I've got 4 babies that will be 4 weeks on next thursday. From what i can tell i've got 3 boys and a girl but gonna get a second opinion just to make sure. Im planning on keeping the girl with her mum and another female and have homes for the boys but was wondering if it would be possible to keep one of the boys to live with dad as he is all alone at the moment. Would this be possible or would they fight?
Can sons live with dad?
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Usually this will not be a problem. I keep most of my males togehter, even if they are not related and are used for breeding.
I would clean the whole cage with saop (rinse carefully), so there no smells of dad anymore. Put in son first and let him explore the cage. After a hour or so, put in dad aswell and keep an eye on them. Dad will be curious who his son and try to sniff his behind. Son might overreacted and make some noise and run away. This is oke, but if you see any blood, separated them!
I always put mice together in the morning. That is when they're less active. They'll be to tired to fight!
Good luck.
I would clean the whole cage with saop (rinse carefully), so there no smells of dad anymore. Put in son first and let him explore the cage. After a hour or so, put in dad aswell and keep an eye on them. Dad will be curious who his son and try to sniff his behind. Son might overreacted and make some noise and run away. This is oke, but if you see any blood, separated them!
I always put mice together in the morning. That is when they're less active. They'll be to tired to fight!
Good luck.
Hi Vi
Nice to hear from you, seems like you haven't posted for ages. If you don't need to show the bucks and don't mind if they get scruffy, you could try it, but be warned it might not work. I don't bother but that's because I don't need to as a breeder - the young bucks are introduced and stay in groups until needed but the adults are with does. Be prepared if you do try though as it could go very wrong and he could injure his son (or vice versa but I'd expect the adult to win) seriously. I would wait until the baby buck was 5 weeks old to try it, maybe slightly longer if he's on the small side. You'd have to be able to have the in the same room to 'watch' them for a long time though - perhaps also a good idea to have the cage in your bedroom that night too if they get on ok during the day as that's when I imagine fighting would be likely to occur.
Nice to hear from you, seems like you haven't posted for ages. If you don't need to show the bucks and don't mind if they get scruffy, you could try it, but be warned it might not work. I don't bother but that's because I don't need to as a breeder - the young bucks are introduced and stay in groups until needed but the adults are with does. Be prepared if you do try though as it could go very wrong and he could injure his son (or vice versa but I'd expect the adult to win) seriously. I would wait until the baby buck was 5 weeks old to try it, maybe slightly longer if he's on the small side. You'd have to be able to have the in the same room to 'watch' them for a long time though - perhaps also a good idea to have the cage in your bedroom that night too if they get on ok during the day as that's when I imagine fighting would be likely to occur.
Ok well i think i will try and get them to live together but if it doesn't work the boys can all live together and the dad will have to live alone.
One more question, when should i seperate them? They will be 4 weeks old this thursday night so was planning to take them to check the sex either friday or saturday and then the boys can go to their new home straight away but will the little boy im gonna keep be too little to go in with dad? If so will he be ok on his own for a week or so? Or can i leave them all together for a bit longer? Reaaly dont ant to risk any more unplanned pregnancies but have read conflicting advice on how soon they should be seperated.
One more question, when should i seperate them? They will be 4 weeks old this thursday night so was planning to take them to check the sex either friday or saturday and then the boys can go to their new home straight away but will the little boy im gonna keep be too little to go in with dad? If so will he be ok on his own for a week or so? Or can i leave them all together for a bit longer? Reaaly dont ant to risk any more unplanned pregnancies but have read conflicting advice on how soon they should be seperated.
I separate at four and a half weeks myself and I never get any pregnancies doing it this way. That would mean if they are 4 weeks on Thursday then they'd be ok until Sunday/Monday by my reckoning. But yes the boys would be ok to leave you on Friday/Saturday if that's when their new owners can collect. The reason I said to leave the baby until 5 weeks before introducing to the adult buck is because he may try to beat it up straight away if it's a lot smaller than him. What variety are they? Are the babies still a lot smaller than dad or are they bulking up quite young?
They are black eyed cream. 2 of them are quite bulky, the girl is a little bit smaller and then there's a smaller boy. The dad is quite a beafcake but hopefully will be friendly!
Their new home is only down the road so they could wait until monday to move house. Just so paranoid about unplanned pregnancy as they were unplanned themselves.
Their new home is only down the road so they could wait until monday to move house. Just so paranoid about unplanned pregnancy as they were unplanned themselves.
If you have the chance, it might be better to try introducing all three bucks to dad, then taking out the two that have been sold leaving him with his permanent companion. He's probably going to be more distracted by three than one who he could focus his bullying on.
Ooh yes thats a good idea.
Actually i've just had the babies out for a cuddle and one of the boys isnt looking too good he's hunched over and looks skinny. He looked a bit off this afternoon but looks alot worse now. What should i do??
Honestly these little buggers will turn me grey, i just dont know what to do when they look poorly. This litter started of with 11 babies and the mum was killing one a night for a while and then the last 2 runts died about a week ago and now the littlest boy looks bad and i dont know what to do. He's been absolutely fine up until today. Is there anything i can do for him?
Actually i've just had the babies out for a cuddle and one of the boys isnt looking too good he's hunched over and looks skinny. He looked a bit off this afternoon but looks alot worse now. What should i do??
Honestly these little buggers will turn me grey, i just dont know what to do when they look poorly. This litter started of with 11 babies and the mum was killing one a night for a while and then the last 2 runts died about a week ago and now the littlest boy looks bad and i dont know what to do. He's been absolutely fine up until today. Is there anything i can do for him?
Hard to tell without seeing him. All you could really do is give some boosting foods (kmr, egg, porridge) and hope. You could go to a vet but chances are he will or won't recover regardless of what a vet prescribes. If he looks worse tomorrow it might be best to assess whether to put him down. It sounds as though the litter wasn't too healthy and he might be the same.
just look out for scratches/ bite marks on the tails and excessive squeaking (they will squeak a lot anyway though)1 - 11 of 11 Posts
