Two male Mice?? Female??

Question

Two days ago, I bought two male mice. One kept biting the other, so i returned the one thst was being bitten.The store i got them from was a petsmart. I tryed to get another mouse but they were all out and they wouldnt get anymore for a month. I called other petsmarts and found out that the ones that sell mice only sell females. I am worried that even if i wait to get another male, he might continue to be agressive regardless. Should i return him and get two fermales? Or should i wait and get another male?

Answer 1

If you arent attatched to your male mouse and you would prefer females then go ahead. Mice, unlike rats, are fine when alone and dont get too lonely as long as they have entertainment. It is possible that he would still be agrssive so you must be careful of how you introduce them if you choose that path. It deffinently depends on your personal preference.

If you returned your male and got two female mice that would be fine as long as you arent already attatched to your male!

Answer 2

Too lazy to type this all out, but yes, 2 females is what you want since not only are they much less likely to fight, but they don't smell nearly as bad as the males do when the scent mark.

Answer 3

two males will fight two females might fight but do not get one of each if you dont want hundreds of mice.

Answer 4

Generally speaking mice are a social species and should be housed in pairs or groups.

Females are usually no problem - if you acquire them at the same time you'll have no problems, and they are fairly easy to introduce.

Males however are more territorial and difficult to keep together. Generally speaking, they need much more space than females to live happily together, and do not do well in large groups. There is some evidence to suggest that the optimum number of males per cage is actually 3.

Introducing new males is far more difficult and should be attempted only with great care. The longer your mouse lives alone the harder it will be for him to accept a new companion.

It may be possible to have your male neutered by an experienced vet, so that he may have a female companion - although this is likely to be expensive and you may have trouble finding a vet willing to do it. Obviously please do not house an entire male with females as you will end up with a dozen pups every three weeks!

It would be a shame to return him now that you have him. You can of course get a pair of females - but you would need to keep them in a totally separate cage and not let them together at all.

If you do end up keeping your mouse alone you can alleviate at least some of the stress caused by isolation, by providing him with the absolute best possible environment (large cage, plenty of toys etc).

For some great info on mice check out this website. It has some great info on housing male mice....

http://www.allaboutmice.co.uk/info

Answer 5

Two females is the key.

I don't think you're planning on breeding, so a female and a male isn't the solution.

Two males fight. Same with rabbits and guineapigs.

I'd return your male mouse & get two female. That usually works!

Answer 6

i would have returned the mean one my self but if you want two i would get 2 female not 2 male or not 1 each cause then you will get babies.

Answer 7

well if you get two females and keep the male the females will kill each other fighting over the male but i think you should get one female and keep the male they can breed  and if they do you could sell the babies and you got easy money.

Answer 8

Male mice are usually very territorial. It's usually best to keep them by themselves. Most of the time, they only get along if it's two brothers who have been raised together, and even then they might fight.

But females usually get along with each other with no problems.

Or you could get another male and have one of them neutered.

I would suggest just keeping the one male you have. Make sure you give him plenty of things to do, like a running wheel and toys.

Answer 9

I agree with the poster who directed you to the web site about keeping male mice together BUT, I have to add, that site is a .uk site, which means it's in the UK.  Mice in the UK have been selectively bred for about 100 years more than in the U.S., which means what, 300 extra generations?  There are some differences in size, "type", and more important here, temperament that have been selected for.  It is much more common for male mice bred in the UK to get along than the ones we have in the U.S.  Male mice in the U.S. will usually fight to the death unless they grew up together and were never separated even for an hour.  Even then, it can go bad overnight.

If you want 2 mice, return him and get two females, but assume he'll be snake food.  It's just fine to keep your one male though--just don't bother trying to find him a friend, you'll have to be his friend.

Answer 10

Male mice can be hard to introduce. You made a mistake in returning the mouse that was being bitten - he wasn't causing the problem, the aggressive biter was! Keep him, and keep him alone. He'll be better off on his own, since if you try to introduce another male, he'll just bully him the way he did with the other one. He'll also be better off on his own than if he's returned to the pet store, since he might just end up as snake food.

ETA: As for him being lonely - well, yes, mice are generally social. However, if you return him to the pet store, he won't be any better off. They'll either just stick him in a cage with other mice that he'll either impregnate or fight with, or they'll use him as a feeder. I've had large numbers of mice at one time, and I've usually had success keeping my males in groups. Sometimes with a particularly aggressive male, I'd keep him alone - and he'd be fine. It's much more stressful for them to be constantly fighting over territory than it is for them to be alone.