Odd mouse behavior.

[HouseofCute]

I'm new to keeping mice (and these forums, so hi there). I have 2 males in different vivariums, one of which is acting very jumpy. He'll be eating or running or burrowing along like nothing is wrong, then suddenly jump and turn to one side or the other, occasionally scratching his side or chin afterward. I've seen this behavior in other animals infested with fleas, but I don't see any signs of them on him, or in the tank. Am I just being a paranoid first time mouse owner or does this sound like the early stages of a parasite infestation?

[Marybelle]

It could be mites (they usually hitch a ride in on bedding).  If it were fleas, you'd see them, I'm sure.  I'm not sure how to treat mites on mice, though.  I know you can use Ivermectin or Revolution for rats, but I'm not sure if they're safe for mice, too.

[LastEchoes]

It could be mites or it could just be a jumpy/hyper mouse.
Try to look at his fur/skin in bright light to check if you see any scabs/irritations. Mites are nearly microscopic so you won't see them.

And same treatment can be used for mice as for rats, just the dosage will need to be properly adjusted by the vet.

[HouseofCute]

Well, I just checked little Grendel over and saw no sign of irritation (beyond shaking his tail at me for daring to scoop him out of his house, home wrecker that I am.  ). His skin is uniformly white under black fur, though he had 'dandruf' that could also be from the aspen chips. He also shed a few hairs while I had him in the bathroom, but I was back brushing his fur with my finger, so I might have just shaken out some loose ones.

I'll keep checking him for the next few days, but he hasn't been away from his litter long, so the sudden behavior change could just be adjusting to having 5 gallons of fun to himself. Right now he's digging through his bowl for the sunflower seed at the bottom, so I don't think he's mad or otherwise out of sorts. Thank you both for the input. I'll update if there are noteworthy developments.

[LastEchoes]

Try switching the bedding to something else for a few days to see if it'll make a difference. You don't even have to buy a whole new bedding type, can just use papertowels/cloth. Perhaps its something about aspen that's bugging him.....

Oh and my mice(when I had them) LOVED carefresh bedding. I know its more expensive but it's more 'fun' than woodbased bedding. They used to build some crazy tunnels in carefresh....like freaking ants lol They had a tunnel going from house to under the wheel and branching off to 'potty house' and to next to the food dish. Aspen doesnt really allow for that kind of creativity. =)

[HouseofCute]

We keep all of our rodents on a 50/50 mix of Carefresh and aspen chips. (We have a pair of chinchillas too.) Grendel had straight chips for a couple of days until we could get another bag of the paper stuff. I'll put both him and Hrothgar on just the paper and see if that helps. Thanks for the heads up.

Oh, random other question: would Yesterday's News work in a litter box or is it too big a chewing risk with mice?

[LastEchoes]

No clue on that last question. I"ve never used  yesterday's news for any of my pets...that bedding just doesnt appeal to me in general.