stressed mouse

Question
hello,
im wondering if you can help me, i have recently recieved a little male mouse from where i work he was going to be put to sleep due to the fact that he has itched myself and made himself sore. i have brought him home as a last resort really, hes been to the vet and they told us it was stress related. They believe that he was stressed as he went from a small cage to a big cage, he is now back in a small cage and im not sure what i can try next. Hes still itching a little and im wondering if theres anything i can try to help him.
many thanx Hannah

Answer
Dear Hannah,
thank you for your question.
Mice sometimes scratch themselves when they are stressed, but not all the time, it's more like humans scratching their head in confusion - it's displacement activity. I'm guessing that your mouse either has a fungal infection or parasites, most likely mites. Both needs to be treated or the mouse won't stop scratching. You can find mites easily yourself by putting a piece of adhesive tape on the mouse, any mites or other external parasites will stick to it. But to get the right treatment, you still need to see a vet, any medicine that can be bought in petshops is either useless or even harmfull. A fungal infection must be diagnosed by a vet with a skin sample.
The mouse should stay in the small cage for the time being because it makes desinfecting and cleaning the cage easier for you, but after being treated he can move back into the big cage.
www.rmca.org/Vets has a list of good mouse vets.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer