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Sometimes having a mousery is just a blast and sometimes it's disturbing...I notice that there seems to be very little reporting of negative outcomes by most of the established breeders in this forum. I can understand that, I guess, though I think it's important for those new to mousekeeping to know that it's not always a walk in the park.
This week, I had a mother kill her small litter at the age of eight days. She was stressed out already even before the little ones came, as she was misidentified as a male, so the pile of pinkies in that tank was a total surprise (well, maybe not a total surprise). She was very raw, probably from being mounted repeated by four young bucks, who, I was surprised to see, did not kill all the babies. Of course, I got her and the babies out into their own tank right away. Days later, she the babies had mites, and the treatment process was too much for her. When I checked on the tank she had bit through the backs of the necks of all four, and I decided to put down her and the babies. It's a policy of mine not to keep any mousie that kills another mouse, though I sometimes will give a first time mother a second chance. In this case, she did not look well at all, or happy, or comfortable, so...
Anywhoo... it was not my idea of a good time. Along with the spate of seizure related incidents and deaths, mousing hasn't been as much of a stress reliever as it usually is for me.
This week, I had a mother kill her small litter at the age of eight days. She was stressed out already even before the little ones came, as she was misidentified as a male, so the pile of pinkies in that tank was a total surprise (well, maybe not a total surprise). She was very raw, probably from being mounted repeated by four young bucks, who, I was surprised to see, did not kill all the babies. Of course, I got her and the babies out into their own tank right away. Days later, she the babies had mites, and the treatment process was too much for her. When I checked on the tank she had bit through the backs of the necks of all four, and I decided to put down her and the babies. It's a policy of mine not to keep any mousie that kills another mouse, though I sometimes will give a first time mother a second chance. In this case, she did not look well at all, or happy, or comfortable, so...
Anywhoo... it was not my idea of a good time. Along with the spate of seizure related incidents and deaths, mousing hasn't been as much of a stress reliever as it usually is for me.