Pet Mouse breathing hard

Question
I bought three pet mice three weeks ago, when I cleaned them out  yesterday I noticed that one of them was making a chirping noise, I have read somewhere that it might be a respiratory infection. She is eating, drinking and climbing still, but I noticed that her breathing is more defined than the other two - as in her sides go right in when she inhales by quite a lot.  Should I get some of that stuff from the fish department of the pet shop, something called Tetra...something that you can mix into their water bottle as I thought it might be a good idea if they were to all be treated with it as they are sharing the tank and sleeping together and Faye (mouse) may pass it on to Maisie and Daisy.  I am worried about taking them to the vets as I haven't fully tamed them yet and they are only just starting to get used to me and think the vet might struggle to handle them at the moment.

Answer
Dear Olwyn,

You are right that she should be treated. A vet who is experienced in mice should be able to handle a less tame mouse; however, not every vet is that experienced. You could call and ask. If you can't bring them to the vet (it's best to bring all three in case they want to treat all of them), and I'm guessing you can't handle her enough to get anything in her mouth; so just put the Tetracycline in the water bottle as I have described elsewhere:

"The over-the-counter antibiotic that I use is Tetracycline, which is available in the FISH section of your pet store or aquarium store.  It either comes in powder, tablet, or capsule form.  If it is a tablet, you will need to crush it into fine powder, which you can do with the back of one spoon against the front of another.  If it is a capsule you will empty the powder out of the capsule.  One capsule is the same as 1/4 flat teaspoon.

Put that amount in her large water bottle (10-12 oz), or half that in her small water bottle (4-6 oz), and that should be her only source of water for about 10 days. Change it every other day. Cover the bottle with tin foil so no light can get in. Tetracycline reacts with light."

It is fine that all three mice drink it.

best of health to the mice!

squeaks,

Natasha