New mouse bit and drew blood...

by tokimouse Wed 17 Nov 2021, 9:50 am

I have had my mice for 6 days or so, and since getting one hand tamed she goes up to me and nips my fingers. It doesn't seem to be an aggression or fear thing since she is popcorning and going in my hands willingly, even making a chirping or loud sniffing noise, not sure how to describe it. But she did draw blood the last time she bit, and even after that she still wanted in my hands! She is around 3-6 months old and was not handled by humans or around other mice for at least 2 months since all her siblings were adopted before her. Is this just improper socialization? Nipping phase?

I wouldn't be so worried but one of my other two female mice are squeaking (like alarm) at night now and I have a sneaking suspicion she is nipping them as well. I checked them over and there was no bleeding. However, when she is calm, she cuddles them in their nest as usual. This nipping seems to only happen when she is jumping around from object to object, popcorning, and moving her items and bedding around which seems like playing to me. Do mice do such a thing as "play bite"?

by ControlCoreAngel Thu 25 Nov 2021, 2:02 pm

hiya! this is a common behavior in especially young mice. just make sure to wash your hands very well!

alarm/upset squeaks (or screams as i tend to call them) can come from a variety of things, but from my experience, has always come from "she's grooming me i don't want to be groomed!!! i am being licked so i must yell!!!"
when you hear screams, go see what's going on. you can determine the cause pretty easily. as long as there's no blood, it's okay!

nips happen, some mice do it more than others. mice will play bite, yes, and have a few bite strengths that give insight to their thoughts. there's things like test bites, where they'll bite something unfamiliar to them to figure out if it's food or not (my newer mice will often do this to the surface i let them play on, or when i was getting photos of one of my girls on my windowsill, she test bit one of my rocks). nips can be warnings too (both my girls bite at hands when they are upset but never draw blood).

um, as for chirping and sniffing, that's a good sign your mouse might have a respiratory infection. worry not, because this is PAINFULLY common in mice, and is the most common illness mice will have. you can take it to a vet to see if they have anything to help, but most of the time if properly taken care of, mice with respiratory items will live just as long as mice without illnesses.

New mouse bit and drew blood...

New mouse bit and drew blood...

Re: New mouse bit and drew blood...