Problem with pet mouse's eye?

Serena56 · 07-11-2015, 11:20 AM

So I woke up this morning to find that the area around my female mouse's left eye is a very light pink and her eye is slightly closed more than it should be. I don't think it's residue coming out of her eyes, but I'm not completely sure, it just looks kind of irritated. Her other eye is completely healthy looking and the fur around it is fine. I noticed about a week ago that she's been scratching more than normal but she doesn't have any hair loss or patches. What should I do about my mouse?

racinghamster · 07-13-2015, 12:59 AM

Hi Serena, are you in the UK? Eye issues can be tricky in mice and rodents but first you need to define whether her actual eye is the issue, or her eyelids. Is her eyeball swollen or watery or a different colour? Are her eyelids swollen or normal? Has she been scratching a lot at her eye or just washing it a lot?

Bathing the eye with water (boil the kettle and allow the water to cool right down to tepid) and pour some into a sterile dish. Pour boiling water over the dish to clean it before adding the water to it.

Wash your hands, use a clean cotton swab to wipe here eye from front to back gently. Use a magnifying glass to get a close up look at her eye. If it seems bad, I would see a vet right away for a diagnosis. If it`s mildy irritated, she may have got something in here eye. If it looks uncomfortable, I would see a vet.

How many mice do you have and how are they kept? x

Serena56 · 07-13-2015, 07:26 PM

Thanks for replying! No, I'm not from UK, I am from Canada. She is looking much better now even though it's only been around two days. Her eyeball is the same colour as always and she has her eye fully opened now. The skin area in front of her eye which concerned me is now less pink than before as well as less noticeable. I'm not sure if it was swelling or not. She doesn't wash her eyes just scratches it even though she's stopped itching as much now.

I have two mice. My white one which I have the eye concern for as well as a brown one with white spots. I've had them for about a year now and I keep them both in a tank at the corner of my bed.

racinghamster · 07-14-2015, 04:40 AM

Mice make lovely pets. I kept them for more than ten years. If you use any type of dusty substrate like wood shavings or worse, Carefresh, try and give them a good airing and a shake outside in an open bin or storage box to allow the scent to evaporate and any fine dust to blow out. Mice are highly prone to respiratory problems and they can get eye problems and mammary tumours. They are usually healthy within the first year but can be susceptible to illness after that time. Not all, but most.

Make sure they have good ventilation if kept in a tank. Jus use ripped up white toilet tissue for nesting. They love millet spray! x

Serena56 · 07-17-2015, 06:51 PM

My mouse's eye seems fine now but her scratching is continuous and I'm quite concerned. She scratches mainly on her head and has a particular spot that she always scratches on her side. That spot on her side has less hair than the rest of her body and her head area has turned into a pink colour at the top. I'm hoping that it's the new bedding that has her scratching and it will stop once I replace it but I really have no idea what's triggering it.

Do you know what I can do to help her?

racinghamster · 07-18-2015, 01:11 AM

Right, you have recently made a change to the bedding or substrate? Can you say more specifically what this is? Mice can suffer from stress mites, allergy and if they start to scratch to obsess, it can become severe, so the symptoms and behaviour you describe need addressing right now to try and reverse this.

1. What substrate are you using now and what were you using previously?
2. What nesting material do they use?
3. What diet are they fed on and has this changed recently or always been the same?
4. What age are the mice?

Come back to me when you can. x

Serena56 · 07-19-2015, 09:22 PM

1. I just changed my bedding to aspen shavings today; which is what my mice have previously always used. Before I was using pine shavings for about a week and a few days, which is around the time I noticed the constant scratching.

2.They use tissue paper as nesting.

3. They are fed on the hamster mix VitaSmart Complete Nutrition which is what I have fed them for the majority of their lives, the only exception being about 3 months on a different hamster mix. I changed back to VitaSmart around 2-3 weeks ago.

4. Both of my mice are about very close to exactly 1 year of age.

Its only been a couple of hours since I changed the bedding but she still seems to be scratching. I froze the bedding for a day and a half in advance before changing it so I don't think mites are a problem now nor was it before since I froze it for atleast a day with the pine shavings as well. My other mouse isn't scratching anything more than a healthy amount.

Thank you so much for helping me so far!

racinghamster · 07-20-2015, 12:41 AM

The thing with any shavings is, airing them out before they are used to reduce/eliminate the strong aroma they have straight from the bag. I place my shavings in an open bin a month before they are used and in that time, I shake them around, lift them with my hands and release any fine dust. It makes such a difference. Mice are not really good on wood shavings but I know in the US and Canada, it can be difficult to find other substrates that are better. Carefresh I wouldn`t use for mice as it has a tendency to make mice sneeze and itch even more.

The diet I`m not familiar with but if the mice enjoy it and maintain a good weight, then stick with that. Plain white toilet paper ripped up makes a nice bedding/nesting and you can see any stains like blood or runny poo appearing on the white paper too, so it alerts you to any issues.

Try and keep allergens to a minimum and if her itching starts to worsen or she cuts herself around the face/neck/shoulders, she may need a spot on mite treatment that is safe for use on mice. Is your other mouse scratching too or is she just grooming normally?

Mice can carry an itch gene that can be triggered by an allergy or contact with something. Obsessive scratching can begin and it can be a vicious cycle that need managing rather than curing sadly. Many mouse owners see this in their mice and try many avenues to alleviate it but to no avail.

White mice can be more susceptible but all mice can suffer from this OCD scratching once it triggers. x

Pebbles82 · 07-20-2015, 01:38 AM

The itch scratch cycle! If you have changed them back to Aspen and they've been fine on it before, maybe it will settle down. The sensitive area may settle now but the scratching doesn't always stop straight away after something itches. Is there anything that can help heal up allergic skin conditions RH? I'm just thinking of eczema in humans (which I had badly when I was younger). Something would set it off, but removing the allergen didn't heal it up, it took something to heal it up after it had been set off. I actually found something that worked as well as the horrible steroid creams and that was chickweed - miraculous. As boiling up a bunch of weeds from the garden was too much hassle I actually bought some chickweed ointment in the end from a herbal shop. I don't know if chickweed is ok for mice or not, but if it is you could maybe put a handful in the cage and she might roll in it.

I think Chickweed is ok for hamsters to eat, so it should be ok for mice (either to eat or roll in). I'm afraid I don't know much about mice but RH does. Also dandelion and nettle are detoxifiers so they might help (but I wouldn't put raw nettles in as they sting! Dried nettle herb might be ok).

This is what chickweed looks like. If you have a garden, you might have some as it is classed as a prolific weed! (So is Mint but that is also a herb) and it's a kind of 'runner' weed so it winds itself around everything and spreads all through flower beds. Obviously don't pick something if you aren't sure what it is though.

If you don't have a garden you could probably buy some in a pot.

Foraging for wild food and medicinal plants - Chickweed Plant Profile | Permaculture Magazine

racinghamster · 07-20-2015, 01:48 AM

That`s very interesting Serendipity about how you discovered Chickweed as a help for eczema. It`s something I will look into as I`m a member of a mouse forum and kept mice for a good number of years and I know how bad this itch cycle in mice can be. Thanks for that.

Will definitely do some research and discuss it with other mousers!

Just recently, I looked at vitamin E capsules to apply to the skin, but this too needs careful thought where small animals are concerned and could potentially be harmful, although vitamin e is soothing/healing, it may cause a reaction in animals, so as with all potential healers, it`s advisable to look at their toxicity before applying the practice. x