I just bought a male mouse today from the pet store and brought him home in a brand new cage.
I am interested in getting a second mouse now to keep my first mouse company so that he is not lonely. Naturally I figured that it would be a better idea to get a second male mouse to prevent the possibility of mating, however I have heard that male mice can have a tendency to fight when kept together in the same cage, unless they have been together since birth. Is this true?
Also, even if I was to return to the same pet store tomorrow to get a second male mouse from the same cage I had originally found him in, would he remember and/or recognize this mouse since he has now spent one night alone at his new home?
Or would it be better all together to not get him a companion?
Thank you!
Unfortunately he wouldn't now recognise any of his littermates, they forget very quickly. Male mice are very territorial and will fight quite viciously, it can be possible to keep more than one together in a group but its very tricky - you have to get a cage big enough to keep them happy, but not big enough that they think they can each 'own' a section of it. You also have to do partial cleanouts rather than full ones so that some of the bedding/substrate always smells of them both - and you'd have to have an extra cage spare just in case they do fall out in the future.
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A better option if you wanted your mouse to have company would be to get him neutered, and get him a few girls to keep him company (allowing 6 weeks after neutering to avoid pregnancy risks!). However, you do need an experienced and trustworthy vet to do this, and as its a relatively new practice these can be hard to find and like any surgery, there is the chance your little guy wouldn't survive it. I had a neutered boy called Drew and he was a lovely mouse, lived to about 18 months - which wasn't bad going considering he came from a pretty bad rescue case!
Male mice can be kept alright on their own (unlike the girls), as long as you make sure he has plenty to do and gets time out of his cage - there are some suggestions here
http://www.crittery.co.uk/enrich.php and an example of a good cage layout here
http://www.crittery.co.uk/mice_env.php (though thats a cage that fits up to 9 mice). Single male mice do actually bond to their owners quite well so as long as you give him lots of attention he should be happy on his own.
Would be best to get him another mouse from the same cage, they would certainly recognize each other. As long as they are younger, if they are past 5 months old, you MIGHT have problems with the dominance issue. But if he under the month mark you'll be okay. That's a great idea. Hope this helps !=)
I've never had males fight before. I did, however, buy 2 females from the same cage at the store, brought them home and that night they were fighting. In the end I only kept one who was happy to be by herself. Though she did like to help foster the babies and she didn't care if they were rats, mice or hamster babies. It really depends on the mouse and the amount of time you have to spend with your mouse. Some rodents like to be alone and get all your attention. If it seems like your little guy s lonely then you should get him a friend but until then I would hold off on the friend buying right now. He my be the type who doesn ' t like to share his human.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Good Luck!
