Gaskill, B. 2014. Aggression in laboratory mice: Potential influences and how to manage it. Enrichment Record 18, 22-25.

Aggression is a naturally occurring behavior of mice that can provide benefit to those that display it in the wild. Many factors appear to influence these negative social interactions between mice, making mitigation in the laboratory more complicated. Based on the current literature and the natural history and motivations of mice, a few management strategies may help keep escalated aggression in the laboratory to a minimum. First combine small stable groups at 3-4 weeks of age, so they are familiar with one another prior to puberty. Avoid providing mice, males in particular, with items or enrichments that can be monopolized and guarded by dominant mice, such as rigid shelters. Last, transferring nesting material at cage change may maintain some olfactory cues related to identification without transferring aggression-eliciting pheromones.