Uh Oh. . . WE HAVE BABIES! :O

Question
Hello!

My name is Lydia and I own 14 Mice. (10 girls, 4 Males.) We had rescued them from being fed to something.

At one point, 2 of the boys were living together, named Peppermint and Gingerbread. We had them and the girls next to each other, in closed-top-cages. Later, because they had been fighting, I found Peppermint in the girls cage! After that, the boys were separated.

Yesterday, around 2:00PM, my 2 Ferrets were out playing, but 2 little newborn Mice came into our home! This was very exciting, but what I don't exactly what to do. A few of the others may be pregnant, and I almost have no clue what to do with this one!

Currently, Sapphire, the new Mommy is in a separate tub, in the pitcher she gave birth in. There are blankets on top to help keep warm, but it's cold were I live right now. She also has food and water and all. But the box feels too cold, what do I do other than a heating pad, to warm up the cage to about 78 degrees or more?

She also had 2 Babies, and she hasn't left the pitcher. She's been staying on top of them to keep them warm, which is a good thing... But is it a sign of something?

Thank you SO much!


Answer
Hi!

That's a lot of mice!  Thank you for rescuing them.

Apparently your cages are not escape-proof.  You need to figure out why, and make sure the problem is fixed.  It's very dangerous for mice to escape, and some mice can panic and actually have psychological problems if they run around. Their personalities can permanently change.  It's also easy for them to get killed in one way or another.  

It's bad for the cage to be cold with Sapphire's new babies.  Put her in a cage with two other girls to help keep the babies warm.  Sapphire has been staying on top of the babies because it is too cold to leave them alone.  She's a very good mouse mommy.  Having other mice in the cage will give her the break she needs to eat, drink, and exercise.  Even if the other girls have babies, they can all stay together.  When you put them together, make sure the cage smells like Sapphire-- with all her litter and toys unwashed in it.  If it isn't a warm cage, do use the heating pad.  If you don't have one right away, use a hot water bottle, but you will have to change it often.  A very short-term solution is a bag of frozen vegetables (poke a couple of tiny holes in it so it doesn't explode) heated in the microwave.  

You are lucky that there are only two babies.  Hopefully she is the only mouse who got pregnant.  Babies are a big responsibility, and ten litters can be over 100 mice.  

Have fun with the little ones!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha