About Jess Expertise I can answer questions about most species of rodents. I will answer any questions about health, husbandry and welfare. I can also give advise about behaviour problems, how to overcome these and ways of enriching the life of your pet. I can help with those wanting advice about house rabbits.
Experience I have experience with rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, hamsters and chincillas.
Education/Credentials I am qualified in animal management, I work as a veterinary nurse.
Question i have two rescued feeder mice. my albino mouse Ivory, has been making this really weird noise a lot. im pretty sure shes a girl so i didnt think it was a mateing call. but then i started wondering if she was coughing or sneezing or somthing. when i was watching her i almost thought she was weasing too. for that reason i took her out of the bigger tank and put her in a seperate tank so in case of illness it wouldnt spread to my black mouse Venus. other than that there doesent seem to be anything wrong with her.she is grooming her self and im pretty sure shes eating. her original cage had pine bedding but now she is on shreded toilet paper. i love her a lot and i dont like seeing her like this! please help! thanks, Jackie, Ivory, and Venus.
Answer You should put the mice back together. Seperating mice during an illness can make it a lot worse and can be very stressful for them and stress makes illness worse. It sounds like they have respiratory problems which can be treated with antibiotics from a vet. They arent expensive but they may have these problems their whole life because they are probably very badly bred if they are for snake food. Its good that you have got them off the pine bedding as that can be a factor. The best thing to do would be to put them back together and get them both treated, as even if Venus is showing no signs, she may do sooner or later. If you vet thinks she doesn't need treated then that's fine. Keep in mind that they may need to go to the vets often as they may have repeated respiratory infections. Petshop rats and mice often suffer these awful infections which can be fatal if left untreated. Really the only way to avoid this is to try and find healthy mice from a caring breeder who doesnt inbreed them. Its nice to rescue feeders but really they will just be replaced by two more mice as people will still want more mice to feed their snakes with. The best way to get petshops to stop telling feeders is to complain, as long as the feeders are selling, they will keep on selling them. Please complain to them and tell them you wont buy from the store again for as long as they are selling feeders. You love your mice, and each of those feeders would have a personality and deserve not to suffer. Those with reptiles should feed frozen, its safer for the snakes and more humane for the mice. Good luck with your girls!
