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Contents
- Can female mice live together?
- Can male mice live together?
- Is it possible to keep a male and a female together without having babies?
Can female mice live together?
Yes! Female mice are companion animals and love to be housed with each other. Females *usually* get along great together. I do not recommend housing any female by herself unless it is an extreme circumstance such as fighting (which is very rare). If introduced properly, females get along great with each other 99% of the time. Sisters are always easiest but not necessary. Also see the section on introducing mice.Can male mice live together?
In the US, males can rarely be housed together but most times they can't. Males that have been in contact with a female have a lot less of a chance to be housed together successfully. Males compete for females and if they smell one (even in the next room or on your hands from a previous handling) they may get aggressive to their tank mates. Males in other countries can sometimes be housed together. The main reason they can and US males can't is because mice in other countries have been domesticated longer. Some countries have had domestic mice for a century or more than the US. Evolution is a big factor in taking the "nature" out of the mouse. Selective breeding helps as well. Males in the US are not inferior to males in other countries. They have just had domestic mice longer, in turn the mice have become more domesticated. Males in the US will generally fight to the death, even littermates. This can happen from 4 weeks of age and beyond. Many people have tried to house their bucks together and 99.99% of the time it has resulted in death or serious injury. Most times the death or injury happens without any warning what so ever. The bucks will be perfectly fine with each other and one day one or more are dead. Even with the closest supervision when housing males together is a huge risk. When there actually is a warning that fighting is occurring, taking out the alpha male isn't always going to improve the situation. Once fighting starts, it snowballs. Taking the alpha male out only opens up the Alpha slot to another mouse in the pecking order. Without the alpha, another takes his place and starts to fight with all the other bucks. It's a never ending chain of events until all bucks are either separated or dead. This is only nature, as sad or inconvenient as it may be. Housing bucks alone is the safest way to do things. A solo male will be perfectly happy with toys and TLC from his caregiver.A novice should NEVER attempt to house bucks together. If you are very experienced with mice and know your lines well, I feel that the key to keeping bucks together is giving them just enough space for them to be comfortable and no more. This is contrary to what most other sites out there recommend. I have found from not only my own experience but also lab reports that it helps to have LESS space, not more space. Giving them a lot of space often results in them claiming their own territory among that space. Then when their tank mate goes into that space they fight terribly. By giving them limited space they are forced to share. Also stick with using the same bedding. Bedding changes will cause new smells which can result in the bucks fighting, even though the bedding is the only thing that has changed. I also recommend leaving a little bit of their nesting material with them after cleaning their tank. Nesting material is generally the cleanest and smells like they do. It also helps if the bucks can't smell other mice. Smelling other bucks or does can cause fighting.
Is it possible to keep a male and a female together without having babies?
In some cases it is possible to house a male and female together without her conceiving. It is possible to neuter a mouse. I don't recommend it though. But if it's something you are considering then please read the section of my web site that discusses neutering mice. Be aware though, neutering mice doesn't always do the trick. Sometimes male mice just plain don't get along with any mouse, even females (though it is rare for a buck not to get long with a doe). What sometimes happens is that the male still wants to breed even after being neutered and the female doesn't want anything to do with him. This will cause a fight. But if you want to keep a male with a female then neutering is the safest way.Don't ever assume that you have mice that are too old to breed. Mice can produce babies their entire lives! It might take longer for the doe to get pregnant, but given time and she will. This can prove deadly to not only the babies but the mother.
On a rare occasion it is possible to house an infertile mouse with another of the opposite sex. I've been able to do this on a rare occasion. Keep in mind that nothing is a guarantee. If a female just happens to get pregnant by some miracle then it will more than likely kill her if she is too old. This is a risk that is better off not taken.
Last updated: 6/10/2007 3:53 PM CST
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