Mice just dont get along,

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
I've been trying to find someone to help me with my Sadie. I'm not sure how old she is but when I got her from the pet store she was all alone. I'm not sure how long she was alone. Anyways we brought her home left her alone for a few days and then started to introduce my self... I'll admit I had no clue what I was doing at first... she has her own table that her cadge sits on so we let her run around on that for a while well one day she jumped off the table not a small fall... took us half an hour to get her back in her cadge... then a couple weeks later I was doing a deep clean on her cadge so I put her in the tub with food water and toys. When it became time to put her in the cadge again she wouldn't come to me, when I finally got her she bit me... pretty good too. I didn't try to touch her again for a week. Its been almost a month since then and she still runs from me and rattles her tail at me... we recently got two more mice and are coming up on three weeks having them. And are planning on introducing them here soon. But my main question is is it past the point of no return with Sadie or will she get better when she gets to know her new sisters?
Thanks for all your help!
Ashley

ANSWER: Dear Ashely,

No, as long as she is well psychologically she is not past the point of no return. Still, it may take more work than you want it to.

What i don't know is how she is when she is out of her cage. If she is hard to get from her cage but you can handle her out of it, the secret is toilet paper rolls. Mice have an instinctive desire to go into small round entrances. What you do not ever want is to chase her around the cage with your hands. That terrifies her and she has the right to be aggressive. She should always have toilet paper rolls in her cage-- they are second in importance to the wheel. So. Take out everything but the house and the toilet paper rolls. Then bring both of your hands together slowly toward her and usher her gently (later she may let you just pick her up this way) into a TP roll. Quickly put your two hands on the two sides, closing both exits; and slowly pick her up. She is more likely to come out if you set the roll on a surface rather than try to take her out or even hope she will walk out on your hand.

At the same time, though, you want her to be tame in the cage. You can do these steps with all of the mice at once because she will partly learn by example. I have listed some very thorough steps in the following post:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2011/7/frightened-mouse.htm

Good luck with her. I hope she learns to be friendly quickly. It is terrible for a female mouse to be alone and she really needs all kinds of love right now.

squeaks,

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again,
So Sadie doesn't seem to like the other two mice... the other to are afraid of her... and I think she has reached bully status. My little ones will go on their back kegs and put their front paws up and Sadie will smack them... I have two cadges that can be connected. But back tracking a bit when we were introducing the three of them Sadie jumped off the table again... and she's been jumpy and very on edge since meeting my other two... I'm starting to think she's not OK mentally... I think she was just alone for too long... what should I do? Should I keep trying to have the three of them be together or should I keep them separate? I'll keep their cadges connected for a few hours and I always here scuffles... thank you for your help again.
Ashley

Answer
Dear Ashley,

Yes, separate them. It just isn't going to work. The occasional mouse is hard to get along with by other mice. Sounds like she needs to live alone. But keep tha cages close so they can chat. They do communicate with ultra-sonic squeaks. And make sure she gets lots of love, since you are her only mouse friend. It is best to give a single mouse at least an hour of people time a day.

It's too bad it didn't work. Female mice are for the most part pretty easy-going but just like people, they have a whole range of possible personalities.

Best of luck to all.

Squeaks,

Natasha