Question
The Pups
hi, my mouse, Penny, had babies yesterday at PM. I was a little worried as she is a first time mother and many webpages say that a first time mom usually eats at least one of her babies. I tried not to disturb them for over 12 hours but a site said that you should check to see if any babies were dead. Penny was up and out of the nest so I put my hand in to see if she would climb on my it and she did right away. So i gave her a treat and she sat in the corner eating it while i gently lifted up the nesting house. she didn't seem to be annoyed so i peered in and saw about 10 little pinkies. They are so cute!
I want to get them use to humans as early as possible so that i can tame them. What is the earliest age they can be handled?
My next question is what are signs that the mother is getting upset by you being near the litter? Is there a way to know if she is going to abandon them or not?
The bedding i use is wood shavings. Is this okay for the babies or does it cause allergies or anything. There is also newspaper shreds in the nest. If i had to clean the nest out how would i go about doing it?
If i was to keep a baby doe, would she be a good companion for the mother or would they fight?
What age do the males usually start to fight?
If by any chance one of the pups get abandoned, how long do you have to go by feeding them every two hours?
Thanks :)
AnswerDear Leah,
First of all, congratulations on your new litter! It's not true that first-time mothers usually eat their young. It's actually somewhat rare. It can happen that a first-time mom gets confused, but usually if a mom eats its babies there is a reason: The baby is unhealthy or has a genetic problem; she feels it is too unsafe to have a litter; or the baby dies on its own. People often mistake the third for cannibalism. It makes sense, mouse-wise, for a mouse to eat a dead mouse: The corpse could rot and make the others sick; the corpse could attract predators; in the case of an older mouse, the corpse could keep disease near the nest; and in the case of a baby, the mom might as well take the protein she put into that baby into the others if she can. Of course the mice don't think these things; it's instinct to them.
I'm glad she feels the babies are safe around you. Still, be careful. When you take the babies out, always take her out first and put her somewhere else. Play it safe and don't go near the litter at all yet. Make sure there are no loud noises, bright lights, dogs barking, temperature changes, anything that might be stressful at all. You won't necessarily know when she is upset or even if she is going to do something-- you have to let nature take its course. If a baby leaves or is left or dragged out of the nest, take hands that you have rubbed in her waste corners and pick it up and put it back in. And again.
The way to tell if she is not feeding a baby is you will notice when you peek in that the babies all have a white stripe across their bellies. That is the milk band-- you can actually see the milk inside. If one of the babies doesn't have a milk band, it is in trouble. If you ended up hand feeding a baby, you would have to do so for at least three weeks, possibly four, so don't start it if you can help it! In the last week you could be more relaxed and do every 3 hours; if they still won't eat by themselves after 3 weeks, do it every 4 hours.
I recommend handling the babies when they get some fur-- around day 7. Breeders actually do handle them to some extent earlier than that, but it's not necessary to tame them, and not worth the risk. Ideally you will hold them each for a short time twice a day. Take mom mouse out and put her somewhere. Have all of the babies out of the nest in a warm spot and handle each one for just a minute at first; you can hold them more as they get older. I like to do this twice a day, because the little things have short memories.
Watch out when they open their eyes. On day 14, as they open their eyes, or within two days afterwards, they enter the "flea stage" where they hop around like fleas. It's also called the "popcorn phase." They might get a little nuts, depending on temperament. They weigh nothing and are developing their leg muscles-- and can jump straight up, up to two feet high! If they are hard to hold, take each baby in your cupped hand and as it gets more comfortable, slowly open the hand. You may want to gently hold onto the base of the tail (only the base. Tails can break off.) with the other hand.
Only aspen shavings are good. Other types of wood cause respiratory distress and even infections. And no newspaper. The ink is toxic. Don't worry, you haven't killed them. But in a week or two when you clean the cage, use the right materials. At that point, however, you should keep some of the nesting material so they still feel comfortable. Put a few kleenexes in the cage the day before you clean, so you can save those instead of the newspaper.
When you clean the cage, get everything ready. There is no reason to scrub anything this time; you just want to change the litter (and of course wash the plastic toys-- that's what smells the most anyway). So the disturbance doesn't even need to be more than a few minutes. Pick up mom and put her somewhere safe. Rub your hands in the old litter before you touch the babies. Pick up the whole nest and put it in a warm box, or even in someone's hands. Change the litter. Put the nest back as much as you can. Cover the babies. Put mom back in. Then leave them be. You do not need to stress them out.
Females pretty much always live together great. It's also usually great to have an "auntie" mouse in the nest when there are babies. But you mustn't introduce another mouse when there are already babies under 3-4 weeks. You really don't want to stress the mom or the babies. Assuming it is a large enough cage, you can keep all the girls together with mom as long as you like or forever. But take those boys out at age 4 1/2 weeks! Although it is the girls who can be sexually adult at 4 1/2 weeks and the boys often wait till 6 weeks, occasionally one is precocious. As for when the boys will start to fight, first let me say, you need to be finding homes for them now! Boys usually have to live alone and so each one needs his own cage, probably not all in your house. They will probably be OK for a couple of months, but you definitely don't want to be caught unprepared.
I hope I got to all of your questions! Have fun with the babies. They are a joy.
squeaks n giggles,
Natasha
<: )--~
3 new mice
Question
Daisy
Dear Tamarah,
I got 3 female mice today
pees
QuestionQUESTION: Hi Jedediah,
I have a fancy female m
What type?
Question
Bella
Dear Natasha,
I have a mouse called Bel
hair loss, red patches on mouses face
Question
male mouse
my male mouse is losing fur around
Vibrating Mouse doesnt like being picked up by tail
Question
Pumpkin
Ive read a few of your posts, a
