Hi Katherine

Thanks for responding. I found that web site very informative. Fortunately
for me Holly and Belle climb on their wire cage a lot which means I can get a
good look at them without stressing either of us. My verdict is that we do
indeed have two girls, but even if I'm wrong their private parts look them same
to me, everything close to the tail and no bulges. I don't think I will have to
break the news to my husband that we are expecting the patter of some very tiny
feet! I was very concerned last week when we put them back into a clean cage as
we saw Holly mounting Belle, but the web site said that can happen between girls
sorting out the pecking order. Maybe the smell is because they still haven't
settled that yet. I cleaned their cage out with some disinfectant last week
because our previous mice had lived in it too. Leah and Karli have been gone
over two years, but I only cleaned the cage as per normal before putting it into
storage and then again before putting
Holly and Belle into it. I thought maybe there were still traces of Leah and
Karli that only Holly and Belle could smell. Even though the weather was really
hot last week, and smells usually get worse when it's hot, I didn't think the
cage smelt as strongly. Maybe because of the heat they weren't piddling as
much!

I was lucky when I took them to the vet. The nurse took the cage out the back
to the vet who had a look at them and then the nurse brought them back. I
wasn't charged for the check. I intend to clean out my linen cupboard, so I
think some old towels will find their way to the surgery. They were very good
with a couple of our guinea pigs a few years back too.

I have another question. Holly and Belle seem to be scratching a lot and then
cleaning the spot where they scratched. Do you think they may have some
hitchhikers? I can't see anything obvious. Do you have any recommendations for
something I can easily treat them with just in case?

Thanks again

Dawn

Katherine Medina <hellowittykitty@...> wrote:
Hi there..

I had the same problem when i first got mice...they assured me that they were
both female...
plus i even took the one i suspected to be male to the vet..and he assured me it
was female...

well lo and behold..12 babies later..i learnt they werent..

one thing i learnt was to check before hand if the vet has had much dealing with
mice..you'll find alot only specialise in bigger animals..only go to one who's
got experience...or you'll be wasting your money and possibly be risking the
little rodents health....

heres a great site that i learnt alot from..

http://www.fancymice.info/breedfrontpage.htm

its got some great pic to help sex the mice...one thing to remember is that the
males have a bulge where the testis are..near the rear of the tail..and only the
females have nipples....its best to keep them seperate until you know exaclty
what youve got..as the can reproduce from the age of 6 weeks...

hope the site helps...


i wish you and your Li'l Lady Have a Bright and Beautiful Day!... :0)

Kathy :0)

sungirl_green <sungirl_green@...> wrote:
We need expert help! On December 6 my daughter bought two
supposedly female mice from two different petshops. We had kept two
females before (they were sisters) and we had no problems with
smells until the end of the week when the cage was due for cleaning
anyway. These two new mice smell very quickly after cleaning, and
although a local vet said she was fairly sure they were both girls,
I still have doubts. We cannot keep even one boy mouse as my
husband isn't too keen on them anyway and simply won't tolerate the
smell. I thought the smell may have been because the mice didn't
know each other and were trying to sort out who was the boss.
However, after nearly a month together and only a couple of
altercations (none serious), I feel they should be sorted out by now.

I would like to know if there is someone near us who could check
them for us. My daughter would probably want to trade any boys for
girls, and if babies arrive, I'd like to be able to take them
somewhere safe, we can't keep them.

We live in Greenvale, so if there is someone who lives in the
northwest of Melbourne who could help I would appreciate contact
details.

Thank you
Regards

Dawn Brown

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