Is it normal for two mice to scuffle when introduced?

[William]

As some of you know, I got a mouse a while ago..

and I finally got her a companion today, another female thats about half the original's size.



Now, their doing some chasing and scuffling, and I figure its to sort out the hirearchy of the nest, Who's big boss momma nad who'se suborninant.



Is this right? and it shouldn't get far beyond some chasing and tackling right?




How long should this last after introduction?

[Menagerie]

[acronym:de64ccc2c9="As far as I know"]AFAIK[/acronym:de64ccc2c9], rodents should be introduced slowly to each other. Granted, my knowledge is limited to gerbils and degus, but you would never allow them to stay together, until they nest together--the split cage method.

[Toirtis]

Menagerie is correct, and there is no guarantee that the two mice will ever gret along.

[William]

I changed the litter and cleaned the tank before introducing the new one.

Put nice new litter in, put the new mouse in and gave her a few moments, then put the older one in.


They had 3 slight scuffles, and all is fine.

They huddle up together in the little house, and peek their heads out cheek to cheek through the little openings.


Its so sugary cute that it would kill a diabetic.

[An t-iasg]

[acronym:49f74af1d4="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:49f74af1d4], glad to hear that the mice are getting along now! Do you have a pic?

[William]

They don't like to be out when the Camera's out.

I'll try to get a pic of them in my hand later tonight.

[QTOFFER]

Originally Posted by William

I changed the litter and cleaned the tank before introducing the new one.
Put nice new litter in, put the new mouse in and gave her a few moments, then put the older one in.

That's pretty much the best thing you could have done.
Some mouse breeders find that transfering their own body scent to both mice, or applying a small dab of vanilla extract to the bedding helps make introductions go smoother. This completely throws off their sense of 'what's mine' - kinda like rearranging the rocks in your cichlid tank!

Within a few days, they should establish a pecking order. Like fish, some dominant mice are more aggressive than others. Also like fish, having a small group of female mice tends to spread any aggression around, so that one individual doesn't suffer the brunt of it. It's very rare for females to wound each other when squabbling. However, the dominant female may chew off some of the submissive mouse's fur - an overzealous form of grooming called barbering. This is totally harmless, but disturbing to see. The fur will grow back eventually.

Originally Posted by William

Its so sugary cute that it would kill a diabetic.

And the pictures are...WHERE????

[William]

Originally Posted by QTOFFER

That's pretty much the best thing you could have done.
Some mouse breeders find that transfering their own body scent to both mice, or applying a small dab of vanilla extract to the bedding helps make introductions go smoother. This completely throws off their sense of 'what's mine' - kinda like rearranging the rocks in your cichlid tank!

Within a few days, they should establish a pecking order. Like fish, some dominant mice are more aggressive than others. Also like fish, having a small group of female mice tends to spread any aggression around, so that one individual doesn't suffer the brunt of it. It's very rare for females to wound each other when squabbling. However, the dominant female may chew off some of the submissive mouse's fur - an overzealous form of grooming called barbering. This is totally harmless, but disturbing to see. The fur will grow back eventually.

And the pictures are...WHERE????

I would do more mice, but I'm feeling guilty with just 2 of them in a 10gal [ even tho the pet store has 50 of them in a tank, with a half inch of bedding at most.]

and pics are gonna come when they stop running everytime they see the Camera, donno why they dislike it so much :-\

[William]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...=400251#400251


There are pics, Hope you guys appriciate it


I had to take almost 100 pics to finally get a clear!

Thank god I have digital camera