QUESTION 1: Is it common that female mice fight?
ANSWER: No. If they do: never breed from them!
QUESTION 2: Is it common that male mice fight?
ANSWER: Yes, but it depends on where you bought them. Some breeders breed non-aggressive male mice. These are perfect pets.
About MALE AGGRESSION: Male mice can be aggressive towards eachother, just like male-aggression in dogs. Some breeds are severely aggressive towards all other males, and some breeds are quite happy with other males and never fight. You may happen to get the aggressive kind of mice if you do not strongly consider this issue when buying mice. (Snakefood mice don't have to be more aggressive than other mice.) Most pet mice in Sweden are bred to be non-aggressive towards other males.
I strongly recommend only to breed from mice that show as little male aggression as possible, so that you can keep your males together without any fighting or injuries.
If your male mice are so aggressive that they fight and hurt eachother you can help them by separate them into one mouse per cage and putting their cages close, so they can see and smell eachother all the time for company. Of course you have to use cages with sides that they can see through!
QUESTION 3: How do I introduce mice?
ANSWER: If you already own a mouse and just bought a new one, and you want these to live together: Clean out the cage and food bowls and everything inside and outside. Throw away everything that cannot be cleaned (like paper toys). Let the mice meet outside the cage first. If they seem to like eachother, then you can put them into the cage, with lots of food.
Nice females should be possible to just put in the cage together with food, no cleaning. Males are harder to introduce.
QUESTION 4: What do my mouse say when she is rattling her tail?
ANSWER: This is a strong warning signal.
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 11th of August 2006.