Even more pregnant mice in cage!

Question

Back of her  
Ginger showing her tum   QUESTION: I have recently bought two new baby female mice (i think both of them are female!) from the pet shop. They are both from the same litter and I got them on the 6/8/2012 and I am posting this on the 20/8/2012. One of them has remained her slim self but the other one Ginger has gotten fatter and when she is on my hand her stomach is touching my hand.I am not sure whether she is pregnant or whether I should change her food type.

Thank You :)

Here are some images of her

ANSWER: Dear Olivia,

In 14 days a mouse doesn't gain that much weight unless she is pregnant. Mice gestate for 21 days, so she will give birth in less than a week.

Give her some extra protein such as packaged tofu (not bulk) or scrambled egg. Give her extra nesting material. Clean her cage today because you will not want to disturb her for the first week. If the cage is small enough to smell bad at some point with tiny babies in it, you will have to spot clean.

Of course you cannot raise babies in a wire cage, so if you don't have a tank, you will want to get one for the careful cage swap when they are 7 days old.

Have fun with the babies!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank You! I am very excited! Is there any type of nesting for them that you suggest?

Also, I have two other mice in the cage apart from Ginger and I was wondering whether I separate her from them or if I keep them with her?

Thank You :)

Olivia

ANSWER: Hi again,

A couple of little pieces of polar fleece are great, but even lots of nice Kleenex (facial tissue) will be fine.

Yes, Ginger will be so relieved to have two pupsitters to keep the nest warm while she gets a break to run in the wheel!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


This was Rose when I g   QUESTION: Thank You. One of my mice is quite fat but she has been like this for about a year and I know she is not pregnant because we have taken her to the vet. I was wondering whether she would smother the baby mice or not. Also, my other mouse which is the sibling of ginger has been looking rather similar in weight to ginger and i am wondering if she is pregnant too. If she is should i separate them when they both are ready to have babies?

Thank You and sorry for all of these questions!

Olivia

Answer
What a beautiful mouse!

Yep, the other is probably pregnant too. Do you have them in a nice big cage? At least 20 gallons? They should have plenty of room to make a big nest and for lots of babies to hop around! Actually I recommend 20 gallons for any mouse. Think of how long a mouse is, and how wide the cage is.

The chubby girl will not smother the babies. And the two moms will spell each other nursing the pups. But they need a big nest.

That was nice of you to take her to the vet. I had a fat girl once and it turned out she had an internal tumor, so I always worry too. I brought a fat girl to the vet once and had a whole chart showing how her weight was increasing differently from the other girls. Most vets would have laughed at my little chart but I actually had a vet whose specialty was mice! That was in a University clinic in Berlin, so it cost almost nothing too. Anyway in the waiting room people thought she was a hamster :))

Enjoy the babies! Starting at 7 days, hold them carefully once or twice a day.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha

PS the questions are welcome. I get too many sad ones, it's nice to be able to add the "giggles" when it is a pleasant situation.