Im "mouse-sitting" and the MALE mouse Im looking after, just gave birth to at least 10 babies. What should I do? What should I be feeding mom? Anything to watch out for? (I thought it looked a bit fat.) PLEASE HELP.
2006-11-01 15:45:46 · 5 answers · asked by tailsnnails 3 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
What about handling them? Will the mouse mom eat them because she smells me on them? She is very friendly with me.
2006-11-01 15:54:54 · update #1
LOL Well, it happens. Was this mouse alone in the cage when she had babies? If there was another mouse there with her (the father), he needs to be removed a.s.a.p. - although, if he was in there when she gave birth, she is probably pregnant again. However, it's best to remove the father, just on the off-chance that she did not get pregnant right away. Pregnancy lasts 3 weeks.
Give her a nesting box/house if she doesn't already have one, and plenty of toilet tissue to nest in. Make sure she has plenty of food and water; it wouldn't hurt to supplement her diet with extra fat and protein - sunflower seeds, good quality dog food, boiled egg, unseasoned cooked chicken or hamburger. Probably would be best to not disturb her for 2-3 days, but after that you can start handling the babies. It is true that malnutrition or anxiety can cause a mouse to eat the babies, but it doesn't usually happen. Most mice are great mothers.
Don't know if they're in a cage or a glass tank - if it's a cage, the bar spacing will be too large to keep the babies in once they open their eyes and start "exploring" (which will happen at about 2 weeks of age). With the glass tank, there's nothing to worry about. At around 2-3 weeks they start nibbling on solid foods, and by 3-4 weeks they are weaned completely.
Your next step will be to make sure to separate boys from girls at about 4 to 4 1/2 weeks... Otherwise, you will have a mouse population explosion. Girls can stay with the mom - females get along great; but boys will most likely start fighting as they reach sexual maturity, and will need to be split up. I don't know what you're planning to do with the babies, tho - if whomever you're mouse-sitting for doesn't wish to keep them all, they'll probably end up in the pet store and will be sold as snake food, anyway.
I had a mouse give birth unexpectedly a few years back, and I kept all the babies; it was the greatest thing. I handled them since they were 3 days old, and they were all amazingly tame, they loved to be handled. Never had mice quite as tame again.
2006-11-02 10:53:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Separate the dad from the babies...they usually eat them. I've also had psycho females who ate their young, so it depends on the temperament of the mouse. The mother should just keep eating normal mouse food and water, she doesn't need any special food or anything.
2006-11-01 15:49:00 · answer #2 · answered by kmodek 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
just give it plenty of food, whatever you were feeding it, and she will do the rest. they look like baked beans dont they, i made that mistake with my first mouse, male mice are very evidently guys, if you check them at the pet store.
2006-11-01 15:48:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is not a male mouse unless its from backwardsland.
2006-11-01 15:48:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
how sweet. yes, just give the mama a lot of food and water.
2006-11-01 15:53:54 · answer #5 · answered by Annmaree 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋