mouse false pregnancy?

Question

Ginny: day 21   QUESTION: Ok, its day 21 for Ginny.  So I expect her to have her litter in less than 24 hours.  She is nice and big.  But I cannot keep any of the males she will have.  Since I'm not sure if petstores will have room for the males I'm... considering... feeding the males to my turtles.  I know it's horrible but I can't see any other way out.  Do you think the mom will notice if 4-6 babies of hers are missing?  I'm thinking of trying my best to gender them at 4 days after birth so that they wont experience as much pain as they would if they where fully grown.  My turtles can eat them at 1-2 bites at a young age. But it will take longer for them to be eaten if they are adults or well.. not babies.  Plus they would have to live through a couple of minutes of torture in the pond then get excruciating pain from getting their intestines ripped out by hungry turtles.  Pls help me.

I attached an image of Ginny that I took today, DAY 21!
*cry*
~Jenn

ANSWER: Dear Jenn,

You do still have four weeks to find people who want little male mice.  That's the problem with males.  Because they usually have to live alone, it's not as easy to deal with them.  Mouse breeders do have to kill many males, but on a small scale it should be possible to find homes for them.  Actually you have more than four weeks, because you can house them together for a while before they will begin to fight.

Although turtles and other carnivores/ omnivores have to eat, I can't see feeding a mouse to an animal without exhausting all other options first.  I believe you are right that it will be painful.  if you truly can't find another way-- and please try-- then I recommend you kill the mice in a painless way before making them into turtle breakfast.  

Killing mice isn't fun and there is no real easy way out.  Of course pinkies are a lot easier to kill than adults.  The kindest method I have heard of is having them go to sleep in a box with dry ice.  I would leave them in there for ten minutes after they stopped moving.  Another way is to chop off their heads.  Use a VERY sharp knife.  A third way is to slam their bodies down in the bathtub from high up.  Any of these is relatively painless, though emotionally difficult. Better us suffer a little than the mouse a lot.  Some people freeze them but I think that is probably pretty painful.

By the way, some people will pretend they want a free mouse for a pet when they want to feed it to an animal, so it is safest to charge an adoption fee of about $5 and talk to the person for long enough to be sure they care about mice.

Sexing the mice early is difficult.  Here is the best  help you will ever find at that:  

http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/sexing.cfm

It has day-by-day photos of pinky genitals.  It's very hard to tell.  I think the easier method, also shown, is to find the nipples.  Only females have nipples.  That is easiest to see starting around day 10, and is only easy for a few days, because their fur grows fast.

I hope you find good homes for your males.  

squeaks,

Natasha

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

QUESTION: Thanx for your help.  You didn't answer my question about whether or not Mama mouse will notice if 4-6 of her babies are missing.  Also for the past FOUR weeks I have but they asking people if they wanted males all but they said no.
It's day 22 and I'm a little scared about Ginny.  Is it possible she is having a false pregnancy?
Why can't I feel anything in her tummy?
Why is her cage suddenly weird smelling?
Please answer these questions I'm SOOO....OOOO worried

ANSWER: Dear Jenn,

I wouldn't worry about taking some of the babies away from Ginny.  She will devote her attention to the others.  

Remember that the pair may not have mated immediately.  As I said, it can take 5 days.  She may have a few days left of pregnancy.  Don't expect to feel anything more than a solid mouse-tummy.  Baby mice are so tiny, you would never feel them kick or anything.  I've never  heard of a mouse with a false pregnancy.  Considering she was with a male and she looks pregnant, I don't think there is any doubt that she is pregnant.

I can't guess anything about a weird smell.  Is it strong?  Can you locate the source?  Is it the nest? The bathroom corners?  Ginny herself? Try to figure it out. I doubt it has anything to do with Ginny's pregnancy.  

By the way, simply dropping the pups may only hurt but not kill them. I really mean throw them hard.  

Happy birthing!

squeaks,

Natasha




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

QUESTION: Ok this is starting to get a little...weird.  The smell is now gone overnight.  Also Ginny made a big hill in her cage so I can't give it a last time cleaning because she dug to the bottom of her cage on one side and on her hill she built her nest! What can I do without destroying her nest. She now looks like a small (oddly colored) bullfrog when she stretches out a little.

BTW

False pregnancy of mice is a way to prolong the life of an egg.  This usually happens when a female can sense a male, or has been with one not to long ago.
Some times they may go into false labor and die.
But they usually just go back to normal.
It lasts longer than actual pregnancy.

So PLEASE help looks like she's due today or tomorrow.
~Jenn

Answer
Dear Jenn,

Don't disturb her nest so close to her time.  This could upset her and cause her to eat the babies.

That is interesting about the false pregnancy.  There is probably no way to know other than to X-ray her, but it  is very doubtful that the pregnancy isn't real.  

squeaks,

Natasha