Now theres babies

Question
I'm back.  The mouse saver.  Turns out the mouse that we saved was pregnant as there is not a large litter of pups in the cage.  We didn't know when we saved our mouse that she was expecting.  I don't know what to do.  I really can't house over 12 mice.  Please give me a few suggestions, I'm desperate.  They can't stay with me!

Answer
Dear Thera,

In terms of trouble to you:

1. The first option is to find a pet store which would be willing to take them as they are.   Of course... they would likely be used as feeders when they grew up... if not before.  

2. The next option would be to euthanize the babies.  The pet store may be able to do that for you.  It's  not easy to do it yourself, though easier for pups than adults.  I discuss that here:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2009/3/Editing-litter-rid-males.htm

3. The next option would be to raise the mice but give them to the pet store.  You might like to check out these posts about pregnancy, birth, and raising babies (pardon any redundancy):

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/2/pregnancy-infancy-1.htm

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/8/mouse-reproduction.htm

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/2/mouse-babies.htm

4. A combination of the above: You could euthanize the boys and raise the girls.  You could keep the girls.  

I'm sorry that there are no easy answers.  Soft-hearted people like us often find ourselves in unhappy fixes.

squeaks,

Natasha