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[Lime Green Mouse]

Has anyone else ever experienced barbering by male mice?  I've seen it commonly in female lab mice, and count myself lucky that none of my own females practice it, but lately I've noticed one of my males seeming to barber any females I place in his cage.  It's pretty peculiar, since I had thought this was largely a female behavior, and I'd love to know if anyone else has witnessed or heard about this.   

[Toast]

One of my males did that a long time ago, but to other males. I gave the male to the humane society. It seems that if they A) don't have enough room   B) Not enough food   C) their mother did it    they probably will.

[Herman63]

I take it you mean cleaning each other? If so my Male BEW does it alot when he is with the females think he just does it to butter them up........


Herman63

[Lime Green Mouse]

Interesting.  I wonder if his mother did it, or if he just doesn't like sharing the cage with the ladies.  I didn't have him as a pup, so maybe. 

Herman, barbering is when the dominant mouse chews the hair or whiskers of the other mice in a certain pattern, or from certain parts of their bodies.  It's a bigger deal if you're showing them, I'm sure, but all it is for me is interesting and a sign that I should watch for dominance contests and fighting.  My bucks like to just groom their ladies, too, ha, it's pretty cute! 

[Toast]

Well, the biggest thing about barbering is that it is a learned habit, so he must have learned it from somewhere else

[Lime Green Mouse]

I can definitely see that, especially in my lab mouse experience, but I thought there was still debate over whether or not it could be genetic?  I've heard people warning against breeding females who barber - maybe they just meant so that she wouldn't barber the pups and teach them to do it?

[Toast]

Well, the instinct probably is genetic.