# help me sex this mouse



## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

so the story is we got 4 mice on saturday who we thought were all females, on sunday i caught sooty humping one of the other mice so to be safe we gave him/her their own cage

we arent 100% sure sooty is a male so i tried to take some pictures and this is the best one out of a bad bunch

so, ladies and gents of the pet forums, is sooty a male or female










sorry for the poor pic


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## WelshYorkieLover (Oct 16, 2011)

Cant really tell too well from the pic I'm sorry but it looks like a little girl. Can you see little nipples up her tummy and chest? If so its a little girl.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

WelshYorkieLover said:


> Cant really tell too well from the pic I'm sorry but it looks like a little girl. Can you see little nipples up her tummy and chest? If so its a little girl.


my OH said he has seen nipples but i havnt as shes too dark

in that pic it looks like there are three


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2012)

Looks like a girl to me but the pic isn't great so can't be 100% sure.
However if the mouse was a boy there is no way you would miss his testicles, they are huge compared to the size of the mouse :lol:


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

B3rnie said:


> Looks like a girl to me but the pic isn't great so can't be 100% sure.
> However if the mouse was a boy there is no way you would miss his testicles, they are huge compared to the size of the mouse :lol:


would they be huge even at 10 weeks old?


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## peter0 (Oct 4, 2011)

If it were a boy you would notice his man bits easily. When my girl had an accidental litter i was scared of sexing but it was easy and you could see his bits very clearly at 4 weeks, so yes you would notice at 10 weeks

The humping could have been a dominance thing, they do it to show who's going to be the main boss.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

thank you

so i think its safe to say that sooty is a girl and she should go back in with her sisters?


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2012)

tinktinktinkerbell said:


> would they be huge even at 10 weeks old?


Not as obvious as an adult but at 10 weeks there would be definite testicles


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Mice can retract their testicles Bernie, they can hide them very easily so dont use the testicle rule on its own. If you pop him/her on a glass so their bum hangs off you can sometimes encourage them to pop out again, I always go by the nipples but even that isnt 100% as some males can have nipples. Having said that if you wet her stomach and you see nipples its 99% certain that shes a girl.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

oh crikey its so confusing haha


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2012)

thedogsmother said:


> Mice can retract their testicles Bernie, they can hide them very easily so dont use the testicle rule on its own. If you pop him/her on a glass so their bum hangs off you can sometimes encourage them to pop out again, I always go by the nipples but even that isnt 100% as some males can have nipples. Having said that if you wet her stomach and you see nipples its 99% certain that shes a girl.


Good point, I forgot about that. All the boys I have had have been very obvious boys :lol:


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## Ratty man (Apr 15, 2012)

Mice definitely aren't as easy to sex as Rats but by 4 weeks you should be 99.9% sure whether they are male or female.

I've never got it wrong yet, first time for everything as they say


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

ok so ive just put sooty back in with the other 3 girls and she immediately tried to hump one of them so we took her out again


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## Ratty man (Apr 15, 2012)

Definitely sounds like a boy then as i've never seen female mice trying to hump each other.

Though i'm not saying it's not possible.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

Ratty man said:


> Definitely sounds like a boy then as i've never seen female mice trying to hump each other.
> 
> Though i'm not saying it's not possible.


apparently they can do it as a sign of dominance, its all so confusing


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Female mice and rats do hump other females, its dominance related. If it was my mouse I would be wetting its belly and looking for nipples.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

thedogsmother said:


> Female mice and rats do hump other females, its dominance related. If it was my mouse I would be wetting its belly and looking for nipples.


easier said than done when the mouse is like speedy gonzales :lol:


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

tinktinktinkerbell said:


> easier said than done when the mouse is like speedy gonzales :lol:


Hold her tail while shes sat in your hand so she cant run off, get a bowl of water and dab the water on your finger, dab it onto her belly till shes wet underneath, then lift her gently by the base of her tail, support her front end if you can. I usually find the nipples either side of the belly between the rear legs, they are like tiny pinpoints.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

thedogsmother said:


> Hold her tail while shes sat in your hand so she cant run off, get a bowl of water and dab the water on your finger, dab it onto her belly till shes wet underneath, then lift her gently by the base of her tail, support her front end if you can. I usually find the nipples either side of the belly between the rear legs, they are like tiny pinpoints.


i can see nipples there in the pic i posted

i cant pick mice up by the tails, so worried about hurting them, havnt even held her yet


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

If you hold them very close to their bodies and only do it for a short time you wont hurt them, its not something I like to do either but in a situation like this I would do it. If youre sure you can see nipples, then reintro them, if shes constantly chasing the others or drawing blood then obviously seperate them again but the odd squeak and slight chasing and a bit of humping is their way of working out heirachy.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

thedogsmother said:


> If you hold them very close to their bodies and only do it for a short time you wont hurt them, its not something I like to do either but in a situation like this I would do it. If youre sure you can see nipples, then reintro them, if shes constantly chasing the others or drawing blood then obviously seperate them again but the odd squeak and slight chasing and a bit of humping is their way of working out heirachy.


what if instead of putting sooty in with her sisters we put her in with the older mice (who are about 4-5 months old) would that sort her out? IE stop her humping


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## rainstars (May 3, 2012)

You can tell a male and female apart by:


Comparing the anogenital distance
*Checking for a vaginal orifice*

The distance/space between the anus and the genitals is smaller on a female.

Both males and females have a little 'bump'. On a male it's the *penile shaft*, on a female it's the *urethral orifice*. The penile shaft looks more pointy. The female it's slightly rounder and smoother looking.

Above the 'bump' check for a hole (very close to it) if it has one it's female, if not it's male.



















I know you updated saying you _think_ that you can see nipples but I've posted this anyway.


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## rainstars (May 3, 2012)

tinktinktinkerbell said:


> what if instead of putting sooty in with her sisters we put her in with the older mice (who are about 4-5 months old) would that sort her out? IE stop her humping


I think she would be better off with her sisters / mice her own age. The humping is normal, if they start fighting (badly) then think about it.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

rainstars said:


> I think she would be better off with her sisters / mice her own age. The humping is normal, if they start fighting (badly) then think about it.


i would put her back with her sisters if i was 100% sure she was female

i might see if we can get her on the glass chopping board later for a proper look

EDIT: the plan was to put all the mice together eventually anyway


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

Looks female, and I'd say I'm about 99% sure. Even at 10 weeks the funbags on the boys can be pretty noticeable - these were mine at 4 weeks old from behind and you can see the trademark bulges starting:









ETA: Humping for dominance won't do them any harm so put her back in with her sisters and leave them to it  It is only an issue if they start hurting one another, my dominant girls hump their cagemates regularly and are so used to it that they will even carry on eating while it's happening.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

zany_toon said:


> Looks female, and I'd say I'm about 99% sure. Even at 10 weeks the funbags on the boys can be pretty noticeable - these were mine at 4 weeks old from behind and you can see the trademark bulges starting:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yes i see what you mean now about seeing the bumps 

gorgeous mice! :thumbup:

she chased one round for a few mins then jumped on her :lol: looks like shes going to be quite bossy


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

tinktinktinkerbell said:


> yes i see what you mean now about seeing the bumps
> 
> gorgeous mice! :thumbup:
> 
> she chased one round for a few mins then jumped on her :lol: looks like shes going to be quite bossy


A lot of mice are bossy  Or at least mine are  One of mine is so bossy that she sits in the food bowl when I fill it and stop the others going near it until she finishes :lol: Just makes them more fun


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

zany_toon said:


> A lot of mice are bossy  Or at least mine are  One of mine is so bossy that she sits in the food bowl when I fill it and stop the others going near it until she finishes :lol: Just makes them more fun


haha aww bless 

milly is the bossy one of the older two, she likes cleaning lilly and wont let lilly move till shes finished, pins her down :lol:


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## rainstars (May 3, 2012)

Your mice are so cute zany!


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

rainstars said:


> Your mice are so cute zany!


Thank you  All those boys and girls are now at the bridge but they were lovely and always so friendly and cheeky.


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## tinktinktinkerbell (Nov 15, 2008)

soooooo

we put sooty in with the other 3 girls last night and sweep tried to jump on her (to hump :lol: ) she also got her when sooty was reaching up to have a stretch, sweep came along and grabbed her :lol:

sooty did hump sweep too lol

but theyve all settled and ive ordered some wheels  (flying saucer ones)


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