[Catherine896]

Well, Im assuming she has, the 'golf ball' has gone! Im too terrified to lift the box out and peek in incase it upsets her

She is with another who looked big but nowhere near her size so not sure if she is expecting/had babies too :?

When would it be safe to peek in the box? I dont often see her out, maybe once or twice Ive seen her today. Would be quite hard to lift it out when she is out as she darts to hide when I open the top, I imagine she will be even more nervous now with babies!

I want to wait 'til they are a week old atleast for handling, but can I look and not touch before hand? She only gave birth last night/early this morning so dont want to go near for 3 days or so anyway.

Any tips are welcome Id be really upset if she abandoned them 'cos of me going in there!

Thanks

 

[Velvet_Meece]

It should be safe to lift up quickly, if your not sure then leave it another couple of days

Or just sit next to their cage and listen carefully, when she goes in the box, the babies usually will speak and you'll be able to hear very clearly if any are in there

 

[WillowDragon]

Yeah... they can be quite the noisey little wrigglers! lol

 

[Catherine896]

What a horrible evening its been

I didnt bother looking in at them, I was going to wait a few days. I was in the bath, and suddenly my partner shouts that the female who is yet to give birth has a pinkie in its mouth... So I run out like a mad woman to see her running round with this pinkie, and Mummy mouse chasing her :shock: The other one started eating the baby

I knew it was too late for me to do anything to save that one so I went out the room so I couldnt hear

I went back a minute or so later and she was back in the nest with Mum and babies, so I prepared a tub really quickly, lifted the nest box out and seperated the female from them. Im pretty sure she is going to give birth tonight as has been quite restless all day, she seems happy enough in her new housing, sat in the food bowl eating away and exploring the tubes.

Mummy mouse has been running around since and yanking the pinkies back into her nest, Ive only seen 3 but sure there are more. Just peeked in on her and think she is moving them all to the other end of the tank as she is building a new nest.

Upset as I had read they can stay in together, and these 2 apparently stayed together to have babies with the person I had them off and were happy doing so.

Fingers crossed the others are all OK, gutted about that little one though, RIP

 

[Myth]

Hope things are looking up and mrs mummy-mouse has settled down now ?

 

[Velvet_Meece]

I get this on a regular basis when keeping pregnant females together, its very common, i find when a second female is about to drop she will get very restless and start eating anothers babies.

I usually find distracting them helps, with tasty treats, millet spray works well.

Sometimes just taking the pinkie off them stops it all together, but sometimes they just go back for another one, in which case i usually resort to taking all babies out and putting them with a surrogate mother...

 

[WillowDragon]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but do you think that a mummy and 'nanny' would work better then?

I have read that the presence of a litter stimulates lactation even in non pregnant females... is that true?

Willow xx

 

[SarahY]

All female mammals will produce milk when stimulated to, even people. My friend's Rottweiler ended up suckling a litter of cat kittens

Lots and lots of people have success keeping a nanny in, but every time I've tried it babies have ended up in tug-of-war situations between the two does, or the nanny doe will steal them all and not let the mother near, and by the time the nanny's milk production would have been stimulated the kittens would have starved. So I always litter does alone, and they don't seem to mind.

Sarah xxx

 

[Velvet_Meece]

I keep my females in groups, theres at least 5 females to each group and even more in some, theres usually 2-3 pregnant at any one time.

What i mentioned above when it does happen, i've only witnessed an entire litter being eaten when its been a particularly small litter otherwise i tend to find a female may pick of 2-3 and then stop, and never usually any earlier than 24 hours before birhting themselves, so deffinatly a labour thing, they only appear to kill when they are going to eat them, they have never just killed the young like a mother might when stressed or nervous...

Providing plenty or treats, new items and bedding material like paper, tissue and cardboard usually helps, as it gives them something else to focus on and tear up.

Seperate hides have also helped in the past, as a mother may want to birth alone, and if theres already a litter in there she may 'get rid' off them in order to bring her own into the world, although litters always end up in the same pile after a day or two, sometimes they like to be alone to birth.

But to be honest i've never had a real problem keeping breeding females together, very rarely you get a mouse that is just plain bad and will slaughter any baby thats in its way, i've had this twice ever! but it simply means you remove them for good and never breed again!

 

[Mari]

Hope the rest of your bubs are OK!

I agree with Velvet Meece and usually have my does in pairs or groups to raise litters as well. I have found pretty much the same. Every once in a while I get a cannibalized pup, but not often, and usually stops as soon as the other doe has her litter. I use millet a lot, as well.

 

[ian]

Shame that this happened for your first experience with babies but its not uncommon although you dont usually see it.

I always handle my pinkies from birth, or maybe the day after. I just rub my hands in the wood shavings to make them smell of mouse and remove the adult mice so they cant see what going on. I've not had any issues with litters being culled or abandoned yet. You may not want to risk it but its important for me to do as it means I can sex the babies and sometimes even tell what colour they will be (i.e black or blue). My makred mice I usually have a good look at the number in the litter the day they are born but then leave them alone for a few days until the markings are coming through and I can tell which ones are keepable.

 

[Catherine896]

Thanks for the replies.

Mummy mouse is still doing well, there are only 3 babies, 2 of which are dark and 1 which is smaller and still pink, Im thinking maybe its going to be white? Its active and acting like the other 2 though so fingers crossed he is OK. I think all 3 are boys too, no nipples visible atall on them.

I thought there were only 3 when all this happened with the other female eating a baby as thats all I saw at the time, 3 pinkies with 1 smaller one so looks like its the same 3 left!

Ill try and get some pics next time I have a look, they are so cute