Ok I started off with 2 mice (Lexi and Luna) and a few days later I got 5 more mice, now 2 of those are kept as a pair as they are too small to go into the 'big cage' right now but the other 3 I introduced to the 2 I had already.

I put all 5 into a neutral space (a zoo zone) with toys that had never been used by any of them.
They got on great and snuggled up together in 1 corner and interacted with each other. After a few hours I moved them into the Feddy 2 max, it had had a thorough clean out and I had washed all the toys and accessories.
That was on saturday and they were all fine.

But yesterday there was alot of squeaking and chasing, I watched them and it seems it was the new 3 that were chasing the old 2 everytime they came out of the house they were sleeping in They wouldn't let them come out and when they did they would just keep chasing them until they went back in.


So today I have taken them all back out of the freddy 2 and put them back into the zoo zone, it has been cleaned out, and they are getting on fine again.
So now what do I do? I was thinking maybe scrub the cage again and move all the toys about.
They are fine in the zz but when I put them in the big cage they dont get along.

Please help.

What is it YR uses on there backs.. a bit of vanilla??? Now I know that might not change things in the new cage but its worth a try...

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Yep I dab some vanilla essence on them when I put them in the zoo zone.
Maybe I should put some more on them before I put them into the freddy 2 max.
Would dabbing some of it around the cage before I put them in aswell help do you think?

LOL I wouldn't know.. it may then think its all the same.. im not sure.. My other thought would be split the three and just add maybe one or two? Im not an expert on the..

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I wouldn't give them any toys at all purple_x. Whenever I have done introductions I have always introduced them in a small cage first (like a savic rody) with vanilla on their backs, bums and heads. I leave them with no toys at all in the rody for about a week. If all is okay after that I then move them onto a bigger cage but again with no toys. If after a few days all is still okay I add the toys over several days to a fortnight (normally only one or two toys a day.) Doing that I've only had one introduction fail and I've done several now. I know it's also worked for a lot of the mouse owners on AAM and with the rescues when they introduce older mice to new younger ones. If you don't have a small cage to do this, you could even buy a plastic box and add plenty of holes for ventilation and use that instead My personal opinion is that doing it the way you have is causing the mice to lay claim to the toys and is causing too much upset in one day which is resulting in them squabbling and chasing. I've tried it once or twice that way too and it never worked so i would try a small enclosure and no toys instead Hope it works out as bigger groups of mice are great to watch!

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Run free my beautiful rainbow babies. I love you.

As ZT says, no toys, scatter feed, and a dab of vanilla essecnce on their backs is how I do it, when you start adding toys after a few days do it one or two at a time and watch how they are with each other, a few squeaks are normal but if they go into a proper fight you will need to get one out.

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gsds (Henrick and Bella), the cats (Syd, Lilly, Elvis and Dizzy), the gerbils (Honey, Lisa, crusty, Millhouse, Flanders, Bart and Homer), the rats (Valentine, Flower, Petal, Blossom, Koda, Cava, George), the mice (Minnie, Pop, Seudag, Caraid, Silver, Trouble, Athena, Pandora, Aphrodite, Meep, and Springtime)

Oh thank you so much for the advice
I didn't realise you had to keep them in the smaller cage for at least a week.

They are in a zoo zone 1, is that small enough? Or I have a mini duna without the level if that's any better?

They have no toys in there right now, just scattered food, a few water bottles and open nests. They are all cuddled up asleep in the same bedding pile atm, bless them.

While they are bonding is it ok to get them out and handle them? Or is it best to just leave them alone for now?

If they have settled in the zoozone just now I would leave them in it - it might also help when you put them in the Freddy as there isn't such a massive difference in floor space A lot of people don't leave them in the intro cage for a full week but that's what i've done for intros and it's worked (the ones where I moved them into a bigger cage the same day failed miserably!) You said that you have open nests - are the beds you have added? I only give mine bedding no actual beds as they will work together and build a nice cosy nest because they have nothing else to do As for handling I would still handle them but leave them for the first day or two (treat it as you would when you first brought them home) although if your mice are anything like mine they won't give you much of an option so don't stop them if they decide they want to use you as a climbing frame or want a group cuddle When i introduced the girls that form my big group (12 mice, 3 separate groups of sisters) I opened up the cage to feed them and ended up with 12 limpets stuck on my arm all wanting to snuggle into the crook of my arm!

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Run free my beautiful rainbow babies. I love you.

Aawww that's so sweet.

There is a large cardboard box in there that they are all in at the moment, should I take that out?
There was lots of bedding in the cage but they dragged it all into the box together.

Nah, I'd say leave it if they made the nest in it together

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Run free my beautiful rainbow babies. I love you.