Which of my 2 female mice is likely the "boss"?

Question

Just out of curiosity, I am wondering how you tell which mouse takes the dominant role when you have two. I had one female mouse for about a month and just introduced a new female yesterday. They tolerate each other and even sleep together now but they still squeak a bit. I've heard this means they are sorting out the "pecking" order and was wondering if that means one takes on the roll of "boss" in their cage and how to tell. The original mouse seems to be doing most of the squeaking when the other one approaches or gets too close. What does that mean?

Answer 1

It doesn't always mean there will be a "dominant" one.often in rodents they are equal well it is with mine,sometimes they will squeak when one of the mice tries to get a seed the other one is eating,if that makes sense.Or to say,leave me alone,my gerbils that have basically been together since birth do this sometimes. In one large tank i have 5 female gerbils,4 of them are sisters & cousins & the youngest of them is one of the gerbils daughter.And i haven't noticed a "pecking order" as such,occasionally they squeak or bicker at each other,but that's the most it comes to. Or it can be it seems in your first mouse's case,she is saying "back off" to the new one,often they will sleep together & generally be together but will sometimes feel the new mouse has approached too quick. So the answer to your question,is that i don't think,in my knowledge of rodents/rabbits that they have a "pecking order" & don't worry about the squeaking,them cuddling together is a very sign of them bonding,if they really didn't like each other they wouldn't do this.

Hope this has answered your question. x*x

Answer 2

Probably the bigger one or more mean one. Which ever starts more fights.

Answer 3

If you're still hearing a lot of squeaking - they're probably both dominant  personalities and can't decide who's boss yet.  I'd say the older mouse is letting the newbie know "this is mine, this is my stuff, this is my spot".

Its hard for a human to tell, but possession of new food is a good way to see.  Which one gets a single treat - and gets to keep it.  But you may just encourage a fight.

If one was more submissive than the other, they'd quiet down pretty quick.

As the new mouse gets older and bolder, they may switch roles - so you can expect more squawking from time to time.

I used to have 4 female mice together and they fought and tussled a lot.  But nothing bad ever happened.