldnt get them neutered as u hear so many stories that it changes the mice, i dont want that! ive got 2 lovely and otherwise happy meeces...plus atm i just havnt got the money to do it, especially seeing as the local petshop i use has put its prices up - £5 something now for a small bag of carefresh :shock:
as for the cage thing, i think i might do what i did before... taking the tube with the top bedding out and have the big twigs running through the cage with their bed and tubes hung of it... they had loads of room when i did that...
the one thing i need to figure out is, should i do what angelmouse said and stop them playing and seeing each other all together :hurted , i dont really want to but if it will help them out? x

 

[Angelmouse]

All you can do is try differant things

 

[Maplewood Stud]

yeah i think im gonna have to, i dont really wanna move them apart because i know they fight and this is probably gonna sound childish but they do love each other, when they come out to play they wash each other and run around playing... its just being in a cage together they cant handle...but at least if i keep their cages together and they still come out to play, they both still have social contact with another mouse? right? :?
as for the cages like i said ill have a sort out tommorow (clean out day) and go and get them a big branch off the cherry tree like i did before and just make their cages have more room by taking gold some of the older stuff they dont play with

 

[Angelmouse]

If its down to them living together that they cant handle it maybe down to space.....the cage you have is rather small and even linking them together isnt going to give them anymore room really and they are probably fighting over space, I know its a pain but maybe try getting hold of a large cage or tank to try and see if they get on better with more space, you can pick up some quite cheap or even free on some internet sites like Preloved or try freecycle. I mean if they are getting on when out then it would indicate to me that they need more space to be able to live in harmony with one another. Just an idea.

 

[Maplewood Stud]

i have tried it, my dad used to have loads of malawi cichlid fish so weve got a spare (2ft tank i think it is) in case any of the female fish have babies and need to be taken out... my dad let me borrow this to try it out, i cleaned it out and put some carefresh in the bottom and put a few loo rolls in - i even got my dad to sand thier wooden house down with some sand paper so it was as new.... i had them out playing then got them in my hands and put them in at exactly the same time.... within minutes thier was tail thumping and they were rolling round in a ball.... luckily noone was hurt as i managed to get a flattened loo roll tube between them...i took them both out and put them back in thier old cages.
this was a few days after thier first scrap, first as suggested by marnie i had joined the cages together, that didnt work either

 

[SarahC]

you won't ever be able to let them live together,no matter how big the cage.Don't waste your time fretting about it,just accept it.You have provided a decent set up I think but no matter what ,they are all little prisoners if we're honest with our selves.We've removed the stress of predators,searching for food,rearing a family.Lifes bound to be a little dull.Nothing to be done about that,focus on the good things you're giving them and how much better off your mice are than some less fortunate individuals.

 

[Maplewood Stud]

thanks sarah uve made me feel a whole lot better
i think ill change thier cages as i said in a previous post so that they have the more room and ill keep providing them with treats and toys etc, and do the best i can to play with them when they come out...
i dont think ill stop them seeing each other, but maybe it would be better if it wasnt everyday..

thanks for ur help everyone x

 

[sarahh]

I think it was a case of they were getting on top of each other in a small cage. Mice love to explore and have new things. I have my mice in Savic Rodys and they love them also have a gabber rex which will come back into use when our babies get bigger.

Neuturing yes it can be done and no it wouldn't change the mouse alot of people including us have had rabbits, cats and our dogs spayed/neutured and it didn't change them at all infact it change the rabbits for the better.
If you do decide to get your mice neutured find a good vet that has done it before knows his stuff on mice you don't want to end up like us if you got a female we have 5 litters thanks to the vet not neuturing our male mouse correctly.