Alright, so Ruth is a deer mouse (genus: peromyscus) and her cagemate Sandy (a fancy mouse, mus musculus) had to be euthanized today so I guess I need to get a new companion for Ruth.
A little about Ruth: She is very tiny, only weighs about 15-20 grams, fast, and not tame at all. Deer mice have a need for higher protein diets than fancy mice, but we can mostly deal with that if necessary.
I would sorta like to avoid the fancy mouse route just because of the high prevalence of tumors in female fancy mice, and would also sorta like to avoid a male fancy mouse because of their smell. I can deal with either if necessary, but I want to see if their are other options besides smelly (to me) male fancy mice, or tumor prone female fancy mice. A slightly longer life span would also be nice since Ruth will likely live for 4-6 more years and changing companions every year will be pretty rough if it comes to that. It would also be nice to find a type of mouse that matched her more closely in diet, but again that's not really necessary.
So, what type of mouse should I get to be Ruth's companion?
Comments
No offense intended xelay, as it sounds like you've got things well in hand by the way, I just worry a little about people popping onto this thread - getting a snapshot of a situation - and thinking they can do it themselves without any research or backup!
Multimammate mice are I think the most social, but they are huge - so might be a bad match! Spinies are also very large, and not so social.
Are Zebra Mice/Striped grass mice an option where you are? I've kept a single male in with female fancies before and that worked very well. They have the longer lifespan you need and are a similar size to a fancy mouse.
That is, if getting another deer mouse isn't an option? Oh and if you can get pictures at any point I'd love to see her (or point me at the thread if I missed one!!) :D
Here's a quick picture of them. Ruth is in the pink wheel, the white baby mouse is in the blue, and the brown baby mouse is in between (there's a third wheel in there, but it's further to the right). The two new mice don't have names yet, I just have to come up with something that really fits.