pink mouse ears

Question
Hello.  One of my female mice has recently had an unplanned litter by her brother.  The babies, now 5 weeks old, seemed perfectly healthy until yesterday, when I noticed that one of the males has bright pink ears which he holds against his head.  Now another male baby and one of the female babies (in a separate cage)seem to have rather pink ears also.  Forty years ago I did a fair amount of amateur mouse-breeding, but I don't remember anything like this.  Help, please!


Answer
I really don't think this is something to be worried about. Sometimes mice have very pink ears and in your case it sounds like it could be genetic. Holding the ears against the head is normal too though you should see them 'pinged out' at some point too. It can mean hes slightly stressed or being subservient. He will hold them against his head if hes going though small tubes or squeezing into small spaces so he doesn't catch them on anything.


As long as he doesn't appear in pain, I wouldn't worry about it. You will know if something is wrong especially as you have had a lot of experience with mice.

Please feel free to ask any more questions