Mouse cold.

Question
I have a silky mouse, I've had him about a month now and he's pretty much my favorite person.  Since getting him I've been doing a lot of research to best care for him and I know they can get colds and respiratory infections pretty easily.

Anyway, I woke up this morning to a funny squeaky noise and when I got him out of his large nest of paper I realized he seemed to be sneezing.  I held him for a while and he's definitely wheezing, he sounds like something is stuck in his nose.  

I am at my parents for the holiday so I brought him home with me and he's in a 20G terrarium with a lot of newspaper; my little brother also put some blue printer paper in there.  There is also a little carefresh white in there (which is what I typically keep him on at home).

I forgot to bring the bag of bedding to my parents which is why he's on the newspaper.  I did some research that said newspaper ink was safe, and he went to town building a nest but now I'm worried.

I'm about to go into the last 10 days of my semester, and if I really have to I'll find a way to take Marco to a vet but I'm hoping there are things to do at home first.

Also, Marco is my second mouse the first was unfortunately short lived.  The first was a female and she didn't really smell at all - whereas Marco smells horrible!  I clean his cage regularly, with daily spot cleaning and weekly thorough.  I take his wheel out about every other day to clean it since he makes such a mess of it.  I also bathe Marco about once a week.  He hasn't had a bath in a about a week and I am very careful to keep him warm and dry him very well so I know that is unrelated to the current situation.  He also seems to enjoy the baths or at the very least being clean, he never fights me and just gets perky after the fact!  http://colormegreen.deviantart.com/art/Meet-Marco-144776497  << here is a picture.

Sorry this is long, I just woke up to a sneezy mouse.

Thank you,
Lacey  

Answer
Dear Lacey,

Marco is lovely.  i read your comment.. OK, I won't tell you not to give Marco a bath if that seems to be working out for you but I can't recommend it to anyone.  Of course you must make terribly sure he never gets cold.

Boy mice do smell.  There's nothing you can do about it except clean the cage. You shouldn't clean the cage more than once a week because mice do like living in their own scent. But you can spot change the corners, where he likes to pee, every day if you wish.

I don't recommend the newspaper.  They can be allergic to the ink.  Any ink or dye on paper isn't a good idea.  Of course you do what you can when you don't have exactly the right materials.  But it's not unlikely that this is what is making him sneeze.  Even plain white paper is better, but I recommend getting some litter.

Mice always have a bacteria called mycoplasmosis. This is why they get respiratory infections so easily. It's the same with mites-- they actually always have a few, but if they get sick, old, or lonely, or are exposed to another source, their immune system is weakened and they can have a dangerous outbreak. So even though the sneezing can be caused originally by an allergy to the bedding, he might end up actually getting sick. This is why it's important to identify the allergy and alleviate it as soon as possible. Mice can die from respiratory infections if they are untreated.

If you get him in better bedding and he is still sneezing, he should be treated. The best is always to get to a vet. Vets have access to far better medicine than you can get over the counter.  A common antibiotic is Baytril, which you can only get from a vet.  If he can't get to a vet, it is possible to treat him at home with an antibiotic named Tetracycline that you can get over the counter intended for fish.  You will easily find instructions for this if you search for "Natasha mouse tetracycline," but I really would recommend the vet.  

However, if he stops sneezing when he has better litter you are home free. But certainly please don't give him a bath when he is still sneezing.  As I said, any little thing can get him sick if his immune system is lowered.

Best of luck to Marco!

squeaks,

Natasha