Separating barbering mice?

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I have two female mice who are very healthy and happy but recently found out that one of the mice is barbering the other mouse which lead to a patch of hair missing on the other one's face. I was told to separate the mice to stop this behavior.

I feel very badly separating them and was thinking about making a divider where they can still see each other and perhaps smell each other but was told that would make the tank too small. ( I have a 10 gallon).

We take the mice out about an hour a night and sometimes a bit during the day if they are awake. I can try and take them out some more though.

Do you know of anything else we can do for them? I was thinking perhaps if I put in more toys or anything like that. I just feel so bad separating them.

Thank's for taking the time to read this!

ANSWER: Dear Steph,

I am very glad that you wrote to me. Separating the mice is both unnecessary and cruel.

If you were going to have two separate cages I would want them to be wire and close together. Mice have poor eyesight but great senses of smell and hearing. Yes, they chat, at a frequency we can't hear. But you don't need to do this at all.

The two reasons why they do not have to be separated are the following:

1. There are other ways to try to stop barbering. One way is to give them a lot of toys to distract them. Another is to add another mouse. These are the first things to try.

2. There is really no problem with a barbered mouse. She looks funny. But it does not hurt or make her susceptible to illness or mites (which they both will be if separated). It is just a pattern of dominance and to the mouse it isn't a lot different than normal grooming. In fact, what it is is overgrooming.

Put them back together and try the two options in 1. Mice should live in threes anyway, so when one dies you are left with a mouse who is devastated that her only friend died, but also lonely. That is actually the same as separating them, because each thinks the other has died.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha







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

QUESTION: Thank you so much for the reply! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I actually went out and purchased them a whole new cage set up with lot's of tubes and other things to keep them more occupied. I am not 100% sure if it is working yet but they are constantly running in and out of the tubes so it gives them something else to do. Is it okay if I try this for a while before building a divider?
I would love to get a third mouse but we found out right after getting these girls that I somehow developed a mouse allergy to the point I have chronic sinus problems and had to be put on an added asthma medication :( Getting a third might be too much but I will talk to my doctor about it.
Thank you again!

Answer
Dear Steph,

You misunderstood me. You do not need a divider. Even if you cannot stop the barbering, wouldn't you rather have one funny-looking mouse than two unhappy ones? Please let them live and sleep together. They love each other. Barbering is not aggression, it is overgrooming. It is a sign of dominance but dominance isn't a bad thing in mice.

Love to your mice,

Squeaks

Natasha