New Mouse Mom to 5 girls

by jadey Mon 10 Oct 2016, 2:16 pm

As of this past Saturday, I am a new mouse parent to 5 lovely girls. I had done a 'bit' of research on them, but did not really go in depth until afterward. I knew to put them in their home and leave them alone, and not disturb them too much.. Well that was really hard, but I did a lot of observing.

4 of them look as though they were probably from the same litter, a silver blue color with ranging degrees of satin to long coats. The other one is a little orange and white girl. I've named them Ruby, Darla, Bleu, Willow and Pumpkin.

Right off the bat I noticed that Ruby, a red-eyed silver blue with the satin coat, was doing circles around their wheel (flying saucer). At first I wasn't sure what to make of this, but as I observed all Saturday afternoon and evening, I noticed that was all she did. She goes in the same direction, clockwise, every time. She does however stop long enough to eat, groom and get water. Yet, its like she is always up when the others are sleeping. She appears healthy, though she seems to have a bit of a 'twitch', I am not really sure how to describe it. She is also being bullied, but one time she did fuss back with her bully.

So of course, I googled mouse doing circles and found all about the waltzing mouse. I've watched videos and did alot of reading, and have come to the conclusion that she is indeed a waltzing mouse. She is such a sweet little thing! I was able to get her into my hand for a very few brief seconds and she does run across my fingers if they are in the path of her circle, at first she would stop and veer away but keeping in the circle. Now she just goes straight across. I will have to keep an eye on her, very close at that because I really don't want the others to bully her.

As for the other four, I have 2 that I think will be rather friendly and even one who sat and crawled over my hands ladder style for a good three minutes before she got down. I have been leaving my hand in the tank, just to let them get use to it and they go about their business and will come up and sniff and then run off. After all that, I gave each of them a hand-fed pea and retreated from their tank.

So far, so good. I just hope that I won't have to move Ruby to a enclosure of her own if she gets worse. I called around to several vets, but no one in my area will see a mouse. I have ferrets and even call their vet and they don't see them either, they though there 'may' be someone 2 hours away that 'might'. Though, at this point, I don't think it's ear infection, as I was looking for drainage and never seen anything and she didnt seem to be scratching at her ears. I am going to keep looking around, but I was offered the option of getting antibiotics if I needed some.

Anyway very glad to have found you all!

by CallaLily Mon 10 Oct 2016, 4:27 pm

Welcome. I was going to mention there is a chance it's just an ear infection but I see you're already are aware of that. Definitely keep trying to find a vet that will see her, just to be sure.

Can you describe exactly what's going on when you say she's being bullied?

by jadey Mon 10 Oct 2016, 11:33 pm

Yeah, I wondered at first if it was a ear infection but the more I watch her the less I think it's that. I had called the petsmart where I got her, since they have a banfield vet there and was hoping they would look at her, but they do not either. I was told I could bring her back and get a refund >.> No way I am doing that! She'll end up as food!

As for the bullying, it's only one or two that do it (Cant tell if its just one, cause they look so similar). They will jump on her, chase her around and will bite her backside and she squeals and runs and will then automatically start the circling behavior. I also seen her run into hide and start to eat, the other mouse will come in and then it's like a quick brawl and out Ruby runs squealing. I noticed tonight she didn't do it as much, but I also broke up her cycle route so she has to actually climb over stuff. I also put new things into the enclosure, so she was interested in that. There has been no blood letting yet, so I haven't done anything, it's mainly just 'picking' on her. It's almost as if they know something is wrong with her.

by Misha_usa Tue 11 Oct 2016, 2:35 pm

Hi Jadey, welcome to the forum Smile

I'm sorry to know about Ruby's. I didn't know about waltzing mice before, I've actually googled it once read your post, so I can't be of great help at all... but wish you two the best of luck, and hopefully she'll be able to keep living with her four companions.
I think your decision to try and breaking into their routine putting new stuff on the play it's a really good idea. It may also help divert the attention of the other mice so they won't pick it up with Ruby so much.

by jadey Fri 14 Oct 2016, 9:02 am

Thanks for the welcomes! Ruby is a special girl. I've been home sick the past 2 days so I was really able to watch them. There is not much hat makes her deviate from her circling, even so much that I put a long paper towel tube in to see if she would stop.. Instead she will veer off to enter and go through and keep going. I am gonna have to do a video for people to see, it's interesting to watch her.

by maygins Fri 14 Oct 2016, 9:04 am

I looked up some videos of a waltzing mouse. It's really interesting! Do they get dizzy at all?

by jadey Fri 14 Oct 2016, 9:10 am

I haven't noticed her getting dizzy, but she sure has a lot of energy. ii have often seen her up and doing her thing while the others sleep. She is very active,

by maygins Fri 14 Oct 2016, 9:18 am

That's super weird! I never knew about waltzing mice until this post, and I started to do some research. Are they as good pets as normal mice? For instance, are they sweet? Do they have medical problems?

by Peachy Fri 14 Oct 2016, 9:36 am

Welcome, jadey! I love your mouse names, especially Darla. Mouse Wave

I wonder if the girls pick on Ruby because they find her circles annoying. lol If you ever separate her, maybe try to separate her with one of the more mellow girls, if you have one.

You can search for vets that specialize in exotic mammals at vetetctive.com. There's also a Vet Reviews thread in the General Health section that might have one near you. Those are vets that other mouse owners were able to take their mice to. Maybe you'll have luck, just in case somthing else ever comes up with one of your girls. Smile

by MouseLover Sat 15 Oct 2016, 4:02 pm

Hello and welcome Smile

lovely mouse names! Mouse Wave

Just wondering - is it not worth treating Ruby for an ear infection, just in case? Ear infections can be very painful, so it might be worth giving antibiotics a shot, so that even if it doesn't change anything, you can know she's not in any pain. Not telling you to do anything - just thinking aloud Smile

Wishing you and your mice all the best!

by jadey Tue 18 Oct 2016, 10:21 pm

Thank you all for the welcome!

The girls were taken to the vet. Odd thing, the vet that I use for my ferrets, the first time I called they said they didn't. I had went on a website that listed area vets that treated small animals, and mine was listed so I called back and this time I spoke to someone else and yes they do see them! So the girls were seen. As I suspected Ruby doesn't have a ear infection and the vet said it was indeed Waltzing Syndrome.

Sadly, she said that most mice with Waltzing don't live as long as other mice do. It's also rather rare to get one! She also confirmed that eventually I will have to separate her from the rest, so I bought another 20 long while it was on sale to have for the future. I've been watching them a lot and I feel that I can probably pair her up with Pumpkin when the time comes as they seem to be buddies. Though, I do not plan to do this until it's absolutely necessary as I don't want to break up their little colony until needed. Right now, she is doing good and I am thinking she probably needs a bit more in her diet since she is constantly on the move with her circling, using up all that energy.

I just wish I knew what she was thinking!

by Peachy Tue 18 Oct 2016, 10:41 pm

I've seen circling in a wild mouse that I was keeping while he recovered from a cat. Very odd to watch! I'm so glad you were able to find a vet and come up with a plan for Ruby. Cheer

by CallaLily Wed 19 Oct 2016, 7:06 am

I'm so glad you were able to double check with a vet! Always a good idea to be sure.

I've only seem circling once so far and it turned out to be a bad ear infection. There's actually a few things that can cause circling, though neurological problems is the cause with true Waltzing mice. http://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t18-mouse-waltzing-circling

by CinnamonPearl Wed 19 Oct 2016, 8:11 am

I don't understand- Why does your vet want you to separate the waltzer out eventually? That seems like a harsh cruelty, and I highly doubt it would do anything even remotely helpful since neurological disorders aren't contagious. I can imagine it would only worsen her condition by taking away her support system.

by River Wed 19 Oct 2016, 2:19 pm

Cinna; waltzing mice are often bullied by others and can be killed by their colony members. It may seem cruel, but it is definitely their best interest to seperate them.