Preventing cannibalism?

Question
What can I do to prevent the mother from eating the babies, besides not causing stress to the mother?

Answer
Dear Josie,

In the wild, a mother will eat her babies if there is a life danger and the babies are too young to survive without her.  Thus any situation in which the mother feels she or her babies are in danger could be a problem.  

I never touch a nest between birth of the pups and the end of the first week, when the pups have fur.  If I missed cleaning before the birth, I leave the cage dirty for the first week.  All other stress should be avoided too.  Loud music or unusual or sudden sounds, running out of food or water, extremes in temperature, being chased (by your hand), having the nest disturbed in any way, etc.  You can tell that a mother mouse is upset when she starts moving the babies out of the nest and somewhere less suitable.  If this happens, as gently as possibly return the babies to the nest and return her to the nest as well.

A male is more likely to cannibalize if he knows they aren't his babies-- for instance if he was in the cage when the more powerful male succeeded in mounting the female.  Males are also more likely than females to eat the babies.

However, I have never experienced cannibalism by either male or female in any condition except complete lack of food.  I never took my males out and there were often quite varied living conditions in terms of who else lived in the cage.  So if you haven't already had a problem with cannibalism, don't worry about it.  I think as household pets, mice are unlikely to do so.  

Good luck to the new mother!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha