inbred mouse

hmm. inbred mouse. they end up with problems.
i was going to buy one today. it was SOO cute and i fell for it. i put it in the cage and the pet shop woman suddenly saw it spinning. we guessed it was brain damaged from inbreeding or something.

she asked if i wanted to pick a different one. i said i'd like to give it a home, even if it did have problems. what else wil lit get? a home as a feeder for some snake? it was adorable but it was so hard to watch this poor baby just running in circles. it was almost disturbing.

this couldn't bee contagious or soemhting? like a disease? i don't expect that it is but i thought i would double check. if its fine i might go back in and see if its worth rescuing these babies. or would it be cruel to even have them live? whats their quality of life? would it be better if their life ended than if they kept spinning?

if it seems like a good idea, i'll go back and ask for these 2 spinning babies. but i'd feel awful whenever i saw them

advice?

Were they running around or spinning? Did they seem to have problems staying on their feet? Pet store mice are notoriously inbred, not many pet stores will take the time and energy to separate the genders in time. There's only a very small window of time between a male mouse needing to be with it's mother, and wanting to be with a female, even it's mother.

Might be hereditary problems, might be inner ear infection, or could be a tumour. Inbreeding raises the instances of some tumours. If it's some kind of infection, the problem is that it's instincual for rodents to hide weakness such as illness because it shows them to be easy prey. Once their illness is visible it's pretty far along.

Just on the off chance that it is something infectious to the mice you have, I wouldn't bring them home. Sorry, I know it pulls on the heartstrings but better safe than sorry, right?

mmm.

it wasnt her that bred them. she breeds mice but she seems more careful. these were ones that she got given by a woman earlier that day. she hadn't checked over them all yet.

they were spinning in tight little circles.

It is an inner ear problem (most often) or brain damage, either way it is bad news for a mouse. I have seen it before.

Mrose, I do understand this temptation! I am the same way ... see a troubled critter and I'm like "Don't worry li'l beastie, I'll get you right...or I'm sure gonna try!!! [Smooch!]"

If it were me ... which means in this case what I'm going to say isn't necessarily good advice! ... I might take it home and keep it well away from other creatures (quarantine), then feed it really healthy stuff and medicate it if necessary.

I've no idea if this issue crosses between species, but I know that in some birds a related neurological 'twirling' condition can be caused by fungal infections and/or certain nutritional deficiencies. So maybe you could help...?? Or yes, it might be inbred.

Del.

My first thought was inner ear infection...pretty much all pet store mice are horribly inbred but I've never seen that in them.

But I agree with everything Meggie said...whatever is causing the spinning is *probably* not contagious, but either way, he probably has something else your mouse could get.

inner ear infection... hmm. ok. do you think i shoudl go back and rescue those 2 babies that twirl?

i have a friend, she breeds mice. but not responsibly. they are mainlyinbred. she has one she calls hurricane because it just spins all the time. has since forver

Sorry if I seem cruel and uncaring but i'd just leave it be. If it ends up as snake food so be it. You never know, and that 5 dollar mouse may end up costing hundreds. Is it really worth it for a mouse?

I mean we are talking about a rodent that can be fine one minute and croak the next with no warning

If you were to rescue them... couldn't you keep the two spinning mice in the same cage and avoid exposing them to your non spinning mice? Poor little spinners... must be awful for them.