Question about pet rodents

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I had two mice. One recently died, it seems of old age. The other, who is only about 9 months old, isn't doing well. She now has another cage mate but she's really worrying me. For those with experience with rodents and rodent deaths, do they get depressed? Or is she maybe sick?

I know mice have high-strung nervous systems and don't handle change too well. Could this be a reaction to all the change she's had to endure lately?

She's not eating much, hardly ever runs in her wheel (she did until her cage mate died), and pretty much sleeps all the time except for rare occasions.

I'm getting worried about the other new mouse, too, because she's really young and seems to do everything the other one does (she doesn't know what the running wheels are for yet). And neither of them are chewing the wood blocks or anything.

Any suggestions? Opinions? Concerns?

I haven't had many mice, but I have had rats - and rats do get depressed when cage mates die . . .
When I get new babies to go in with a single rat I always get a pair so that the babies can do baby things and then the adult can join in if he wants . . .

You might go to www.rmca.org and ask about mice - they have a forum for different aspects of rodent care - including one for mice . . . it is set up just like this one . . .

Ah, thanks, animallover. That looks very helpful.

Do you know if there's a general grieving time (like how long it lasts) and when I should start getting really worried-- just in case she's not grieving but she's actually ill?

Now I am worried because I looked at the mouse faqs on that site and my mouse's coat isn't shiny. It's looking more ruffled. And I haven't got the money to take her to a vet. And I don't have another cage to separate the new one from her so she doesn't get sick. I'll have to go buy a small cage, but it's going to be cramped.

Sophist,is there not a vetinary service for people on low incomes/benefits in your area?
Have the PDSA and RSPCA vetinary hospitals here for that,it is unfairly expensive with rodents as vets usually don't alter the cost for size differences,at least that was in my experience of when I used to use private vets [now take mine to the RSPCA].
As for the mouse,it sounds like depression but it is hard to know because it mimicks other problems,does she do any strange raspy noises? does she have any porphyrin staining [it looks like blood,the fur can look dyed in patches with it,and it can occur around the eyes/nose] the staining often indicates a low immune system/illness/stress,but it doesn't always appear.
The new mouse is doing everything the older mouse is........does that include the sickly/strange behaviors?

Pity not in the same area as me,as I could have leant a spare cage,very occasionally use it to keep my rats in when cleaning out their main cages,as an alternative to using cat travel cages.

I don't know about mice at all, but I used to have two gerbils. The one gerbil died before the other one. The other one was either depressed because of the fact that I didn't take care of them as much as I should've or that it missed it's friend. Or, the second gerbil, might've been sick. Sorry, I can't be much help other than that.

I had 15 rats over my life, 2 mice, several hamsters, etc. and I was surprised the amount of information on health issues and such I could find on rodents on the internet.

Jerry appears definitely ill, but depression/anxiety may have helped to lower her immune system I'm guessing. I've gone and bought another two cages and have Jerry and Tom separated into them (I didn't want Jerry to stay in the larger aquarium without me giving it a thorough cleaning, but cleaning it and moving her back and forth would just be more upsetting. So I've moved her to a smaller cage until she starts feeling better).

I've been reading more on that site and see that mice don't hold their heat well and therefore like warms areas. I've got two quiet space heaters going near them (not enough to give 'em heat stroke, don't worry-- but enough to make my bedroom a mild sauna).

Tom doesn't seem to know the meaning of the wheel yet. Hopefully, as long as Jerry gets better, Tom will learn.

These are Jerry's symptoms:
-not eating or drinking much (this started not long after Ben, her last cage mate, died)
-sleeping too much; hardly active at night
-not running the wheel
-shivering
-slightly runny stool
-fur is looking poorly
-yesterday, looked as though she was having troubles breathing
-all in all, she's just not looking well

Along with the heat, I got a product called Bene-Bac at Petco which is good bacteria for rodents in times of stress. I've also kept the lights incredibly low (I can barely see) and kept the tv volume as low as I can without having to rely on lipreading.

It seems that Jerry is doing a little better (it's a little after 6:30am now the next day) though she still is acting poorly. She has tried to run the wheel a bit but can't keep it up for long. She's drinking more but I still haven't seen her eat. Her coat is looking slightly improved, though with as dark as I have it, it's hard to tell.

Tom, on the other hand, is also stressed. New environment, new cage mate, just lost new cage mate, moved from aquarium to smaller cage, attempts to give her Bene-Bac (this didn't work out too well, so I put it in her water which they recommended doing also), etc. I woke up around 4:30am and once I turned on one of the night lights to see a little better, she got up after awhile and was wandering around, inspecting, and eating.

She doesn't seem to be ill at the moment though very stressed. Her coat looks fine and she's eating well enough. She's not drinking much but I'm thinking the Bene-Bac doesn't have the most pleasant of tastes. I might try again today to give her the Bene-Bac directly so she can have plain water in her water dish and see if she drinks more.

I've also posted asking for suggestions for Jerry on that site animallover gave. So far, it's been very informative and helpful. Thanks again, animallover.

I'm glad to hear RMCA is helping you - they are very nice . . .

My rat, Lomman, thought he was the angel of death for a while - he was in a colony with 4 rats - two died of old age in short succession (they were brothers) and the dominant cage male threw him out of the cage (wouldn't let him off the top shelf) - so I integrated him in with 2 other brothers I had who were rescues from a pet store and both died quite young . . .
Anyway, poor Lomman got so depressed after that - he just wouldn't run around or do anything . . . I started carrying him everywhere with me and then got 3 new babies from a lady I know who is a very good rat breeder (so they weren't sick - she actually bred Lomman) and he was very tenative about getting to know them - like he was worried that they would all die on him to - but now he is the cage dominant male and loves them - but when I put them in with him at first - he was so tennative - it was like he wanted to play with them but didn't want to get hurt again . . .
He is still a momma's rat, though

You might try the ensure for both of your mice while they are de-stressing - that is great to mix medications in with for them - sometimes they don't notice them at all . . .

Jerry died. She passed away while I was trying to tube feed her with the oral injectors that came with the antibiotics which the vet had recommended since Jerry hadn't been eating that whole week. I'm going to be burying her today.

I've gotten a new mouse to begin the three-week quarantine so Tom will only be alone as long as necessary. Both mice are receiving antibiotics-- though I've had to put it in their water because I can't get them to hold still though the vet had made it look so easy. Tom wouldn't stop squirming or ducking her head into her chest when I got good enough aim. But I'm worried that by putting it in the water, their not going to get enough of it before I have to change the water.

Tom is definitely ill, too. She's listless though still eating, but sleeping most of the time. And I don't know whether she'd be more active if she knew what the wheel was for.

My newer mouse, Junior (who I named Jerry Jr.), is a mostly black fancy mouse-- I needed to be able to tell the mice apart-- and she's in a separate smaller cage. She was incredibly active when I brought her home, though she was coughing a bit so I have no doubt (as to be expected with Petco these days) that most of the mice, if not all, will have that Mycoplasma respiratory infection. Which is why I'm giving her Jerry's intended antibiotics now that Jerry is no longer here.

This has been a rough past couple of days. Worrying and then Jerry dies very suddenly in my arms while I was trying to feed her. It was painful to watch. She had some sort of spasm or attack and was dead within about 7 seconds. I was sort of in shock because I wasn't expecting her to die like that. I've never seen anything die before...

Sounds like the first mouse got a virus or something and died, and then jerry caught it and died soon after.

I stepped on a gerbil once, i think i broke it's back, because it did that spasm thing and died.

I'm sorry Sophist - I'm glad you got a new friend for Tom . . .

I had a rat die like that before - it was so wierd - he was a fairly antisocial rat and one of two mean rats I've had - but when he died he walked right up to me, had an attack like you were describing, and just died right there . . . he's the only one that has done something like that . . .
Anyway, the RMCA people said it sounded like a massive heart attack - which should be fairly painless and very fast . . .

I find that with giving rats antibiotics at least (mice would be harder because they are so much smaller) it is very useful to remember that they only have four teeth - and they are all right in the front - so you can pop the oral syrninge in the side of their mouth and dose them before they realize what has hit them . . .
Have you thought about mixing the antibiotics in some sort of very yummy treat? That works well too - chesecake or cream cheese seems to be something no rodent can resist!

Good luck!

I'm trying to figure out what kinds of yummy treats these two like. So far they like veggies and won't touch hardly any of the fruits. But I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and get some different fruits.

I'm trying to figure out what they'd eat which I could mix the antibiotic up in. So far, veggies don't offer a great deal of options.

Put the antibiotic in cheese.

Cheese cake, alfredo sauce, chocolate sauce, peanut butter, jelly, and cream cheese have worked exceptionally well for me . . .

I had a rat when I was in my apartment. His name was Alastor. He got sick with in the 14 day peroid that I had him and I had to take him back to the pet store. Turns out they "forgot" to tell me not to use cedar in his cage. Taking him to the vet would have been over 100.00!! !! ! So I took him back to the store and was going to "rebuy" him when he was well (letting the store pay to cure him because it was with in that 14 days) but some one else bought him before I could. Then I moved.