Mouse died suddenly

Question
Xmas day was an extremely hot one over here and we were out until the middle of the afternoon. When we returned the house was quite hot(aircon was put on and the heat started dropping from this point on) When we checked Minnie she seemd fine.. My daughter opened the cage as she was waiting to greet us and she proceeded to run up her arm as usual and was showing no ill effects. About an hour later my youngest pulled over a wardrobe that went with an almighty noise followed by her screaming out for me in a very distressed voice(thankfully she walked away with only a few knocks). About one or two hours later we noticed Minnie had passed away in her cage....we found her in the corner where her water is, it is also the corner where she goes when stressed or frightened. Checking her state it seemed to indicate she passed at about the time of the wardrobe incident............is it possible that she passed from shock. There had been other times the house had got quite warm and it never seemed to have any ill effects....also checked her water supply which was working as per normal.

She was only a young mouse, our first though I have to admit I am hooked and want to learn as much as I can from this incident for the future.

Answer
Dear Warwick,

Oh how sad that she passed away on Christmas. You are right that the  two things were stressful on her: the heat and the noise. Mice are very sensitive to heat and get heatstroke very easily, and in a very short time, which can kill them. So after the heat her system was very stressed out. Then the noise frightened her and it is very possible that her little heart gave out from the stress.

Of course it is also possible that she coincidentally died of something else, like a random heart attack or stroke. But let the lesson be learned that mice need a cool, unstressful environment.

I'm so glad you are hooked. Let me give you some important advice. Mice are very social animals and need the company of other mice. While this can be impossible with males, who cannot live together, there is no excuse (except for not knowing, or trying to wean yourself off of mice) to have a lonely female mouse. Your next mouse should be mice. The absolute best thing to do is to have three mice. The reason for this is that when a mouse loses her friend, when the friend passes away or leaves, that mouse is depressed. Being depressed and lonely at the same time can be too much for a sad mouse. If you start with three, you always have time to replace the one that goes and you don't have to stress out a lonely and depressed mouse with a possibly problematic new introduction (though if you give a single mouse a baby mouse friend there will be no problems).

Have I convinced you to have three mice? Two is OK-- many people have two-- its just sad and difficult when you lose one.

Of course if you only want one mouse, get a male. They have to live alone anyway.

If you do have only one mouse, you have extra responsibility. It is actually more time-consuming to have one mouse than two. The reason is that a single mouse has only you for a friend. Thus s/he needs to be out of the cage having quality time with you for at least an hour a day.

There are lots and lots of questions and answers in my archives about al sorts of other mouse topics, so feel free to search before asking me another question. I wish you the very best in the new mouse phase of your life!

squeaks,

Natasha