Why would two mice die at the same time?

JimmyTheWig

No change in diet, etc.

As you suspect, they weren't the most loved pets in the world. But they were fed and watered regularly enough to stay alive.
Their water had run out, but only that day.

Mupette

well i'm glad you got the CO thingie. And that your family will be safe with that.

How old were the mice?

Reminds me of something that happened a fair few years ago, I bought 2 goldfish from a pet store at home.
about 2 days later my friend came round and looked at them, 5 mins later they both died.

I laughed and said she killed them, it was a joke (she also saw it as a joke)

I realised it was most likely because of where i got them. the tank was set up and was waiting for them, i had followed the advice prior to getting them..

At the time there was a lot of publicity of this certain store (still is) so I'm thinking this.

JimmyTheWig

lol @ your friend. If looks could kill!

Mice were about a year old.
We got them last summer from my uncle who breeds them for his snakes. So it's not like they're going to have been bred for longevity.
Have no idea if 1 year is old or not. We've told the kids that it is!

ztan

I had gerbils who died at the same time when I was little... it may have had something to do with them freaking out and eating each other... but it seems to be smaller animals who live in pairs do tend to die in pairs.

Artytarty

average lifespan of a mouse in captivity is 1-3 years. usually lower end of that scale. Feeder mice ( bred for snakes ) like I think you said yours were, have a shorther life span because they are interbred. that may well explain it! One died of old age the other one died of shock?
(Just read all this on the www. I'm no expert)

JimmyTheWig

So ours did quite well? That's good to know.

Maybe, then, it was a combination of them being on their last legs due to age and running out of water.

morg_monster

As another poster says it is more common than you might think for animals that live in pairs to die close together in time. Happens with humans too.

renegade

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Just out of interest, I got the timings wrong. It was about 14 hours (overnight) between them last being seen alive and first being seen dead.

14 Hrs without water, poor little things would be dehydrated!

JimmyTheWig

renegade wrote: »

14 Hrs without water, poor little things would be dehydrated!

This is no defence, but according to what I could find with google they can live for days without water.
[But maybe not when they're getting old, is my thinking.]

hethmar

I cant help thinking what sad little lives