Tetracycline for a pregnant mouse

Question
I just acquired 4 females and 1 male(not previously kept in ideal conditions) in order to produce pinkies for my reptiles. A couple were already pregnant. The one female that looks a little further along in her pregnancy(I'm guess 2-2.5 weeks along) has been sneezing. I was just wondering if I could use the Tetracycline treatment on a pregnant mouse.

Answer
Hi Jessica,

No, tetracycline is not safe for use in pregnant or nursing mice.  Some antibiotics are, but to my knowledge are only available through a veterinarian.  If her sneezing is serious or if her body condition declines I would go ahead and invest in it, as letting her have and nurse the pups unmedicated can cause serious problems for the litter - and sick pinkies don't make good reptile food!

Remember not to feed pinkies that have been exposed to antibiotics (either in utero or while nursing), as it stays in their systems and can be absorbed into the snake/other predator.  I would give a good few weeks before trusting that drugs are completely gone, just to be safe.  Happy, healthy mice make happy, healthy snakes!  :)

Let me know if you have any more questions, and welcome to the world of mouse breeding!
-Tam