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Post by bluedove on Apr 28, 2009 14:11:15 GMT -5
I've had these mice for a month now and I'm having some issues with handling them...
They are just so skittish! I've been trying to get them used to my hand by just gently stroking their backs, but it doesn't seem to be having much effect. They still run from my hand and will struggle if I try to lift them.
I was worried about them biting me, so I was using my winter gloves at first to try and handle them, but that backfired. I don't have good control with the glove on and it also provided good traction for them to cling to my hand, thus making it hard for me to get them off and back in the cage without hurting them.
I'm worried about the rather rough manner I have to use to be able to get a hold of them... I think it may have already caused one female to reabsorb her litter. I've stopped handling them for right now to prevent this again, but I really need to be able to handle them so I can look them over and make sure they are healthy... one of my females is rounding out again and has a weird dark mark on her side where it looks like her fur is missing and maybe bruised or something...
Any tips on how to deal with skittish mice? I know part of my issue is worrying they will bite. I got Daisy (our hamster) through a nasty biting phase, but I'm just not willing to subject my fingers to that kind of abuse for feeder mice.
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Post by harrisi on Apr 28, 2009 15:01:53 GMT -5
Hold the base of the mouses tail between your thumb and forefinger, lift up so the mouse if lifted onto your hand and keep hold of the tail. Try hand feeding, aswell. You can get tiny pieces (and I mean tiny) of cooked meat and feed that to them by hand. They will soon learn your no threat and also handle babies at a day old. All you have to do is put your handle into the nest and shuffle them about a bit, get them used to being held in a closed hand (don't worry about smothering them, they have an anti-smothering mechagnism) and having their backs stroken etc.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 29, 2009 0:49:26 GMT -5
Ok... I read that lifting pregnant females by their tail is VERY stressful and apt to make them lose the litter. Also read that you can strip the flesh right off the bone by handling them by the tail.
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Post by harrisi on Apr 29, 2009 6:19:37 GMT -5
Yeah, that was explained bad. You dont actually lift them totally up by the tail, you sorta have to hold the base of the tail, lift up the back legs and scoop under the mouse. The likely hood of the skin stripping from the tail is extremely slim unless there is already a cut down to the bone on the tail and it should always be lifted by the base.
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Post by goingpostal on Apr 29, 2009 6:21:27 GMT -5
Mine aren't overly friendly, they run from my hand but I usually just wait until they run in a toilet paper tube and grab that, then let them walk onto my hand. On mice forums they said not to hand feed them because they might start biting thinking you are a food dispenser. Your best bet is massively handle the babies so the next generation will be friendly and just pick up and pet the adults daily, they will get used to it. I don't mess with heavily pregnant ones. I haven't got bit yet either but it can't be as bad as a ferret bite.
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Post by bluedove on Apr 30, 2009 2:41:24 GMT -5
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I finally got brave enough to just go in there bare handed and managed to gently scoop each of them up... and it went well. I used my hand to guide them into a plastic cup when I couldn't manage to scoop them with just my hand.
I think I really might have a preggo finally... but weirdness, I can't seem to identify my male mouse anymore. His scrotal sack was quite obvious when I first combined him with the females, but now I can hardly figure out which one is him. Last time I was only able to identify him by process of elimination as I could see nipples on the females.
Also, I suspect that my male and non-preggo female may be ill. They are not showing serious symptoms like the female that I had to cull due to URI, but they are much smaller and less active than the other potentially preggo female. Do I need to get her out of there before she births? If they are sick, will they be likely to kill her offspring? Or something else I'm not considering?
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Post by harrisi on Apr 30, 2009 3:42:10 GMT -5
Well done! Males will often pull their testes up into their body if they get a bit nervous. =] I would leave them in the tank, them being ill will have no effects on them killing the babies. Just keep a close eye on them and maybe give them a bit porridge (instant is fine, just make sure it is left to absorb the water for a while and make it watery) with sugar in to boost their energy.
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