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In this Discussion
- Alison December 2015
- AnnB March 2016
- kyrilliondaemon September 2015
- Nicky October 2015
- racingmouse December 2015
- supamouse87 March 2016
- zany_toon December 2015
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Any advice on keeping 2 males together?
supamouse87
Mouse
in Behaviour
I'm the owner of sweet little Butch from primrose mouse rescue.
Im adopting a hairless baby that was born at the rescue, also takin one of his furry brothers, there's 2 baby's left now.... They are gonna be in the ferplast duna multy till any squabbling happens, I had 3 males from same litter before n all had to be parted due to squabbling, I know it's unlikely for males to get on but is there anything I can do to help minimise fighting?
I'm havin the one at the front in the pic and the hairless one
Im adopting a hairless baby that was born at the rescue, also takin one of his furry brothers, there's 2 baby's left now.... They are gonna be in the ferplast duna multy till any squabbling happens, I had 3 males from same litter before n all had to be parted due to squabbling, I know it's unlikely for males to get on but is there anything I can do to help minimise fighting?
I'm havin the one at the front in the pic and the hairless one
received_1599475863650641.jpeg
960 x 574 - 77K
Comments
A pair of brothers will live together for a time before their hormones kick in usually but I did have two black & tan brothers who adored one another but sadly, they both took acutely ill and died one after the other. :( They were very sweet lads too.
All I can suggest supamouse is what I would do. When you get them from the rescue, keep the substrate or bedding they are kept on, transfer this into the carrier with them and put everything into the Multi cage which should be all set up for them to move into. Don`t have any shelves in the cage as a shelf can cause them to squabble. It`s the same with dwarf hamsters kept in pairs.
Once in, NEVER do whole cage cleans. I know that sounds mad with smelly male mice, but there is good reason behind it. Half cage cleans, spot cleans and wipe downs mean their scent will always remain inside their habitat, their `domain`. The danger of making too many changes with males can unsettle their dynamics, so always do as little as possible but at the same time, use just wetted kitchen towel to wipe the cage sides down and any accessories, only clean one at a time. Their scent means a lot to them. Obviously as the months go on and the lads are getting along well, you could perhaps do a little more, but at the beginning, it makes sense to leave things alone and let the brothers settle in, pee their scent around and let them decide who is dominant/subordinate. They should be fine together at least for a while if rules are kept.
I love male mice. I had my fair share of them and then due to the separations and the time spent with them individually, I moved on to keeping female mice only. It came as a bit of a relief in many ways as the girls were not so `hands on` in terms of playtimes or attention seeking because they had each other for that.
Hairless mice are known to have some health problems so do bare that in mind. I had a hairless female called Ruby and she was a shy little thing but sweet. She darted around more then the other mice! But she also started having epileptic fits. Hairless mice don`t have the same heat retention as their coated siblings, so make sure they have plenty of nesting. x
Er... The only times I've tried keeping unneutered males together it didn't work out, but if you're prepared for all four falling out then it could be worth a go :) When we got males we got them together so let them stay together, didn't last long but it was nice while it did. I know Alison (on this forum) had a lot more success than I did with keeping males together
Our pair lasted a month or two I think but they fell out when they started to grow up more, our four did the same. The five only lasted a week or two before we had to split them to a pair and trio, then it wasn't too long before all five were single but they had been through loads of stress in the recent past (including us separating them from the group of females they arrived with) so its not surprising that they ended up falling out.
It`s so tempting to take on four brothers. I started out keeping mice with four baby brothers. Two ended up living together in a Pennine Rat starter cage and the other two (Chalky and Oddy) hated one another! So they were split. I agree with kyrill about the cage size though for a pair. It`s not easy to say how they will get on in a larger tank but obviously, you want them to have space and plenty to do. With males though it`s more a case of tough love sometimes to keep the harmony between them. My four males all started out in a Pennine Rat starter cage. This is a barred cage with a half upper level. This may have caused them to have too much height and an area to claim. So a single floored cage like the Multi should help with that.
What you could do if you really do want the other two brothers, is take all four, keep them in the Multi and then if trouble flares later on, you could always split them up into pairs or singles and use Ferplast Duna tanks or similar set up`s? Your a brave soul though taking on four! But hey, you know what the outcome might be and if your prepared for that, then I don`t see why not. x
Sounds good supamouse and it would be a shame to leave the other two brothers if you feel you can offer them a good home and company until such a time (if ever) they decide to fall out. Follow the guidelines I posted about spot cleaning and not interfering too much and always keep them together, even for vet visits if necessary.
I`m not totally against neutering, but I would rather take the cowards way out and let the mice decide what they want. It`s fair to say neutering allows a male to have female and sometimes male company, but there are the risks involved too. Given your males genetics, I would be leaving things to fate too. x