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Dealing with a bully?

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Dealing with a bully? Empty Dealing with a bully?

Post by doganddisc Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:10 pm

I have a RY doe, the last of the first four mice I got back in February (I gave the other three to Julee). She has been nothing but a bully though. At first I thought it was another mouse who was causing all the problems- but this girl beats up every mouse I put in the tank (even after I dust them all with baby powder and keep them in a small holding bin together for an hour).

She was living in harmony with everyone she was with until I mixed in the two girls I had in isolation (head tilt girl and a dove doe I got at Pet Smart). Getting them all to that point in the past was a struggle though. I have unsuccessfully tried to introduce the dove girl to the group, only to end up with a very bloody tail on her. The RY doe has also beat up a few other mice.

I don't know what to do with her. I'd like to keep her for sentimental reasons, but she's a total jerk to all the other mice. I need her to be able to live with this group. I'm not going to ever be using her for breeding but I do need to be able to introduce other does eventually- and she makes that nearly impossible. She attacks unprovoked too. The dove girl was running on the flying saucer a minute ago and the RY doe walked over and jumped on her.

Is this normal? Is she a bully mouse? Is there anything I can do to stop her from being so mean?
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Post by madmouse Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:03 pm

I cannot really say that I have a solution to your bullying problem, but... A couple of years ago I got a pair of new does. They seemed that they would integrate into my existing doe colony well. Then I went out of town. As soon as I was gone my roomie was like, oh my god!, this one new doe is beating the other does up so bad she is injuring them like two bucks would injure one another. I didn't know what to do, so I told her to throw the bully in with a buck in the hopes that she could get along 'til I came home and culled her. By the time I came back, the bully was pregnant. Curiosity got the better of me, so I held onto her to see what offspring she produced. Lo & behold, after breeding she was never a bully again nor were any or her daughters. She lived peacefully in my doe colony until she died of old age a few months ago. I can't imagine why this changed her behavior (seems like a mother might be MORE aggressive), but it worked for her. Whether this was strange coincidence or not, I can't say.

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Post by tinyhartmouseries Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:36 pm

Honestly....I let my does duke it out. Sometimes there are little cuts and bites, (but anything serious I of course step in)...if you interfere each time something happens, they never work it out on their own. I don't know if it's helpful or even the "right" thing to do, but I put bullies in established doe colonies, so they are the newcomers and have to deal with it.
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Post by Laigaie Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:55 pm

The only time that letting them duke it out has not worked for me, I found that the doe in question had a serious history of killing/maiming/aggressing other does when she was pregnant, and that the doe had become pregnant unexpectedly (male in a colony tank).

Normally, it's what I do. When the above happened, however, three other does were killed. If you see serious wounds, pull her from the group and do not let her have friends. I would cull at that point, as the other option is for her to live alone, an angry lonely lady.

I define serious wounds as:
--blood smeared on the glass
--multiple tail bites
--large or numerous bite wounds
--dead or mortally injured mice

Non-serious wounds include:
--one or a few small bites
--scratches
--nose scratches
--tiny amounts of blood on the mouse, but none on bedding, houses, caging, etc
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Post by doganddisc Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:59 pm

I was going to let them duke it out until the blood was everywhere. I removed the dove girl and the Siamese girl (both of whom were being beaten up, though only the dove girl was badly injured) and put them in with one of my litters- now weaning (the mother is more than to have them there, which worked out great).

There was blood smeared on the bedding, the glass, the toys, other mice, etc. It was a huge mess. She is not a very nice doe but since she's only done it so severely this to one mouse, I'll let it go for now and hope things improve. Maybe she just doesn't like the dove girl?
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Post by kawmice Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:12 am

Wow. That is not a good thing at all. I probably would have culled her myself, and I hate culling healthy adults. I had a mouse like that, but she got along with her sisters so they stay together.
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