Did you read about what happened earlier in the week, when Kara's female mouse Frappe, had a taste of freedom? After about 30 hours on the loose, she was safely back in her cage. Kara feels one reason why she jumped out of her hands to make a beeline to Oreo's cage, is because she was lonely. It is recommended that you should have a 2-3 female mice living together, because they are very social. That not as true with male mice. You should keep them housed alone, because they can get very aggressive with other male mice. When Frappe had an unexpected litter she went from living with three other mice, to living all alone. Since they were all males, we had to remove them immediately so they did not hurt the babies. Kara was quite worried about her, especially after we had to take her last surviving baby, and nurse it by hand. Meet Luna! She is a pretty little black mouse. The last thing we need is another pet, but I agreed that Frappe could use another female friend. She is a little bit younger and smaller, but is used to living with other mice.
Kara has been introducing them slowly in a neutral location. For the most part they seem to get along, and like each other's company. Since Luna is a bit smaller, she is sometimes nervous with Frappe. Frappe has been a bit more excited to have a new friend, and has already tried to groom Luna. They should be full time cage mates soon.
The plan was that Lucky, who is now 6 weeks, was also going to go back and live with mama when full grown. We need to wait a few more weeks before the decision is made. It seems that our initial thought that Lucky was a girl, might be wrong. In the last week, there are signs that Lucky could be male. We should know for sure in about two more weeks. Male mice are able to mate at around eight weeks, so it should be clear then.
Also in about two weeks, we will know if Oreo, has become a father. When Frappe was on the loose we caught her many times climbing Oreo's cage. We would try to catch her while she was doing it, but she would run off. During the night, however, she could have visited him without us knowing. Since there are spaces between the bars, they could have technically "met up". I am hoping that there are no more babies, but we are aware that it is a possibility. I wish I had a clearer picture of Oreo, but he moves way too fast. He is also becoming a bit tubby. Kara has taught him to beg, and take food from her hand. He loves sunflower seeds, which are supposed to be only occasional treats. She showed me last night that whenever she gave him other treats, he would drop them. When it was a sunflower seed, he would happily eat it right up.
Hopefully now things will settle down with Kara's Christmas present that keeps on giving.
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