Should the male stay in the cage?

Question
Hi Natasha! I bought my 3 breeder mice today and I absolutely fell in love with them :). I have a boy and 3 girls. I plan on breeding them, and I have good homes for all of them. 3 of the classrooms at my school agreed to take a group of 4, and I want the kids at the school to be educated about what mice are really like, and about how great of pets they can be. My question is, when I notice that the female is pregnant, should I separate her from the male? I've heard yes and no. Yes because I plan to change wherever the male is at once a week to keep down on smell. And I can't change the bedding with pinkies as I heard it stresses them out. No because I've heard that the male will help raise the babies. No matter what, the cages are next to each other, so he won't get lonely. :).

Thanks so much!          Jake

Answer
Dear Jake,

If you don't want a second litter, you must take the male out of the cage before the female gives birth-- say, 19 days after the two were introduced, as she should give birth on the 21st day.  Mice mate the day of the birth of a litter.

If you are not worried about more litters, read my very recent post "Breeding Mice" for a bit of a warning.  In that case, the male can stay in the cage and help raise the babies. On the other hand, he isn't needed-- the three females will happily divide the work among themselves.

If the male remains in the cage, it is more important not to disturb the babies in the first 7 days.  Thus you might have a slightly smellier cage for a few days.  This may disturb your nose but the mice will be fine.

I'm glad the cages will be next to each other.  Just remember to separate the babies before they are 4 1/2 weeks old so you don't have an unintended second generation!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha