very sick baby mouse should go to vet.

Question
QUESTION: Hello :)
My mouse Mama (Dash) had 2 litters that weren't meant to be and now that daddy is in a different tank.
Now i have a guy that begged me until i said yes to another litter but i kept a female from the second litter becuse she has a spine issue and didn't want her a feeder..
but now I'm going to have another litter and because the mom and her daughter are together i can't put the dad in there ( i dont want the baby pregs).
I'm worried what if the baby (Midnight) doesn't want the mom back in there or the mom tries to kill her after being away for a few days?

Also I'm worried about what will happen with a new litter and the baby in there with her? will Midnight try to eat the newborns when given birth to or will Dash try to fight her to protect her young? i will not breed her if either of those may happen. Also if the mom gets mounted when shes not in heat nothing will happen.. right?

Thanks! ~Marissa

ANSWER: Dear Marissa,

Let me first say:

Breeding for pets should be left up to experienced, private breeders. If you are breeding them as feeders, let me ask you to beg your friend to try frozen mice. For instance, in the UK it is illegal to live feed, and their snakes and reptiles get along just fine. And feeder mice go through a terrible time, panicstricken, when used. A person can hardly love mice, if they breed or use them as feeders. Just my opinion.

Now to answer your questions:

Female mice are not likely to kill each other the way males are. Even if they don't recognize each other, there should just be some chasing and squeaking. Of course if there is blood, or a mouse seems depressed or is blocked from wheel, food, or water, they should be separated. But these situations are rare.

It is actually good to have two or three females in a nest with a litter. The "auntie" mice babysit so the mom gets a break and can run in the wheel, for instance.

Mice won't mate if a female is not in heat, but you have no way to know if she is in heat. A doe goes into heat every 3-5 days. Also, she is in heat and the male will mate with her, almost immediately after she gives birth, making the litters only three weeks apart, which is bad both for the mom and for both litters.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha








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

QUESTION: Thanks for answering! i was going to update you after the litter and let you know how things are going and such. I think day three she got prego and if not I'm going to leave it.
I have another question but about sick mice.
I have one of the babies like I've previously stated (Midnight) and she's really sick. She can't walk properly, she can't clean herself properly, she cant even touch her nose her hands cross in front of her face, she has white by her back end (dried), her eyes are crusted (but fully opened), theres blood coming out of her nose (dried but uncleaned), and dried blood coming out of her ears (i saw it very little before but thought it was from scratching to much)..and that hunched back. She was fine and very active with no blood or crusted eyes or walking issues.. she was the heathiest as far as i knew. I put a plastic hut in there because they like it and wen't to my mothers for 2 weeks and my dad watched them and when i returned she was like that but not to this exstent. I thought she ate too much of the hut and is having issues with that but shes been like this for about a month but the last day or two seems to be really bad.. my dad said it could be a birth defect...or she could  carry a diesase... could it also be from the litter? im useing carefresh stuff but maybe its dirty? thanks!

Answer
Dear Marissa,

The baby needs to go to the vet immediately. She is very sick and will die soon without intervention. Allergies would not cause her not to be able to walk properly. And a birth defect wouldn't cause the crustiness. The red is not blood, it is just what their nasal secretions look like. But it is still very serious.

It is true that dirty litter causes respiratory problems; but not the other symptoms.

Please get her to a good exotics or "pocket pets" vet asap, if you want to save her life.

squeaks,

Natasha