overweight mouse

Question

Bambi  

Lunar   Hi Natasha

I am a little bit worried about Bambi's weight. When I got my mice I wanted to make sure my mice didn't get too fat but I have noticed that Bambi is quite chubby and was pretty big compared to Lunar, at first I thought that maybe Lunar was just a petite mouse but I looked at Bambi and noticed she had quite a big belly. I told my mum about it and she worried me and said she might be pregnant but I'm sure that has to be impossible because I haven't noticed any change in her behaviour and I know mice can get hormonol when their pregnant just like humans. I also couldn't think who could have got her pregnant, there was no way Lunar was a male because she is smaller than Bambi and I know male mice are bigger than female's. I don't think a wild mouse could have got in either because the bars on my cage are exactly 8mm so I'm sure even a wild mouse couldn't fit through there and as far as I know we don't have any wild mice in my house, we used to have one living in our garage and I would go out and leave food for him but a few months ago I found a dead body of a wild mouse out there and assumed it was the same mouse I had been feeding (R.I.P wild mouse) and as far as I know he never seemed to have a family with him and he died before I even got my mice. Anyway so I ruled out pregnancy and I just assumed she was a chubby mouse.
Bambi does eat a lot more than Lunar. When I give Bambi a treat she will eat the whole thing and if I give her another one she will eat all of that whereas Lunar will eat half of one and leave the rest and will turn away if I try to give her another one but Bambi mostly eats fresh food (I give them fresh food every day) and I thought the fresh food would be good for them and she eats more of that than the dried food and Bambi runs on her wheel a lot for a long time and runs really fast so wouldn't she just burn off the fat of the food she was eating so I don't understand why she is so fat. My mum worried me again and said maybe she had some sort of growth or tumor in her tummy, is that possible?

Although Bambi does run on her wheel a lot she does like her food and does eat a lot and although she runs fast on her wheel, she is slow when is in her cage or in the bath tub whereas Lunar runs around like crazy in the tub anyway I have some pictures of them both so you can see if Bambi is too fat or maybe Lunar's just too skinny (that and I realised you've never actually seen my mice before so now you can finally see what they look like).

Oh and how would I put her on a diet without starving Lunar because if I give Lunar a treat Bambi steals it off her and if I cut down the food I put in their cage there is a good chance Bambi will eat it all and Lunar won't get any so how would I put her on a diet?   

Well thanks for answering my questions :)

From Verity :)

Answer
Dear Verity,

Bambi is an extremely beautiful, and healthy, mouse. She is so lovely I might post her on the page of my Facebook group :). If I were a male mouse I would definitely ask her on a date! Lunar is lovely too.  

Male mice are not smaller than females. They may tend to be, though as you know, although male humans tend to be taller than female humans, not every male human is taller than every female human! My breeder's males are very big, and the girls he gives me can be very petite. So size is not an indicator. But if their rear ends look the same, they are both female. If they do not look the same... Get them in a tank quickly, because babies can escape through any size bars.

Just as not every human changes emotionally during pregnancy, so also not every mouse :). But from what I can see, she is more fat all over rather than it concentrating in her abdomen. Still, some does (a female mouse is a doe and a male a buck, just like deer!) just look fat when pregnant. But this question will be answered in less than ten days :)

If a mouse is eating her mouse food, and vegetables, she is on a healthy diet. Some mice are just fat. Red mice especially. Your mother is correct that an internal tumor is possible. I did have that happen once. If you want to be very sure, you can get her Xrayed. But most fat mice are just fat and happy. There is no reason to put her on a diet. There are mice who tend to too much overweight- they can get so fat their tummies drag and they can get sores :( . That is when something has to be done.

But if these treats are fattening... No more treats! Only vegetables. Lunar can have something special when they are not together. A piece of non buttered popcorn is a terrific treat. No nuts, sunflower seeds, avocado. Sorry, Bambi!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha