RandomWiktor
Rabid Betta Activist
I have a 1.5 year old albino mouse named Anja. I adopted her and 3 other mice from my college a while ago after their usefullness as injection practice animals wore out ( 
) and they were slated to be euthanized. Of the origional four, one has passed on from cancer as they were from labratory lines and thus not the healthiest little things. The other three have been perfectly fine. However, Anja has some kind of strange mystery malady plauging her, and I so I am posting at all of the animal forums I go to to see if anyone has seen similar symptoms.
Basically, once in a while (a few times a month), I'll go in to check on her and she'll essentially be hypothermic; cold to the touch, hardly able to move, and generally looking poor. 1/2 hour on the heating pad, and she's perfectly fine. She is always hungry and thirsty afterwords, presumably because she can't reach her food and water when this happens.
Anja is not underweight, which is why this would normally happen. She is actually slightly overweight. She has food and water available at all times, and is fed a balanced diet of Mazuri Rodent Pellets mixed with a variety of fresh fruits, veggies, seeds, and protien items. They are all "safe" items that our vet OK'd for her. Water is given at room temp. She also has a supply of feed-quality hay to munch on, though she more chews on it than eats it. The cage she is in is a 10g aquarium with topper and under-bedding tunnels, which is cleaned every other day with no chemicals (just v. hot water). She gets out of cage exersize every other day in a ball or playpen. Amongst the items in her cage are plastic tunnels and chambers under the bedding which she has not yet chewed on, a nestbox, a wheel (no slats), ceramic food and water bowls, and of course the ladder to her topper. She is on a mix of shredded paper and pine bedding, and has never shown a sensitivity to it (I had a VERY bad experience with carefresh and refuse to use it). Changing the bedding has not remedied the problem, so she is back on what she is used to. For now, I am keeping her in my room, which is always at around 72 degrees, so I can watch her. The room she was in never drops below 68, and all of the mice I've kept in there over the years have not had trouble with that temperature.
If you have any idea of what this might be caused by based on past experience with a similar problem. Please do tell me; we're all stumped. No change in bedding, settings, food, etc. have fixed this odd problem, and out vet can't find anything wrong with her health-wise.
Thanks!
edit: I have been wondering, is there any reason why she'd try to "hibernate?" I was under the impression that domestic mice couldn't do this, but.. eh? However, I don't see shy would try to do this as the lighting and temp is consistent.
) and they were slated to be euthanized. Of the origional four, one has passed on from cancer as they were from labratory lines and thus not the healthiest little things. The other three have been perfectly fine. However, Anja has some kind of strange mystery malady plauging her, and I so I am posting at all of the animal forums I go to to see if anyone has seen similar symptoms.Basically, once in a while (a few times a month), I'll go in to check on her and she'll essentially be hypothermic; cold to the touch, hardly able to move, and generally looking poor. 1/2 hour on the heating pad, and she's perfectly fine. She is always hungry and thirsty afterwords, presumably because she can't reach her food and water when this happens.
Anja is not underweight, which is why this would normally happen. She is actually slightly overweight. She has food and water available at all times, and is fed a balanced diet of Mazuri Rodent Pellets mixed with a variety of fresh fruits, veggies, seeds, and protien items. They are all "safe" items that our vet OK'd for her. Water is given at room temp. She also has a supply of feed-quality hay to munch on, though she more chews on it than eats it. The cage she is in is a 10g aquarium with topper and under-bedding tunnels, which is cleaned every other day with no chemicals (just v. hot water). She gets out of cage exersize every other day in a ball or playpen. Amongst the items in her cage are plastic tunnels and chambers under the bedding which she has not yet chewed on, a nestbox, a wheel (no slats), ceramic food and water bowls, and of course the ladder to her topper. She is on a mix of shredded paper and pine bedding, and has never shown a sensitivity to it (I had a VERY bad experience with carefresh and refuse to use it). Changing the bedding has not remedied the problem, so she is back on what she is used to. For now, I am keeping her in my room, which is always at around 72 degrees, so I can watch her. The room she was in never drops below 68, and all of the mice I've kept in there over the years have not had trouble with that temperature.
If you have any idea of what this might be caused by based on past experience with a similar problem. Please do tell me; we're all stumped. No change in bedding, settings, food, etc. have fixed this odd problem, and out vet can't find anything wrong with her health-wise.
Thanks!
edit: I have been wondering, is there any reason why she'd try to "hibernate?" I was under the impression that domestic mice couldn't do this, but.. eh? However, I don't see shy would try to do this as the lighting and temp is consistent.
/www.lssu.edu/faculty/jroese/AnimalCare/Mouse/Diet.htm
