tumor or scab?

by absolute_squash Sun 03 Feb 2019, 8:51 pm

i recently got a male mouse and his two brothers from petsmart. as they are brothers, they shouldn’t be territorial with each other, however they seem to be a bit food territorial at times (once i gave one of them a peanut and the other two chased him around to try to get it.) i can’t tell if this little pink spot is a tumor or a scab.

it doesn’t seem to stick out more than 1/4 of a centimeter, but i’m still worried.

by MouseLover Mon 04 Feb 2019, 3:59 pm

It's not easy to say from the picture, but it's likely a scab.

Male mice can be territorial with each other even if they are brothers. I'm sorry if the staff at petsmart told you otherwise, but males are usually kept alone for this reason. Unfortunately many males are hurt, seriously inured or even killed by their own brothers. It's quite likely your mouse has been bitten by one of his brothers in the night or when you weren't around. I would recommend giving them separate cages, I'm afraid.

by absolute_squash Mon 04 Feb 2019, 6:32 pm

MouseLover wrote:It's not easy to say from the picture, but it's likely a scab.

Male mice can be territorial with each other even if they are brothers. I'm sorry if the staff at petsmart told you otherwise, but males are usually kept alone for this reason. Unfortunately many males are hurt, seriously inured or even killed by their own brothers. It's quite likely your mouse has been bitten by one of his brothers in the night or when you weren't around. I would recommend giving them separate cages, I'm afraid.

ive been worried about that. i’m trying not to give them treats while they’re in their cage, and instead only feed them when they’re alone. hopefully that will keep the food aggression down. i’ve read that they do ‘play fight’ like puppies do, but i’m still concerned. it’s worth noting that they get along most of the time. they sleep together, groom each other, etc. i’m on constant watch of any new signs of injury though.
my mom has said that they’re stressed or overwhelmed due to the sudden exposure to new foods, and has blamed their fighting on the fact that i “give them too many treats.” in any case, i’ll have to get her approval to separate them, as they are technically family pets. thanks for your help!

by Peachy Mon 04 Feb 2019, 8:24 pm

I agree it looks more like a scab than a tumor. It’s hard to tell from the pictures but other possibilities could be a wart-like growth, fungus infection, etc. You’ll have to watch and consider a vet trip if it gets worse.

I’ve never seen mice play fight. In almost ten years of mouse-keeping, many adult colonies and numerous litters, I’ve NEVER seen mice play fight like puppies. Males can change their minds about each other so fast. Last year I had two young brothers kept together in their original nursery tank while I was waiting for them to be old enough to get neutered (so they could each have their own female colony, not so they could live together)... They did fine until one morning their squeaking woke me up; they weren’t fine and their cage was covered in blood. Thankfully neither was badly injured but it could have been worse. Seriously that sudden! Here’s another thread, it’s a bit graphic.
https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t142-males-living-together-warning-graphic-photos

I would seriously consider separating them ASAP. If you’d like mice that live and play together (and never play FIGHT, just play) get a colony of females.

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