[demiviolet]

Hello! I am new here. I have a question about my mice's actions. I have five mice. Two are in one cage and three new ones are in a separate cage being quaranteened. The two that are not being quaranteened (Bianca and Phoebe) have been together since I purchased them in September last year. Bianca has been barbering Phoebe for a couple of months now. I have been trying to intervene by disrupting the process, but noticed that Phoebe is now bald at the back of the neck. I would hate to take her out and leave them both alone without each other, and the three new girls have only been quaranteened for a week so I don't want to put anyone in with them. Any suggestions as to what I can do?

 

[Mousey]

Is the mouse over grooming or chewing the whiskers off? both can be known as barbering.
usually this behavior is not a problem and is a part of the pecking order or possibly bad genetics in some cases. However if there is blood or wounds (other than missing fur) visible then I would separate them.

If it is only baldness you can try a few things. First give them more stimulations. This will help keep her from being too bored. You can try new toys toilet paper rolls with treats folded inside but the more new things to explore the better. You can also let them have some alone time. One can run in a ball while the other one enjoys the cage. vise versa

Once the quarantine is over the mouse will have other mice to groom. That will def help the other mouse get more breaks. :lol: There's no need to separate them over missing hair unless it becomes really extreme and possibly injures the other mouse. It can add more confusion to the perking order if the two original ones have to re establish dominance with each other as well as the new ones.