how to know if my mouse already mate?

Question
Hello Tamarah Im just new on mouse thing and i buyed a female and male mouse to breed. So that night when i get them the male mouse was smelling the anus of the female mouse, on the second day the male mouse was smelling the anus of the female mouse and they always fight. On the third day both of them are smelling each other anus but still nothing happend. Please answer my question it will be really helpful :DD

Answer
Hi Divine,

There is no way to tell if a successful mating has taken place until the female starts to look obviously pregnant. Since mice are nocturnal, you may not even see them mating if they do. Females go into "heat" approximately every five days, so if you leave them together for at least five days they will have had a good shot at mating on the day when she is the most fertile. However, just like in any animal, this doesn't guarantee it will take and she will become pregnant. That depends on a lot of other things like timing, genetics, health, age, etc.

The male mouse sniffing the female means he is interested, but mating is never really pleasant for the female mouse, and the longer they are together the more stressed she will become, and therefore less likely to produce a successful litter. Stressed mice are less likely to mate, more likely to get sick, and just as healthy as they could be. It's a good idea to only leave them together between one and two weeks, and separate her on or before 14 days of being in the same cage together. If you ever see real biting, injuries, nips, scabs, or the female sitting up on her back legs and punching or "boxing" at the male, you need to separate them immediately. Some mice just aren't good matches for each other, and if you see fighting like this, it may be better to try a different boy or girl mouse.

Remember to be prepared with extra cages for when babies arrive - in addition to needing to remove the male before birth, at about four weeks old the male pups will need to be removed from the females, and if they fight, from each other as well. I recommend checking out my favorite mouse website for excellent breeding information, help, and resources: http://www.hiiret.fi/eng/breeding/index.html

Welcome to mouse breeding, and congrats on your new pets and future litter!
-Tam