my mouse is shaking and moving slowly?

Question

i had two mice.. after 2 months the one died he was moving very slowly and shaking i picked him up to warm him up if he was cold but he would not stop. i put him back into the cage and he didnt move but was breathing heavily. the next morning he was dead in the same spot... i checked n held him close to bedtime


now my other mouse is doing the same thing yesterday he was fine and running in his wheel jumping around n everything now he is moving very slowly, shaking, n trying to run in his wheel but keeps falling over..


what is wroung with my mice, what is their illness


can i do anything to prevent them

p.s.
my mice were in my room then the one died, now the one is in the basement with my chinchillas. right next to them.. idk if the chinchillas could be a factor because my other mouse was not incontact with them and it died.

Answer 1

I can't say what the illness is, but there are several things you can do to help prevent them.

First is sanitation. Make sure your mice always have access to a clean water supply. Change it regularly (twice a week or so), and more often if it gets contaminated by bedding or food. If any droppings get in the water, change it immediately. A dropper water bottle is better for maintaining a clean water supply than an open dish.

If you think a mouse has a contagious disease, put it in a separate cage. Throw out the bedding, water and food. Clean the original cage thoroughly with hot soapy water with a little bleach. Rinse thoroughly (at least 3 times) and dry before putting the unaffected mice back.

Second, make sure they have good nutrition by feeding them a balanced diet specifically for mice. The easiest solution is to provide a commercial pelleted mouse diet. Mice in the wild eat seeds, fleshy roots, leaves, stems, insects, and some meats, if available. So they cannot eat only a single food (like seeds) and stay healthy

Third, make sure the bedding is non-allergenic. Some pet stores recommend cedar shavings for small pets like mice, but mice can be allergic to cedar. Ground corn cobs are a good choice and are also absorbent.

Finally, (assuming you buy your mice from a pet store) make sure your mice are not infected when you buy them. This can be difficult to determine, but look for a supplier that knows how to care for their mice. If they are not well cared for in the store, it is a good sign the dealer does not know or care about the health of the animals. Also, ask before you buy about their policy if your mouse gets sick. Is there a time period during which you can bring it back? Can they help diagnose the problem? What would they recommend you do? If the dealer does not seem to want to make sure you receive a healthy, happy mouse, go to a different dealer.

I have included a link to the Louisana Veterinary Medical Association's page on the biology of the mouse. One fact listed that relates to your mouse's symptoms - mice do not shiver in response to lower environmental temperatures. They increase their metabolic rate, which means they would need additional food. So, when your mouse shivered, it would not have been because he was cold.

The LVMA page lists several diseases (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasites), although no symptoms. But if the disease is contagious, keeping the cage clean and isolating the mice should keep it under control. If the disease is caused by a nutritional lack or by an allergy to an environmental agent, changing their food and bedding should also help.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Hi,

This definitely sounds like some sort of poisoning, or a disease effecting the central nervous system which is how poison effects mice. I think the person above is right in that it could maybe be water contamination, chemicals or even something you are using in the cage. Do you use cedar shavings for bedding? This can be toxic for most animals, although commonly sold as pet bedding. I'm sorry to hear about your mice :-(

Answer 3

This hard to answer. What I would first suspect is chemicals. Maybe something you sprayed around them or something that may be around their food.
This may sound off the wall, but, may be it your water? City or Well water can have contaminates or heavy chlorine. It may not hurt us or a dog or cat, but, for "ppm (parts per million)" it could affect something as small as a mouse. You could try buying a gallon of distilled water and changing the water. This a wild guess and it may be too late to try.