New Mouse?

We have 2 mice as pets. Sadly Dumbo, one of my pet mice, passed away this morning. We changed the cage to get the smell of Dumbo out of the cage. When we put Minnie (the other mouse) back in the cage, she seemed to be looking everywhere for Dumbo. My heart is breaking. Minnie always cuddled with Dumbo.

We are very upset and don't know what to about Minnie. Should we buy a new mouse so that Minnie has company? Will they get along? Minnie is sweet mouse, but loves her food. What if she feels threatened by a new mouse?

Please help. I love Minnie so much and don't want her to be lonely.

Thank you!

In a situation like yours I would suggest you get a young female as a friend for Minnie. Introduce them in a neutral area like a spare tank/plastic bin/even a sturdy cardboard box for an hour or so. Then, if all goes well, introduce the new pair back into the tank after you've throughly cleaned it to eradicate the smell of Minnie and Dumbo. This has always worked for me in the past. If you do introduce them in a cardboard box, keep an eye out- some mice take 12hrs to chew out of a box, some just 12min.

Mad mouse is correct. With any new mouse I always suggest a quarantine period to make sure the new one is not ill. In this situation you could keep it pretty short, maybe three weeks. If you decide to skip a quarantine so that your mouse can have a friend right away, just be prepared to treat both for possible illness or parasites. Thank you for caring!

Thank you for your responses. I'm very worried about putting another mouse in with Minnie, but I don't want her to be lonely. Minnie is very gentle, but I'm afraid a new mouse may make her feel threatened.