castration, a first for me

ok not me personally, but a male mouse. i set up a new cage with 4 female fuzzie mice and one male silkie mouse. looking at the male a week later it appears that his genitals have been chewed on by a female or two. i will probably just set up a new colony, but how can i tell for sure if this guy is now doomed. it appears that he has the testes, but they are not near as pronounced as they were. any ideas?

...... uke01:

He might just be cold......

Are there chew marks, blood, scars, or anything else apparent on your mouse's testes? The reason I ask is because male mice (as well as some other species) have the ability to [let's say] pull their genitals in[ward]. I think it's some sort of defense mechanism to prevent exactly what you said happened. Some of my male mice one day will have huge extremities dragging on the ground, and then some days they are pulled inside and almost look like females. At the very least, before you make this guy snake food, I would set him up with a non-pregnant female and wait a few weeks to see if he is still functionable.

Bummer. Silky mice are so pretty.

Are there actual wounds at the testicle area? If so, this area usually gets infected in short order due to its proximity to the urinary and intestinal openings, so if in fact he has been chewed upon, your best course would be to feed him off. Not to mention the amount of pain he must be in.

If you can't see any wounds, is it cold in the room where they're kept? Male mice are like male humans, when it gets cold, the testicles withdraw up closer to the body to stay warm. And even if you pick them up, they can withdraw quite a bit, so much so I've actually mistaken them for females at times.

This can happen when you put new mice together, especially adult females with a new male. Usually when I start a new colony, I'll use an older male and younger females. They aren't 'testicle aggressive' like the older females can be, and the male can assume his dominance over them, rather than vice versa. Or if I have to use adults, the adult male has the intended cage for a couple of days to 'make it his own', and then I'll add a female every day. So he's not quickly outnumbered, and they're more interested in beating up on the new female.

Although I'm not too sure of what a 'fuzzy mouse' is other than a baby mouse, so maybe you could elaborate on that just a tad.

Maybe rough fore-play?

Mitch

Actually, mice and rats have open inguinal canals/rings. They can pull their testicles all the way into their abdominal cavity.

I have seen female mice go after the testicles on the male in the colony. If they don't accept the mouse, they will try to kill him...usually attacking that area first.

mike17l said:

it appears that he has the testes, but they are not near as pronounced as they were. any ideas?

Click to expand...

Have you search for them in the female's purse? Perhaps they were recently married and you just missed the ceremony.

Good lord Gary! :laugh:

..... I just spit diet coke all over myself! But thanks for reminding me..I need to check my purse and give my hubbie his back before he leaves out of town on a biz trip. I don't want the other guys making fun of him!

fuzzy, i should have said frizzle. its similar to rex in rats and rabbits. ill attach a picture. the females are all about the same age and about 2 week younger than the male. the male's testes have definately been chewed on. they look intact but defenitally have some scaring. i was hoping to get a silkie frizzle mouse. it will only set me back a month or so if i feed him off, as i have two colonies of frizzles and one of silkies that will have some young adults ready to go in a couple weeks.

You could always separate him out and give him a chance to heal. In a month or so, introduce 1 "frizzle" into his tank and see how they do. If they do OK, then you can introduce another one into his tank. Personally, I would not feed him off if his wounds are not severe.