Spiny mice

Question
QUESTION: I have 2 female spiny mice that i got from a pet store. And a friend brought over 6 for me to have because she didnt know how to take care of them. There were 3 boys and 3 girls all together. She said only one was pregnant but infact all the females are. There's a very small baby boy and he has deep bites on his sides. I called my vet and they said to keep and eye on him for infections. But i think one of the other males might have done it so im not sure housing him with them is safe. I separated the males and females. And all females are together. Is that okay? will they fight or eat the others babies? and when will i be able to interact/touch them? When they are old enoough to leave will they be okay to put in with my spiny mice?

ANSWER: Dear Katy,
thank you for your question.
Spiny mice can be aggressive towards each other, especially when there are females around and when they don't have enough room. They need big cages with lots of space to climb. I recommend a minimum size of 40x20x40" (length, depth and height) for each of the groups, with lots of branches to climb on, they are excellent climbers and very fast.

The females will raise their babies with each other, spiny mice are good mothers and will take care of babies no matter who the mother is. The babies will need their mother for at least a month, but you can interact with them when they are two weeks or so old. You need to separate the males when they are two months old. You can try to introduce two of the young males to the single male. Big groups of males almost never work, there shouldn't be more than five males in a group. So it's probably better to keep rest of the young males apart form the two adults or to introduce just two of them.

The females can all stay with each other, but depending on the size of the group you are going to need an enourmous cage. The size I mentioned above is suitable for 5-6 mice. Here's a picture of a really bige cage for a about 20 spiny mice that was build from three closets (the wood needs to be varnished with nontoxic acryllic paint to make it pee-safe):
http://thargoid.net/angelus/lib/exe/detail.php?id=arten%3Astachelmaus&cache=cach
and here's a picture of a smaller cage, made from a small cabinet:
http://www.arcor.de/palb/foto_detail.jsp?albumID=3155885&pos=22&firstVisit=0&int
Later I took out the smaller level and put in more branches, the spiny mice enjoyed that very much. Branches, twigs and leaves from hazel, apple, pear, willow, poplar, alder, currant, beech, birch or maple are safe (make sure the trees are not sprayed with insecticides).

To introduce the mice, put them in the bathtub or somewhere else where they haven't been before. If they get along there, put them in a small cage (about 20" long, no less, they would be aggressive in smaller cages) without a house, just food, water, bedding and some hay to hide in. If they get along there, they can move into their normal cage after a day. The cage must be cleaned with hot water and vinegar to get rid of the smell and must be just as empty as the small cage. There must be no extra levels, too. If they continue to get along, you can give them toys, furniture and later more space with extra levels, one item per day.

Spiny mice are very curious, but usually don't enjoy being held. They will climb on your hand or arm, but if you try to hold one, you will proabably get nipped - not hard, but enough to make you let go. You can gently pet them, though, and they are very interesting to watch and will always come out of hiding to check what you are doing. Unlike fancy mice, they will just jump off your arm or tables when they are scared or want to get away.

The females must have extra animal protein in their diet now: silkworms (alive or dried), locusts, crickets, feeder roaches, dried brine shrimp or mealworms, but mealworms are very fatty and siny mice get fat fast anyway, so I would avoid them if possible. Normally, they should get one insect per mous per day, the females should have about twice that much.
Spiny mice are also very susceptible to diabetes and other disease caused or helped along by too much sugar in their diet, so they mustn't have any fruit or sweets treats swith sugar, honey or molasses. Their diet should consists of one tablespoon of food (mostly small seeds, for example a mixture of budgie and canary food) and leafy greens/vegetables at least every other day.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I had to separate the youngest male from the other males. They kept attacking him and his bites are deep. But today the lady i got them from brought over another mother who had 2 babies they are a day old. She was loose in her house and caught them. I thought since they were origionally together i could put her in with the others (who havent had their babies yet)and the other ones were nice to the babies and tried to take care of them, But one of the expecting mothers didnt want the mother near them and attacked her and got her kinda bad on her leg and shoulder area..so i took her and her babies out. But the others got along. Now the mother is running around i think looking for company, Im not sure what else to do.???

Answer
Wait until the babies are weaned, then try to introduce the female again or just leave her with her female babies. Right now the mothers have enough stress and introductions are always stressfull. You need to introduce slowly, like I described, even when the mice have lived together before. After they have been separated for more than about 24 hours, they don't recognize each other and will fight.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer