hey Urgent Help Needed Here

Question
QUESTION: hey Ive got a female mouse callled jimama. She has a 4 month old baby which is a boy, She is a very pretty  type of breed and has won quite a lot of Mouse shows lol, i would like to breed her again but im going to buy a New mouse and I Was wondering what the boy mouse that ive currently will do to the new male mouse, and what do i do with them  both after she has the babies...
Thanx any help will do annd i neeeeed  help urgently

ANSWER: Hello Karina,

Breeding mice is a very serious endeavor and puts many little lives in your hands.  Please research the topic extensively before breeding, and be sure that you can properly care for any new lives you bring into this world.  Here are some wonderful sites for mouse information:

http://fancymice.info/
http://www.hiiret.fi/eng/breeding/essentials.html
http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/
http://thefunmouse.com/

Males do not get along, so please do not try to house more than one male together.  It's also a good idea to keep the female separate from ANY males, except for a couple of weeks while breeding.  Do not leave the new male in with the female when she is going to give birth, because she can get pregnant again right before or after giving birth, and this is both very hard on the female and very risky to the second litter.

You will need at least 3 cages - one for the female, one for her son, and one for the new male.  None of them can be safely housed together.  When the babies start to grow up, you will also need to house all of the male pups separately as well, so be prepared to have many more cages or find them loving homes!

Good luck,
Tam

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QUESTION: Heyy its karina again. mYY BROTHER HAS TWO MICE WHICH ARE NEATURED AND THEY GET ALONG WITH THE MALE BABY MOUSE bLUEBERRY. sOO IM going to see what happens with the new male mouse as she has been bred before with other male mice in the cage and they havnt been harmed. Thanx for yur help

ANSWER: Hi Karina,

Since the new male will be breeding and will therefore not be neutered, it is likely that he will become territorial and aggressive toward other males.  It is ultimately up to you how to separate your mice, but you asked my opinion on what to do with the males and the pups.

Best of luck to you and your mice,
Tam

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

QUESTION: Heyy Its Me Again just a floolow up questiion hey ive gotten That male mouse And another Cage. Hes gettiing along wiith them all but is liike washing them both what should i do now i havnt got the  Male with the mum yet  how can i introduce them to each other ? thank you very much for youyr help

Answer
Hi Karina,

I don't fully understand the question, but I think you are asking me how to introduce your new male to your female.  Really all you have to do in that situation is place the male in the female's cage for 1-2 weeks.  The female will go into estrus every five days, and if you sprinkle some bedding that was only exposed to the male he will feel more comfortable and get down to business sooner.  Some males want to scent the whole cage before getting down to it, and may not breed if it smells like another male.  It just depends on the mouse.

I want to just warn you again - males who have been bred become more aggressive, and reintroducing him to males he got along with before does not mean he will continue to get along with them.  Even if they seem to get along well at first, does not mean it will continue and they can kill each other overnight.  Grooming can sometimes be a sign of dominance.  I do not recommend keeping unneutered males together.  Please be prepared for housing male pups separately, too, as you won't have any idea until their born what genders they will be - and I've had all-male litters in the past.  They will need to be separated from mom and any female pups at around 4-5 weeks, and separated from each other at the first sign of fighting.  You may need to ruffle up the fur to see bite wounds hidden beneath it, and watch for nipped tails or ears.

-Tam