Why did my mouse nip me?
Recently I just got two new fancy mice. One is really skittish and the other one has warmed up to me really quick, but isn’t too fond. She lets me pick her up and she will walk in my hand, and I recently found she took interest in a bit of corn I held for her in my fingers, but she tried to nip me. It didn’t hurt at all and didn’t even feel like anything, so I’m wondering what it could have possibly meant?
I just got them 2 days ago and I know I need to leave them alone for awhile, but I still question why she tried to nibble me if she seemed more warmed up than the other mouse.
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I don't know much about the mice, but I know rats and with rats is that a young or new rat (that doesn't know you) has to learn the smell of you finger to tell apart what is food and what is your finger.
It could be also the case for older rats at times:
when you have your fingers all dirty with some food like let's say yoghurt - then the rat (especially the greedy one) can have problems telling where the food ends and where the finger begins :)
when you have your finger "dirty" with something that rat doesn't know (like a hand cream) but on the other hand rat knows you and know that with a finger you give him food, so it assumes that since it is not your finger (because your fingers have a different smell) so it must be a food, and then it bites.
It can also be a kind of fight / game that young animals often play with each other and so the bites aren't really bites but rather nips as you say.
I don't know where did you get your mice from but in pet shops the life for such animals can be tough so they learn some defensive reactions to hands / fingers.
And last but not least like among humans in some rare cases, some just don't like others getting too close to them so they "bite", or the "bite" just because they like to do it.
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