Black mouse mites?

My male black mouse seems to have a skin issue he looks oily, white pecks on fur, lumps from what seems to be scratching. And a patch of fur missing. Behind his head. His eyes seem watery.
I noticed a while ago it seemed like he had a bump on the back of his head but now there is a lot of small ones everywhere. I did start adding something to the water for my mice but I don’t think that’s the issue.
Is there anything I can do to help? I don’t have access to a vet for mice.this is what I have been adding to the water. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e3ad1e657f.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...723121ae6a.jpg

This is the best picture I could get of bunker and the spot the fur is gone

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eff8496582.jpg



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There are many reasons why you can see scabs/bump and missing patches of fur

Mites
Bites from other mice
Allergies to either bedding or food too reach in protein
Injuries

Agree with Deborah's post above, & if only one mouse has health issues, personally I'd euthanize it to prevent the spread to the colony, though it may be too late.
I've raised my own mice for a few decades & they've stayed healthy...it's always a risk adding "new blood" that bring other things (such as mites) to the group.

How long have you been raising mice? Is there more than one male in group? They fight, so it's not surprising that they end up with injuries & infections, & stress
lowers their immune system, making it easier for mites & systemic illness (& yes, he's sick, IMO). If he's your only breeder, I'd replace him, which can be tricky-
the females may resist accepting a new male, or the new male may attack them instead of "bringing candy & flowers". ;) Male mice can be real jerks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Agree with Deborah's post above, & if only one mouse has health issues, personally I'd euthanize it to prevent the spread to the colony, though it may be too late.
I've raised my own mice for a few decades & they've stayed healthy...it's always a risk adding "new blood" that bring other things (such as mites) to the group.

How long have you been raising mice? Is there more than one male in group? They fight, so it's not surprising that they end up with injuries & infections, & stress
lowers their immune system, making it easier for mites & systemic illness (& yes, he's sick, IMO). If he's your only breeder, I'd replace him, which can be tricky-
the females may resist accepting a new male, or the new male may attack them instead of "bringing candy & flowers". ;) Male mice can be real jerks.

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There was three got two females in March and one male in June. but the white female died from an unknown cause 3 months ago she was isolated for a month before she she died. I have been keeping them since March and the male since June. The female that’s with him now is showing signs of sickness but not so bad as he is. Hes pretty calm compared to the female. But I haven’t seen or heard them fight


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Agree with Deborah's post above, & if only one mouse has health issues, personally I'd euthanize it to prevent the spread to the colony, though it may be too late.
I've raised my own mice for a few decades & they've stayed healthy...it's always a risk adding "new blood" that bring other things (such as mites) to the group.

How long have you been raising mice? Is there more than one male in group? They fight, so it's not surprising that they end up with injuries & infections, & stress
lowers their immune system, making it easier for mites & systemic illness (& yes, he's sick, IMO). If he's your only breeder, I'd replace him, which can be tricky-
the females may resist accepting a new male, or the new male may attack them instead of "bringing candy & flowers". ;) Male mice can be real jerks.

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Also I have never been able to get the two to breed


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Parsons483

Also I have never been able to get the two to breed


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Not surprising...sick mice don't breed. Hope you can start over with un-related mice from another source. That's what I'd do. I assume you're trying to raise your own
snake food? Many mice sold in pet stores are marginal quality (health-wise & often inbred), so it can take a while to get a colony going. I can recall many years ago when
I first got some albino mice from a pet store that they never did breed...it was almost like they'd been fed something or exposed to something to render them sterile (so
the supplier of mice had no competition? One wonders...?) But later I got a mixture of colorful genetics & have bred my own for decades now, lol. I've only ever added
one or two maybe twice in all this time...& I surely hesitated, worrying about what risks I was exposing my healthy mice to, but it all worked out ok. You have to realize
that pet stores love to buy mice cheaply to sell as feeders, so all too often the people who supply them cut corners, making them health risks. (Many have been found
raising their feeders in dirty cages & dirty sheds that are accessed by wild rats or other rodents, which carry parasites & diseases. Need I say more?)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Not surprising...sick mice don't breed. Hope you can start over with un-related mice from another source. That's what I'd do. I assume you're trying to raise your own
snake food? Many mice sold in pet stores are marginal quality (health-wise & often inbred), so it can take a while to get a colony going. I can recall many years ago when
I first got some albino mice from a pet store that they never did breed...it was almost like they'd been fed something or exposed to something to render them sterile (so
the supplier of mice had no competition? One wonders...?) But later I got a mixture of colorful genetics & have bred my own for decades now, lol. I've only ever added
one or two maybe twice in all this time...& I surely hesitated, worrying about what risks I was exposing my healthy mice to, but it all worked out ok. You have to realize
that pet stores love to buy mice cheaply to sell as feeders, so all too often the people who supply them cut corners, making them health risks. (Many have been found
raising their feeders in dirty cages & dirty sheds that are accessed by wild rats or other rodents, which carry parasites & diseases. Need I say more?)

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The two females were a gift from a family member for her birthday last year. And I got the snake the summer so I figured I would try to breed them for snake food (my daughter understands Odin needs to eat too). I figured something of odd for them to not breed so bunker must have been sick from the day I got him :(. All three were bought from the same store it’s a local owned pet store. And most of the mice they sell are freshly weaned from their mothers (mine weren’t that young ).


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Parsons483

The two females were a gift from a family member for her birthday last year. And I got the snake the summer so I figured I would try to breed them for snake food (my daughter understands Odin needs to eat too). I figured something of odd for them to not breed so bunker must have been sick from the day I got him :(. All three were bought from the same store it’s a local owned pet store. And most of the mice they sell are freshly weaned from their mothers (mine weren’t that young ).


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Since your female mice "weren't that young" they were (are) well past the window of opportunity to breed & fyi, I get a few mice that just seem resistant to breeding even though young enough & healthy. My hold-backs are chosen for outward health, but if they don't breed in a reasonable length of time, they're dinner. :rolleyes: It can be the male's fault, OR the females...but either way, I have more than enough to supply my 17 snakes. I used to breed more & sell surplus, but that was a bigger house, & bigger rodent set-up...here I just supply my own. Sounds like your females are only suitable for pets. (& the male is pretty much useless, sorry) Mice only live about 2 years...the females need to breed when they're young adults, once physically big enough. So your 2 mice past their prime, they probably ganged up on the male if he tried to mate, that could have promoted his health woes. You need to start over with a young trio of mice...even if related. Frankly, he never had a chance.

What color are the tiny little dots? Black, white or a brownish red? Parasites would mean the entire colony is affected whether you symptoms or the parasites themselves are visible on the entire colony or not, and only the animal whose immune system is weakening due to the parasites displays the symptoms that drew your attention.

Regardless of whether they're mites or lice, refrain from switching/combining mice from separate tanks. The entire colony will need to be treated with Selamectin, Ivermectin or Moxidectin. Ivermectin, available at feed/farm stores, is so potent it's difficult enough calculating and then actually administering a dose miniature enough not to kill rats so I'm not sure how you'd go about it with mice. Selamectin is available as Revolution (you'll want the treatment for the lowest weight cat or for kittens) and Moxidectin is available as orange label Advantage (NOT Advantage II of Advantix) for cats under 9lbs which you can't really find nowadays since Advantage II has come out since but it contains Imidacloprid in addition to the Moxidectrin which is what you're trying to avoid.

My Spanish isn't the best to read those ingredients well, but I wouldn't be using that additive or any other for that matter. Citric acid is going to raise the pH of the water, which can cause all sorts of problems. The problem with using supplements in water is that it's impossible to give an accurate dose, so they can get too much.

I wouldn't treat for parasites without actually seeing any. May need a magnifying glass to check for them. I would be careful handling them and washing your hands till you know for sure. Ivermectin works great but you will have to dilute it very precisely to properly dose them, water works fine, store a bottle of the dilute solution in the fridge and toss it after the treatment course because it will go bad. The undiluted portion can last a pretty good while if stored away from heat and light.