Is there a chance my mouse is pregnant?

2816 Views 17 Replies 5 Participants Last post by tinyhartmouseries, Jul 13, 2011

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · Jul 11, 2011

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I wasn't sure were to put it.

I have four mice. Three of them are about 13 weeks (3 months) old. And the older one is about 10 months old. I know the older one is a female. I got the younger mice from a breeder and was told they were all females. They all look like females to me. They do not fight at all like males do. But now I'm worried that one (or more) is a male because my older mouse is VERY FAT. She's always been fat, but in the past week or so she has just totally blown up. They only get feed lab blocks (Native Earth/Harlan brand) because two of them are brindle and I'm worried they will get fat with other food. So she doesn't get any kinds of seeds. I give them each a cheerio each day, but that would not make her get fat. She has a wheel, and other stuff in her cage to run around on.

Time lines:
Got my new mice: May 16, 2011 (at about 5 weeks old)
Put all my mice together: June 22, 2011 (at about 10 weeks old)
They have been together for about 20 days. She doesn't look like a full term mother, but if she is pregnant wouldn't she have gotten pregnant the day I put them together? And if that's the case then she would be having her babies like now.

Here are some pictures of her taken today. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THE PICTURES FROM BEFORE AT THE BOTTOM!!!!!!

June 25, 2011-3 days after putting them together.

BUT here are some pictures taken of her BEFORE she was put in with my new mice. So you can see that she's always had a belly on her.

And I know they aren't very good pictures but I tried to get some of my younger mouse's butts.

Thanks for any help!!!

Also she was not with any mice before putting them all together, so it's not like she could have gotten pregnant from another mouse.

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jadeguppy

· #2 · Jul 11, 2011

Yes, she is pregnant. I'd decide today if you are going to move her to her own tank or leave her with the other. Personally I suggest moving her so she doesn't end up pregnant again while nursing her current babies. It sometimes takes time for them to get pregnant. The does cycle every 5 days. I have a doe that was with a buck for over a month before she got pregnant.

I'd need better pictures to tell you for sure, but I think the first two may be male. the distance between the anus and genetals is greater on males and sometimes you can see a tiny bit of wrinkled skin between them, which is where they have pulled their testicles into the body.

I think this site has pictures for genders that may help: http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/index.cfm

tinyhartmouseries

· #3 · Jul 11, 2011

Jade, I have to disagree...I can clearly see a vaginal opening above the genitals on all three of the younger mice. The last pic is a bit fuzzy but I would bet quite a bit that they are all young females. If she is pregnant, it could have been a wild mouse, or if she has always had this belly, she could have an abcess or abdomen tumor. I agree, it is strange and she LOOKS pregnant...but those are most likely all does, pending a more clear pic of the third mouse.

Also OP, you can look for any signs of nipples on the mice-males do not have nipples.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 11, 2011

Actually the first two pictures are the same mouse. I'm sorry I forgot the mention that, I wasn't thinking. I didn't take a picture of the third mouse. I will try to take better pictures, but my camera isn't that great and they move a lot.

But I will TRY.

jadeguppy

· #5 · Jul 11, 2011

I defer to tiny, who has tons more experience staring at mousie butts.

Do you think tumors would show so evenly? Where do you keep your mice? The wild mouse idea would explain a lot. I tend to forget about wild mice since my mice are housed indoors and under "lock and key" so to say. My lab mix has a very high prey drive.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 11, 2011

jadeguppy said:
I defer to tiny, who has tons more experience staring at mousie butts. Do you think tumors would show so evenly? Where do you keep your mice? The wild mouse idea would explain a lot. I tend to forget about wild mice since my mice are housed indoors and under "lock and key" so to say. My lab mix has a very high prey drive.

There is no way a wild mouse could have gotten pregnant. She is in my room locked up.

Plus I have two cats so there is no way there could be any in my room.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 11, 2011

Here are some more pictures of their butts. All of their names are on them. Hopefully they will help. They all still look like females to me, but I'm also not as experienced with mice gender.

http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn99 ... y/Genders/

tinyhartmouseries

· #8 · Jul 12, 2011

Yup, dem's all ladies. Occasionally a doe who has been bred a couple of times will fill out to the size that she was when she was pregnant. Does she feel totally squishy? Don't squeeze too hard but check and see if anything feels lumpy or if she's just evenly squishy (read-chubby!)

Laigaie

· #9 · Jul 12, 2011

If they've been together 20 days, it's possible she was pregnant when you got her, and is just having a smaller litter and taking her time. While she was a little pudgy before, she's really quite large, even for a doe who's had babies before. I'd go ahead and separate her, just for a week at tops. If she's not pregnant, no harm done. If she is, you could save yourself a ton of heartache. Did you get the older female the same time you got the younger females? If she was separated while at your house, was that cage such that a male wild mouse could've pressed his bits through bars or mesh? They're quite resourceful, sadly.

Also, she is quite lovely, blown up or not blown up. I'm only so insistent that she may still be pregnant because you mention she's really blown up all in the last week or so. That kind of sudden weight gain is normally associated with pregnancy.

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Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 12, 2011

tinyhartmouseries said:
Yup, dem's all ladies. Occasionally a doe who has been bred a couple of times will fill out to the size that she was when she was pregnant. Does she feel totally squishy? Don't squeeze too hard but check and see if anything feels lumpy or if she's just evenly squishy (read-chubby!)

She has never been bred. Not even once. She does feel squishy. She doesn't feel hard or anything, just squishy.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 12, 2011

Laigaie said:
If they've been together 20 days, it's possible she was pregnant when you got her, and is just having a smaller litter and taking her time. While she was a little pudgy before, she's really quite large, even for a doe who's had babies before. I'd go ahead and separate her, just for a week at tops. If she's not pregnant, no harm done. If she is, you could save yourself a ton of heartache. Did you get the older female the same time you got the younger females? If she was separated while at your house, was that cage such that a male wild mouse could've pressed his bits through bars or mesh? They're quite resourceful, sadly.

Also, she is quite lovely, blown up or not blown up. I'm only so insistent that she may still be pregnant because you mention she's really blown up all in the last week or so. That kind of sudden weight gain is normally associated with pregnancy.

I've had her for about 8 months. So there is no way she was pregnant when I got her. There is no way a wild mouse could have gotten her pregnant. We don't have any mice in our house. We have two cats and two dogs, so we don't get any wild animals in or around out house.

tinyhartmouseries

· #12 · Jul 12, 2011

Does she feel full of air? She could be bloated...or a tummy tumor is a likely cause too. I agree there is little chance that she is pregnant.

morning-star

· #13 · Jul 12, 2011

are you sure she's not just over eating? we have a mouse that looked pregnant for ages but she was just in fact fat -it got to a point where its now obvious because she got bigger again to the point where she's a round blob with a little head sticking out lol

that was her when we fist had worries:
http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7305

and now shes a large marshmallow/golf ball (don't have up to date pics)

we figured its down to she doesn't know when to stop eating, and our attempts at a diet hasn't so far worked.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jul 12, 2011

tinyhartmouseries said:
Does she feel full of air? She could be bloated...or a tummy tumor is a likely cause too. I agree there is little chance that she is pregnant.

No she feels "solid." Not like it's air. But not hard either.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 12, 2011

morning-star said:
are you sure she's not just over eating? we have a mouse that looked pregnant for ages but she was just in fact fat -it got to a point where its now obvious because she got bigger again to the point where she's a round blob with a little head sticking out lol

that was her when we fist had worries:
http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7305

and now shes a large marshmallow/golf ball (don't have up to date pics)

we figured its down to she doesn't know when to stop eating, and our attempts at a diet hasn't so far worked.

Possibly but it kinda scares me that she's that fat. That first picture does look like her, but yours has also had babies before. Mine hasn't. I hope that's all it is, her overeating.

Laigaie

· #16 · Jul 12, 2011

If it were just overeating, it wouldn't be all that weight gain in a week, as described. I don't know what else it could be, besides bloat (too solid), pregnancy (no males), or tumor (no lumps). Best of luck! I'm glad she's at least not feeling poorly about it.

Number1Sticky

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 13, 2011

Laigaie said:
If it were just overeating, it wouldn't be all that weight gain in a week, as described. I don't know what else it could be, besides bloat (too solid), pregnancy (no males), or tumor (no lumps). Best of luck! I'm glad she's at least not feeling poorly about it.

Yeah, I mean she has slowly been getting fatter over time. But it was kinda like over two of so weeks that she really got fat. So it is possible it's just form overeating. But I don't know what to do about it if that's the case, it's not like I can take food away from my other mice. The food she is getting is a better quality food now, so she may be eating more because maybe it takes better? I also forgot to mention that they get kale almost everyday (small amounts). But I can't imagine that making her gain weight, plus I don't think she even eats it. I've never seen her eat it, but it is possible. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

tinyhartmouseries

· #18 · Jul 13, 2011

Has anyone thought about megacolon here?

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