Murder! ???

[Naturalbeautyr]

My two (female and male) mice were getting along great for a week, completey (what looked like) bonded...grooming and so on. Then, out of the blue, the FEMALE kills the male! What do you think happened? They were well fed...maybe even a little too well fed...except I did notice the male kept stealing the females food, but she shouldn't have been too starved...she didn't look bad. Quite a nasty shock that I found...and really smelly. I thought it was bad when babies were eaten...

 

[Sisuitl]

The same thing happened to my starter colony. It made me so mad I fed off the females before they could finish eating him and I went back to ordering feeders online. After seeing that kind of thing firsthand with the baby eating too, I feel no remorse when feeding mice to snakes.

As to what causes it, who knows. My colony had plenty of space and the mice were all put together when they were just weanlings. Plenty of food, water, room, etc. Urgh. I have heard people suggest that they get uppity when they are pregnant, but I don't know if that is always the case.

 

[Ratsicles]

Mice seem to look for any reason to kill off their litter ... a cage mates litter, or a cage mate.

The main reasons I've found are:

Young colony ... The colony, pair, or trio, hasnt been grouped or housed together for very long. Establishing a group can take up to 3 months.

Protein ... too little or too much will often cause cannibalizing ... I try to keep protein at 16% for mice. I change in diet can also cause this (going from one food to another).

Pregnancy ... If there is too little room females will kill off cage mates to conserve resources ... they will also kill off their litter instead of cage mates for the same reason. Too large of an enclosure will make them feel insecure ... often this results in them cannibalizing their litter. This category also brings in the "persistent male". He doesnt take no as an answer and is killed.

Stress ... while pregnancy does fall into this category (somewhat) it is more directed at their environment. Curious owners checking on them too often ... a dog or cat constantly staring into their enclosure. Most people find that mice do best in enclosures that can only be viewed through the top and with a minimum of interruptions. Not enough food or water will also stress them.

While this is by no means a complete list it is the major resaons I've found.

Bryan