Depressed Mouse?

Question
Hi Natasha,

I think my Girlfriends mouse 'Fatty' (female 1 and 1/2 yrs old) is depressed :( Fatty recently lost a friend 'Ms Tarly' (From previous question) and seems to be less responsive and less 'explorative', I haven't seen her moving around the cage much and she spends most of her time sleeping. Fatty's never been that much of an active mouse but she seems to be less active than usual ever since Ms Tarly died.

Originally Fatty was housed with 6 other female mice (all of the same age) for about 8 months, and they'd all got along very well with no squabbles or problems. However as must always happen, 2 of them passed away, and seeing how our cages (we've got two cages connected) seemed very empty, we decided to get three new young ones (Grumbles, Luna and Siamesy all females) which we introduced to the older mice with a few squabbles here and there.

After settling in for a few months the mice were all getting along well (apart from Grumbles who squabbled with everyone), until the old mice started passing away (due to old age, tumors etc). Basically after Ms Tarly passed away (Fatty's best friend), Fatty has been the only mouse left from the original group.

She doesn't get along as well with the new mice and is constantly 'bullied' (tail-chasing, squeaking and 'slapping' fights) by Grumbles and Luna, (but with no bites or wounds). The only mouse that doesn't bully her is Siamesy. However we've noticed that since Ms Tarly's death, Fatty has been spending more and more time in the 'nest' and less time exploring/moving around the cage. Unfortunately Fatty isn't so fond of being handled either (poops like crazy and shakes on our hands).

Would you have any suggestions as to what we can do with her or how we could cheer her up?
Also how could we tell that she's definitely depressed? Is getting more mice a possible solution?
(All the mice are females and all currently sleep together)

Sorry for such a long winded question and hope you can help us out!

Thanks :)
Indra

Answer
Dear Indra;

Yes, Fatty is depressed.

I recommend putting Fatty and Siamsey in their own cage.

If that doesn't cheer her up, get her 2-3 nice little baby girls.  Then Siamsey can go back with the others.

Best of luck.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha