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Author Topic: The Attempt to Save Noir from Barbering  (Read 1220 times)
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Mrs. Beach
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« Reply #45 on: June 04, 2010, 04:43:03 PM »
Well, I had a bully mouse I had to remove from her colony and she was living alone, so I tried putting Tache with her and it was a perfect balance of power.  Big T didn't bully Tache and Tache didn't barber Big T.  I rehomed them both at RodentFest.

Noir has moved in with Rocket, my African Soft-Furred Rat (are these mice or rats?), but even before then, she began scratching her right eye and whisker pad.  Noir has regrown her whiskers, but her whisker pads are pretty sparse, still.  I am hoping her self-scratching doesn't get too bad.  She's also got dried blood inside her left ear.  Have been using zinc oxide ointment, which worked very well on another mouse with the same problem.  She keeps scratching.

Barbering is a learned behavior, and I guess Noir learned it from Tache.  That's why I put Noir in with Rocket, so all the other mice in the colony she had been in wouldn't learn it.  Rocket's a different species so I'm hoping it's unlikely that he learns it from her.
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--Mrs. Beach, Sleeket, Blanche and Rose, Blue Boy, Punkin, Friendly, El-em, Teddy, five rescue boys (HJ, Giles, Montaigne, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid); Bunny and Lynx; Rocket, the African Soft-Furred Rat and Noir; Tinta and Button, Mrs. Peach, Roxy, Splish, Trilady, and Gossamer.
nuedaimice
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« Reply #46 on: June 09, 2010, 03:57:26 PM »
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Barbering is a learned behavior, and I guess Noir learned it from Tache.  That's why I put Noir in with Rocket, so all the other mice in the colony she had been in wouldn't learn it.  Rocket's a different species so I'm hoping it's unlikely that he learns it from her.

I just finished an article on barbering where I studied some lab reports on the subject. I was very surprised at the findings, as I think others will be too.

I'm publishing it soon.
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Mrs. Beach
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« Reply #47 on: June 09, 2010, 05:41:26 PM »
I would LOVE to read your report!!!!!
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--Mrs. Beach, Sleeket, Blanche and Rose, Blue Boy, Punkin, Friendly, El-em, Teddy, five rescue boys (HJ, Giles, Montaigne, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid); Bunny and Lynx; Rocket, the African Soft-Furred Rat and Noir; Tinta and Button, Mrs. Peach, Roxy, Splish, Trilady, and Gossamer.
Mrs. Beach
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« Reply #48 on: August 27, 2010, 07:49:31 AM »
Word arrived from the person who adopted Tache and Big T at RodentFest.  She put them both in a colony with big brindles and they are both very well behaved!  So I guess the solution is to put barbers in with stronger, more dominant mice.
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--Mrs. Beach, Sleeket, Blanche and Rose, Blue Boy, Punkin, Friendly, El-em, Teddy, five rescue boys (HJ, Giles, Montaigne, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid); Bunny and Lynx; Rocket, the African Soft-Furred Rat and Noir; Tinta and Button, Mrs. Peach, Roxy, Splish, Trilady, and Gossamer.
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