My Meeces - The Present Bunch

Here are all my current mice in order of who moved in first!

Molly

I’d never had spiny mice before I homed Molly and Matilda. They, like some 400 others, came from a huge rescue where they were living in the most appalling conditions and were going to be gassed if they weren’t found homes pronto. Fortunately by the power of the Internet a huge push was made to find places for them and just about every rescue and foster in the south of England ended up with spinys. Unfortunately most of them were injured, maimed, ill, malnourished or pregnant and many died, had to have limbs/tails amputated or be PTS. Even so there were still literally hundreds needing homes so I swatted up on any spiny info I could find and become a spiny mouse Mum! Fortunately it turned out neither of my original girls were pregnant and apart from a complete lack of tail Molly is in excellent health. She is the maddest of all my spinys, leaps around like crazy and thinks nothing of hanging upside down by one leg in mid air before bouncing off a wall and onto something else. Think street jumper massively sped up and you’re about there!

Matilda

I got Matilda at the same time as Molly and the two are the best of friends. She’s not as out and out bonkers as her sister but still bounces around in the way only spinys can lol! She has a stump where her tail should be but other wise seems completely unscathed by her awful start in life. Update, after the arrival of Sam Matilda lives with just Amelia, which fortunately everyone seems totally happy about!

Amelia

Amelia is one of the second pair of spiny mice I homed from the same rescue case. She and Heidi were successfully introduced to the two girls I already had and the four of them got on brilliantly until Heidi died unexpectedly. Amelia pined awfully for her friend and there was a tense time when it looked as though Molly and Matilda were rejecting her but fortunately over time the three of them settled down and are now a very bonded little trio. Amelia also has the most tail of all my spinys - almost half!

Grace

As you can see from the photo my Grace is a disabled mousie. She was violently attacked by cage mates shortly after the big spiny rescue took place (who could blame them for their behaviour given what they’d all been through!) and as a result she has neither of her back legs. Gracie though doesn’t seem to realise this and does her best to run and jump about as any other mouse would. Her balance and grip is obviously limited and I have to be very careful about the set up in her cage as she has a tendency to climb as high as she can and allow gravity to take care of getting back down again! This little girl is nothing short of amazing so what else could she be called but Grace!?

Hoggle

Hoggle is a very intelligent, affectionate and friendly little man who is always sticking his nose through the cage bars looking for a kiss, which he knows will secure him a treat lol! I got him and his friend Old Bear at the same time as Grace and Baby. He is also a disabled mouse, half of one of his back feet is missing and although he can and does walk on it it does bother him sometimes and he pulls his whole leg up under him like a bird and runs about on three legs. Poor Hoggle withdrew into himself terribly when Bear died and after a lot of consideration I decided to have him neutered and pair him with the also disabled and by that time also lonely Grace. Fortunately the decision turned out to be a very good one and the two of them are totally inseparable now, they even run in their exercise wheel side by side!

Sam

Poor Sam had had a pretty rotten deal in life having originally come from the big spiny rescue and then ended up in a failing rescue where he was neglected. When he finally found his way to Starlight trust in Surrey he was in an appalling state with huge scabs from where his cagemates had been attacking him and next to no ears left. I had followed his story on the fancy-rats forum and when I finally met him ‘in person’ I couldn’t help but to offer him a home. By this time his scabs had cleared up, although his spinys have never properly grown back but he seemed so unhappy and withdrawn living alone that I made the decision to neuter him for fear of loosing him to a depression. Intros to Molly, Matilda and Amelia didn’t go quite according to plan however, as is often the way with spiny mice and he now lives with just Molly in savic freddy cage. These days he is a completely different boy, confident and active and but for his poor tattered ears you’d never know what he’d once been through. His nickname is Sammy splats for the unusual way he has of laying like a little dog with his legs spread out, something I’ve never seen any of the other spinys do!

Maisy

Perhaps surprisingly given her colouring Maisy is the daughter of Pippa and Joe and is from their second litter, which was born in rescue. When she came to me there was a chance she might be pregnant having unfortunately been mis-sexed and living with her brothers but thankfully it proved to be a false alarm and she now lives very happily in a big group which includes both her mum and her (neutered) father.

Jessica

Both Honey and Jessica came from a forum member who was having to move home. Unfortunately the new landlord wouldn’t allow pets so all her lovely, well cared for animals needed to be rehomed. She had six girls all of whom I took in as fosters but when a home offer came up for four of them I decided to keep Honey and Jessica permanently. Jessica is by far the bossier of the two and can be a bit of a madam during intros. She isn’t too keen on handling either but is quite happy to come to you on her own terms. As long as new mice know she is in charge she loves her group, especially the boys and has a particular bond with James, which puts poor little Maisy’s nose well and truly out of joint!

James

Digby

Henry

Hope

Alice