Seperating mice

Question
Hello Natasha!

First, I'd like to thank you so much for your informative answers here.  It's helped me understand how to help the little ladies I've recently had move in with us. Most especially our little friend Skanky (meant with endearment) who has uri. The Tetracycline advice you've given to other posters was, quite literally, a life saver. All of them have been doing so much better after having dosed their water and continue to thrive.

Some background: I got 7 mice from a box store early last month. 5 of them are pews and 2 are color (one appears to be siamese and the other brown and white). I was aware they were not really in a good way when I got them (large motivating factor). They were all cagemates in the store, the salesperson had no info on age or how long they'd been there. I originally was going to get 6 (there were more in the tank the first time I'd visited), but could not leave one behind.

They were all very small, it appeared they were being sold as feeders, so they had minimal care and consideration given to them. It also seemed the store had thrown fancy, larger mice in the tank to give customers the impression they weren't being sold as feeders since it's not really in line with their marketing story at the moment. Bedding was barely strewn on the floor, one large food dish, a tiny wheel, two bottles and a little house, no real shelter from noise or light. I did verify (checked myself) they are all female and thank goodness none of them were pregnant.

I got them to their new home and switched their bedding to shredded paper (lots of it! :), better diet with fresh veggies,  multiple houses, larger wheel, multiple food dishes and bottles, shelves, things to climb, fleece and tons of toys to chew. By just the first week they were all running around happily, making nests, messes, totally sociable with each other and me. They all had the sneezes except the two color ones, which cleared up after finding your treatment suggestion. Most noticeable is, they've all grown and their coats are healthy now.

Sorry for being long winded. /:) This brings me to the question
The two color ones (piglet and harry) have grown much larger than their white counterparts. They eat more food, drink more water and have begun to outgrow the wheel whereas the white ones can still double or triple up in it. For a time harry was the top of the pecking order, but most recently the white ones have begun being rather foul with them both. I'm considering moving the two larger ladies to their own bachelorette pad, but wanted to know if in your expert opinion you would advise this? The bullying seems to have disrupted the peace in their little world (20 gallons long with shelves) and health and well being wise I'm concerned for them as it does seem to have put a strain on both sides. Piglet is so sweet, but she's begun to show signs of being fearful and Harry has become more skiddish with them as well even with being the bossier of the two. It doesn't seem quite like them working out differences as much as a size difference causing the problem.

Thank you for your time and any help you can provide!
Also, endless thanks for the help you've already given!

Sincerely,
All eight of us :)
(Piglet, Harry, Skanky, Nix and les Triplettes)

Answer
Dear Meece Friend and Meece,

Seven is a good number. One for each day of the week. When I found a mouse meet and show mice for the first time, I went intending to get 3 and I came home with seven. It's a common occurence. Skanky is an unusual name, though! I hope she doesn't live up - er - down to it!


Yes, separate the girls. It is stressful to everyone when there is discord.

Have fun in the wonderful world of meeeeeeces!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha