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AnonyMouse
10/07/2005
21:30:04
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 Subject: another (new) mate?
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Message:
Hi Paul,
I have previously posted on the Muzzy Mouse site (my der mouse Stuart was pictured on the home page lying on my hand on his back...)but I thought that for this question you might be a better resource.
Recently Pennie, Stuart's mate (black tan fancy female) passed away due to a long illness - she was getting older and eventually her heart gave up. Both Stu and I loved Pen very much - he refused to leave her side during the last week he was alive exept when I was holding her - and he is now understandably depressed. He's gotten a tiny bit better in the last 3 days but had been refusing to run /play and has been hiding her favorite foods (which he would normally eat as well).
Since Stu is just over a year and may yet live quite a while, he will need a new mate. I was wondering if you had any info about introducing a new mate to an animal that has already had one as opposed to simply introducing the first. Also, how long should I wait to indroduce a new female? It has now been 10 days and I hate leaving him alone (though i do hold him for at least a couple hours a day) but don't know if he needs the time to get used to losing Pennie or if it's just making him more depressed.
I bought him a new 60 gal aquarium and new toys and since he's been in that he's been a bit brighter (distracted) but he still wants to sit on my hand all day and groom me - which I love but it makes it hard to get anything done...He's incredibly tame and loved Pennie from the start (never even a squeek from either of them - he just went over and started cleaning her and that was that)so he might be ok this time too but since you have more experience in this area I hoped you might have some insight that had not occurred to me.
Thanks,
S
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paul
AnonyMouse
10/08/2005
12:52:49
| RE: another (new) mate?
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Message:
I'm sorry to hear about Pennie. I remember Stuart's picture on Muzzy Mouse. He looks like a great mouse.
My experiance is that deer mice both do better with a companion and they often remember their old companions. My first deer mouse, Marina (male), lived alone for a couple of years in the beginning. This was a mistake, but I was just learning. I finally got him a companion of a male house mouse, Morgan. After an extended introduction they became great friends until Morgan passed away suddenly. Marina was clearly upset. I think he was both upset at the loss of his friend, and at the prospect of being alone again. Fortunately I had just aquirred a female deer mouse, Squeek, that I planned to mate with him. When I put them together, Marina seemed to completely forget about Morgan. Of course Morgan was a male house mouse and Squeek was a female deer mouse so I can't hold that against him.
I've found that most deer mice do better with a companion and I think it would be good to get Stuart a new companion. That doesn't mean he will forget Pennie, but you may be able to fill the hole that her loss has left.
paul
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S
AnonyMouse
10/08/2005
14:57:29
| RE: another (new) mate?
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Message:
Hi Paul, thanks for the quick reply - that's pretty much what I'd figured, I just wanted to be sure that it was possible for a deer mouse to accept a new mate as an adult. I was planning to try either way, knowing how docile and needy Stu is, but do feel better knowing you've had success with this. Since I was the first thing he ever saw or heard and heard and spent almost the entire first month of his life on my hand/in my sleeve, he never seems sure if he's a wild mouse or a lap dog...he definitely needs a mate somehow because I know he won't do well without someone to fuss over.
I will likely go and find a mate for him on Tuesday (as stores are closed for the weekend here - canadian thanksgiving) and then take it from there. I'll write back once the introductions have been made and let you know how it went.
thanks again for the help,
Sarah (and Stu)
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paul
AnonyMouse
10/09/2005
03:24:47
| RE: another (new) mate?
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Message:
Good luck. Just remember to supervise the introduction. Male deer mice often get along with male domestic mice. It seems that male deer mice don't smell like a threat, but every mouse is different. muzzy wouldn't accept a female domestic as a companion. In that case I think he was jellous of Connie's attention. In any case, each mouse is different so be careful until they settle in comfortably together.
paul
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S
AnonyMouse
10/24/2005
15:42:21
| RE: another (new) mate?
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Message:
The results of an arranged marriage-
I finally managed to find a female fancy mouse a week ago
(apparantly almost all pet store near toronto carry only feeder
mice and the one place I usually go overstocked fancy males and
isn't ordering any more until they're gone) . She's a very
entertaining girl (chocolate brown and white marked) whom I've
named Olivia.
She was quarantined for 24 hours in a spare room so I could
observe her and check for obvious problems. The next day I put
their aquariums side by side so they could see/hear/smell each
other and the day after that I put a handful of her bedding into
Stu's house and vice versa. The day after that I put her in Stu's
aquarium for a couple hours while I had him out for his cuddle
(so she could get used to the layout and would have that
advantage when they met, and to get the place smelling like
her). Finally the next day I did the same thing but left her there
when I put him back and supervised the intro.
She seemed wary at first (he's amost twice her size so I can't
blame her) but Stu's a good guy and instead of going straight
back to bed like he usually would at that time, he slowly went
and sat on his blanket in the corner and waited for her to come
to him. After about 10 minutes of running away as soon as he
was in her line of sight she suddenly ran over to him and buried
under his stomach, cleaned under his chin and gave him a good
checking out all over. Throughout this process Stu hadn't
flinched and when she was done she sat beside him and cleaned
herself at which point he turned, gave her a little clean and then
went back to bed.
I watched them most of the night (benefits of insomnia) and they
had no problems.
They've now been together 4 nights and are doing fine. They
sleep cuddled up in their igloo, run on their wheels together
(they have 2) and seem to be getting along just fine. Stu's happy
to have someone with so much energy to play with and she loves
the aquarium (60gal, full of wood, ladders, ropes etc). She's
incredilby agile and has no problems keeping up with Stuart
(Pennie, while perfect in every other way, and while I would
never have traded her or changed a thing about her, was not the
greatest climber , runner etc. ). Olivia also digs like nothing I've
seen, building tunnels in her carefresh until it looks like an ant
colony. Stu's pleased with this since he likes to fix up the fluff /
tissues in the holes but he never liked making them (that was
pennie's job - they had a system....) As far as I can tell his only
complaint is that she likes to try and steal food out of his
mouth, but he either turns his back or puts a paw up to block
her and it never goes farther than that (picture a big kid with his
hand on a smaller kids forehead keeping him at arm's length
and you'll have an idea of what it looks like). Otherwise she
seems like a great match and seems to quite like Stu (as soon as
he gets off his wheel she runs over to get a cleaning from him)
so I'm very happy that my little man isn't fated to a solitary life .
Thanks again for the help with this,
Sarah
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