Mouse Questions

Question
Ok so we started our own Mouse Racing Business. We bout 20 female mice a few weeks ago and have them separated into 3 different aquariums. Well i recently lost what i thought was a blind mouse, she wasn't doing so well so i put her in a different aguarium with the calmer mice and they wouldn't have it.  So i moved her back but sadly lost her.  Now today i get home and find another is dead, (they were both white) but this one is in a completely different tank.  So i remove this mouse. I had planned on cleaning them all out tomorrow as soon as i got home from work. But then i went in to change water and make sure everyone has food for tomorrow and I see one of my little favorites, the smallest, laying there making a clicking noise and gasping for air.  She was in the food bowl so i thought the noise I heard was her eating, but when I moved her out of the bowl I realized she was extremely bloated and gasping for air eat time making that clicky, sucking noise.  Now i am extremely sad because shortly after i removed her from the tank completely she passed.  I have now lost 2 mice in one day and am afraid this is going to keep happening.  We have only raced them one time, and I think of them more as little pets than racers. We started racing for charities, but the business is slow right now since it is summer time.  I am really worried I am going to keep losing mice.  I thought I had looked everyone over after the first one dies today, and everyone was thriving and healthy.  Then I get home 3 hrs later and this one is suffering.  Please help me out and tell me what I am doing wrong :(

Thanks,
The Mouse Racer

Answer
Hi Kara,

Unfortunately, there are several chances for a mouse to bring in illness before they come to you.  They could pick something up from the supplier, in transit, at the pet store, from wild mice, or even in your home if you have wild mice in your area.  This risk is what makes quarantining a good idea.  I would pull out any mice that start to show any symptoms at all right away and keep them in a separate quarantine cage, and put the entire group on an antibiotic.  If you can, bring them to a vet and they can help you diagnose the problem and get you the right medication, but if not, here are some great instructions for tetracycline in the water:  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2010/2/Tetracycline-directions-sneezing-mou...

It sounds like an upper respiratory infection, just based on the clicking sound, but a vet can let you know if something else is going on.  Mice tend not to show discomfort until it's already serious, so treating everyone preemptively will hopefully wipe out any infection before it gets to that point.  While it's simply impossible to predict these things happening, it would be a good idea to quarantine any new mice you may buy in different rooms for at least three weeks - since you do have quite a large community and as you can see, these things can spread pretty quickly through a group.

Best of luck, and I hope you don't lose any more!
-Tam