[yyoung]

As you know I got 2 pet shop mice, both pregnant, both had litters who are now thriving. They were all in the same tank. I removed 5 boys on Sunday as they were 4 weeks and 2 days old and their 'mens bits' were enormous so I was worried. Also the mother to the second litter has gone thin and I wondered if having 15 babies betweeen them had taken its toll. I didn't want to remove the other boys as they were only 3 weeks old at that point. The mother who has gone thin (aptly named Skinny as it happens) has gotten thinner as the week is going on. She is in the tank with the other mother and 10 babies....5 girls and 5 boys (also with enormous man bits). Should I remove the other boys now (4 weeks old on Sat coming up) and then the two mothers have a chance to gain some weight as they will be left with only the girls (5 baby girls).

I am really worried about Skinny. Her spine is sticking out and I can see her hip bones. She seems perky enough but she has gone very dark in colour. I am giving them all loads of extras like mealworm, sunflower hearts, millet, puppy kibble, peanuts all on top of their normal mix and the food is getting eaten. They always have a plentiful supply of food too. I am astounded at how much food these little ones (and mothers) are consuming compared to my others but I guess they've got a lot of growing to do.The babies seem to be thriving....all of them.

Any suggestions please.

 

[Velvet_Meece]

Deffinately remove as many babies as you can now!

I remove mine under 4 weeks old depending on how well they are doing...

Baby mice like all rodents are opportunists, and even though weaned will still grab a free meal of milk from the mothers whenever they can! obviously the older the babies get the more pressure they put on the mothers, i've had it happen before, sometimes you can bring them back, other times the females just get too weak and give up.

I hope shes ok, but you really need to take the young out now, the males are mature if their man bits are showing, and your already in the danger zone with regards to pregnancies!!

 

[yyoung]

Please don't tell me that. These boys have the biggest 'nads' I've ever seen on a creature so small. All of them without fail have gi-normous testiculars. Is that normal for such very young mice to have such large testicles. They aren't 4 weeks yet so I just assumed that I should leave them until 4 weeks. Better go and get a tank ready.

Do you really think they could have been up to 'no good' already ? Dear lord I hope not.

 

[Velvet_Meece]

I would take them out now to be honest.

When i take males out they are only just starting to show their plums, the fact yours are so pronounced certainly means they are indeed or on the brink of being sexually mature!

Quick run! run! :lol:

 

[Angelmouse]

I do believe that bucks are not active until at least six weeks :? most people take bucks out at 4 wks though, so it could be that either they are just very well endowed or they are older than thought :?

 

[Peteyandthegang]

I wouldnt remove anything before 4 weeks as theres no need in terms of risk of pregnancy

We remove bucks at 4 weeks and does at 5 here

EDITED as Ive just noticed you ARE feeding extra boosting foods...this is really all you can do I reckon. Are you including Lactol? A dab of porridge a day works wonders too, you can mix the lactol in

 

[Velvet_Meece]

I do believe that bucks are not active until at least six weeks :? most people take bucks out at 4 wks though, so it could be that either they are just very well endowed or they are older than thought :?

Apologies, i am not aware of what age bucks are active, just personally i prefere not to take that risk, but people deal with it different ways

 

[yyoung]

100 % certain of the birth date. So I am very clear on their age which is 4 weeks on Friday 10pm. I thought I would count Sat as day1 but if I am precise it was Friday 27th March 10pm. No doubts at all.

Well that means they must be very well developed or maybe its just that I don't know what to expect as I've not had boys before...... but bugger me their gonads look huge in comparison to their tiny bodies.

Anyway I have made them a lovely new home and took them out (at least I didn't have to ask for help sexing these) and they are happily exploring their 'new pad' as we speak. It is only 2 days until 4 weeks so I am assuming they will be okay and the mothers do need a break. The mums are now in with 5 babies....will that be okay or do I need to split further ?

 

[Cait]

Personally I don't think taking the bucks out will make much difference and I would have left them in. Now that they're out though they will be fine, leave them separate. There's no problem with leaving the 5 baby does with the mums unless you think they risk catching what Skinny has. It sounds like she has caught something rather than just being drained from raising a litter (though of course that will contribute). If she is as thin as you describe then I will be honest and say I don't hold out much hope for her, however if you feed her up she may pull through, it depends on what's wrong.

 

[yyoung]

She isn't showing any outward signs of illness. No sneezing or wheezing and no languishing in the corner. She is bright and perky and running on the wheel when I take the mums out of the tank for 'time out' from the babies. I'm going to do the porridge thing with lactol and see if that helps but to be honest I've been watching her and she is eating and drinking well.

The boys that I took out on Sunday were having a little squabble earlier. Just so that I know in advance when does a squabble become more than a squabble....ie...when is it serious enough to warrant separating the boys. Is squabbling normal ? they are 5 weeks old tomorrow.

Weighed Skinny last night and she was 36grams. When I got her she was 42grams but she was already pregnant (very early stages though as she didn't have babies for another 13 days). Going to keep a track on how her weight is going.

Any ideas what would cause her to go dark ? She was a smokey type colour but now it is almost black around her face. She is a fuzzy hairless. Any clues ?

 

[Velvet_Meece]

I've found with most mice when they lose a lot of weight their colour darkens, i'm not quite sure why myself but it is something i've noticed in every case.

As for the boys, a certain amount of squabbling is normal, they'll be sorting out whose boss basically. My opinion only, but i would suggest if you want to house the boys together long term, make sure their cage isn't too close to the girls, as they will be able to smell females that are in heat and that could set off fighting amongst them.

I'm talking mainly from experience with Guineas here with regards to the males, i assume it would be similar kind of situation with other rodents...

 

[SarahC]

male mice are more aggressive than g.pigs.If they are squabbling so young they probably wont live together longterm.When serious fighting starts their coats tend to look rough and moth eaten a sure indication that they need splitting.I wonder and this is just a guess if your fuzzy has grown more hair as shes aged and this is why she looks darker :?:

 

[Loganberry]

I've found with most mice when they lose a lot of weight their colour darkens, i'm not quite sure why myself but it is something i've noticed in every case. quote]

When mice are ill and therefore loosing weight, they loose the healthy sheen to their coats - light isn't reflected so the coat looks darker, but it isn't.

 

[SarahC]

ah yes I can see that could be the case,something I had never observed.I shall look in future.

 

[Loganberry]

Don't know about fuzzies tho - could be totally different!

 

[Cait]

Yvonne the way you described it before about seeing the bones I thought she was at death's door! If you think she looks ok then perhaps she is not as bad as I imagined. Just keep feeding her well and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[yyoung]

I came in on Friday and this poor mouse looked awful. I treat the whole tank for mites with xeno 50. Some are only 4 weeks old but all except one are over 20grams. Had to do something....she was looking awful (see below)

Friday she was 36grams .... today she is 40grams and looking better I think.

Keeping everything crossed.

This was her on Friday..... will get an up to date pic of her tomorrow to compare.

 

[sommy]

uh poor mousey!
She is very pretty though.
i cross my fingers for you

 

[Vivian]

i cross my fingers for you too