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Old 08-02-2015, 07:00 AM   #1
charcobain
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Question Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

Hello guys! I have 2 female mice, both sisters who have lived together in my home for around 6 months now, today I'm planning on moving maybe one or two more females into their cage, I am collecting from the same breeder therefor as far as im aware they will also be related to my current mice! I was wondering if moving the newbies into their own cage for 24 hours and then introducing them in a neutral ground will be long enough, or do they need longer? Also, is it okay to introduce all 4 at once? Thank you!
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Old 08-02-2015, 07:54 AM   #2
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

Hi charcobain. It`s nice that your adult girls will have some newbies coming in, but yes, they do need introducing in a small, neutral area and the main cage will need emptying of toys and only scatter feed and add back accessories one at a time to avoid squabbling. If your cage is tall with levels, It`s not ideal, but if it`s all you have as their main home, they will probably settle at some stage depending on whether one of your existing adults decides to be boss and bully the others, which can happen.

What I used to do was this. If I already had two females happily living together, I didn`t bother upsetting them by adding more new females to the mix. What I done was, brought some younger females in as a safegurd, but gave them their OWN cage, sited a few inches away from the other mice. They can then get to smell and associate with one another without actually being in one another`s territory. The mice will climb the bars, sniff out the newbies next door and over the weeks, they look for each other. Or sometimes, don`t even notice they have neighbours!

If one of my females passed on through old age or illness, I would then introduce her to the other two mice, or even just another single female as I found this less stressful.

Introductions are best done in a small plastic tank or carrier, not a large space like a bath or anything that will overwhelm them or make them agitated. Sometimes they will bum sniff, squeak, chase and if your lucky, won`t have any real issues, but this has to be done usually early in the morning when the mice are awake, but ready to sleep, if you know what I mean. They usually curl up in their intro tank, but once they are moved into the main cage, things could turn, so the main thing is to find a small plastic tank they can stay in where they can bond over a few days. If when moved they start to squabble badly or one causes trouble, they should be placed back in the tub again until they settle down. It can go smoothly or badly, depending on the mice really.

But if your happy to house the newbies close by or keep them in a separate cage until such a time your left with a single female, that`s probably a good time to give her company, but you can just plonk them together and try keeping them all in a group. It just needs to be done in a small space and no toys or wheels to fight or argue over. x
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Old 08-02-2015, 08:01 AM   #3
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

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Hi charcobain. It`s nice that your adult girls will have some newbies coming in, but yes, they do need introducing in a small, neutral area and the main cage will need emptying of toys and only scatter feed and add back accessories one at a time to avoid squabbling. If your cage is tall with levels, It`s not ideal, but if it`s all you have as their main home, they will probably settle at some stage depending on whether one of your existing adults decides to be boss and bully the others, which can happen.

What I used to do was this. If I already had two females happily living together, I didn`t bother upsetting them by adding more new females to the mix. What I done was, brought some younger females in as a safegurd, but gave them their OWN cage, sited a few inches away from the other mice. They can then get to smell and associate with one another without actually being in one another`s territory. The mice will climb the bars, sniff out the newbies next door and over the weeks, they look for each other. Or sometimes, don`t even notice they have neighbours!

If one of my females passed on through old age or illness, I would then introduce her to the other two mice, or even just another single female as I found this less stressful.

Introductions are best done in a small plastic tank or carrier, not a large space like a bath or anything that will overwhelm them or make them agitated. Sometimes they will bum sniff, squeak, chase and if your lucky, won`t have any real issues, but this has to be done usually early in the morning when the mice are awake, but ready to sleep, if you know what I mean. They usually curl up in their intro tank, but once they are moved into the main cage, things could turn, so the main thing is to find a small plastic tank they can stay in where they can bond over a few days. If when moved they start to squabble badly or one causes trouble, they should be placed back in the tub again until they settle down. It can go smoothly or badly, depending on the mice really.

But if your happy to house the newbies close by or keep them in a separate cage until such a time your left with a single female, that`s probably a good time to give her company, but you can just plonk them together and try keeping them all in a group. It just needs to be done in a small space and no toys or wheels to fight or argue over. x
Thank you so much, I have the cage my mice are currently in, and i have a spare cage without levels, so I can keep the newbies in there and have them as neighbours so they can get associated! I think I will try introducing slowly but if it doesn't work out I'll leave them in their pairs.
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Old 08-02-2015, 08:50 AM   #4
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

Great idea. Sometimes female mouse introductions go really well and others don`t, so as you say, if they dislike one another and you find one or more are becoming stressed, it`s better not to rock the boat right now because stress like this can cause their health to suffer. I always say if something works, don`t try to fix it. having a few new mice is great though, they are addictive little pets! I miss mine but after I lost my last female, I just couldn't take the losses so went back to rehoming a single dwarf hamster and it`s suited me better. I`m a member of a mouse forum though and am keen to advise and help others who keep mice as I kept them for over ten years. x
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Old 08-02-2015, 09:33 AM   #5
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

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Great idea. Sometimes female mouse introductions go really well and others don`t, so as you say, if they dislike one another and you find one or more are becoming stressed, it`s better not to rock the boat right now because stress like this can cause their health to suffer. I always say if something works, don`t try to fix it. having a few new mice is great though, they are addictive little pets! I miss mine but after I lost my last female, I just couldn't take the losses so went back to rehoming a single dwarf hamster and it`s suited me better. I`m a member of a mouse forum though and am keen to advise and help others who keep mice as I kept them for over ten years. x
Im yet to lose a pet, and I'm dreading the day it comes. Well, my breeder responded and I'm picking them up later! So excited, I think before I introduce I may swap some of their toys over every couple of days too, so they get use to eachothers smell and aren't dived straight into unfamilar surroundings.
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Old 08-03-2015, 12:38 AM   #6
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

Let me know what you get? Are they baby mice or slightly older? x
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Old 08-03-2015, 05:43 AM   #7
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

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Let me know what you get? Are they baby mice or slightly older? x

I picked up three gorgeous girls this morning, they're all fancy mice, one is a champayne colour and the other two black. They're almost like, older baby mice if that makes sense, past the weaning stage but are still small and still growing. I'd never noticed how big my adult mice are until seeing these!
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Old 08-03-2015, 06:49 AM   #8
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

How sweet! I had a satin black female show mouse once called Lola and she was such a daft character with a whip-like tail! She was so cheeky but such a woos!! Sadly though, she died before she was a year old. She was a larger type mouse and my little mongrel pet shop mice lived far longer. x
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Old 08-06-2015, 08:52 AM   #9
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

I'm not sure how it's going at the minute, they've had time to meet on a neutral ground, theres a lot of nipping, tail rattling, squeaking and standing on hind legs, which i've heard are all normal, no blood shedding as of yet.. the dominant older mice seems to be picking on the younger ones, especially one of them who she really dislikes.. not sure what to do.
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Old 08-07-2015, 09:25 AM   #10
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Default Re: Introducing new mice to an establised colony?

I would do as I said earlier and keep them separated until such a time one loses her cage mate and try allowing them some time to settle in. Tail rattling is a warning. Chances are that the two older females are contented as they are. The last thing you want are bites/wounds on any of them. better to listen to what they are saying right now. x
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