why do my mice eat there babies?

Question

My mice keep eatin there babies why?had loads of sets of babies evry time thay eat them why?

Answer 1

Because they are stressed out; mice will eat their babies when they feel threatened. It's very common in their first pregnancy, but over time, they should get used to the process and raise their young instead of eating them.
The key is to keep your mice as quiet as possible. Place the pregnant mouse is a very secluded area of the house and don't constantly check on them. Keep a towel draped over the cage to block out light and sound. Only check on the mouse once a day, to provide food and water. Once the mouse has had her babies, don't disturb the mice except to provide food and water. Don't even worry about changing the bedding. Wait until the baby mice have hair and are moving about on their own before you start handling and taming them.
Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I am a long time breeder of rats, mice, gerbils, and soon to be breeder of spiny mice and African soft-furred rats.

Constantly eating every litter is a sign of serious neglect on your part. I have been raising, selling and feeding off my rodents for years now and have never had a baby killed, eaten or stillborn, even in litters of 25 or more.

Possible solutions [without knowing specifics of your setup and male/female ratio]
- Lack of water. If a female isn't getting enough water she will cannabilize a pup a day until a water source is found. She does this to continue to nurse the rest. If she goes down to only 1-2 pups, they do not stimulate her enough to continue to produce milk and they will die in 24 hours. She will eat these to keep the tank clean and come into estrus immediately.
- Improper diet. Lack of protien can cause underdeveloped pups that are either stillborn or unhealthy. The mother will instinctively not bother raising unhealthy pups and kill them She will eat them to keep the tank clean. Or she is so underfed that she has to eat them to keep herself alive.
- Privacy Stress. Contrary to [popular?] belief, you can keep the male in 24/7 throughout mating, gravidity, birthing and raising. However, if she doesn't have the privacy of a hide in a clear tank [ i use tubs therefore i don't bother with hides, just plenty of bedding] she will continually move the pups around. This could kill them from simply lack of milk.
- Overcrowding. Same as the above stress, there are simply too many other females in the tank, or the tank is too small and the male is getting in the way. She didn't realize the overcrowding while gravid [they can reabsorb the litter in undesirable conditions, but rats and gerbils do this more often than mice] The pups get trampled by the other mice, she doesn't feel secure and moves them around and/or doesn't nurse.
- More than one male. Very simply, the other male will kill the female's litter so he can mate with her. Although i doubt this is the case, as you would have noticed the fighting btwn males when the female was in estrus.
- Female is simply too old. You got an old mouse from a petstore or a retired breeder from a reptile show that was being sold as snake food. They have low litter counts or unhealthy litter counts or the female is unhealthy and is incapable of giving birth to live pups.

Hope this helps,

Sara

Answer 3

That is so sad to hear

there are several reasons why a mouse will eat her babies ;

she is imature ( early 1st litter)
she has produced too many litters
so, can not manage to feed more babies
under nourished ( wrong type food)
Poor access to fresh water
the babies she is eating are still births ( dead before birth)
or have birth defects ( genetic)
she has more babies, than she can cope with
she is disturbed in her nest ( a common cause )
she has not got a quiet cage, on her own
The male mouse (buck ) if with her in the cage,
will disturb mom , and trigger her to kill her babies
After doing this for a few times
to kill her new babies becomes a habit

Look carefully at all these reasons,
and see if you can improve the way you are keeping your mice.

They breed at a terific speed
you should always be sure you have good homes,
for the babies ,even before you think of breeding .

here are some sites ,which have helpful advice on pet mice
good luck

{^..^}~~~


Mice
About mice, colours of mice, buying mice, caring for mice, chat about mice, supplies for mice, mice for sale...
http://www.petwebsite.com/mice/mice.htm

...
How long does it take for mice to have babies after they've mated. ... In Reply to: breeding mice posted by chuck on May 09, 1999 at ...
http://forum.kingsnake.com/king/messages/12753.html

American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association
... rats or mice can be a member. The main purpose of AFRMA is to promote and encourage the breeding and exhibition of fancy rats and mice ...
http://www.afrma.org/

Care of Mice and Rats
Domestication and intensive breeding of mice have resulted in a tremendous genetic diversity of mouse populations. The Swiss Albino mouse has ...
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/MNAALAS/MiceRat.html

Webshots - Images of Breeding Mice
Webshots provides a stage for members to upload and share their personal photos, download photo screensavers, order prints and custom photo ...
http://community.webshots.com/album/40104482UcxUPp

Answer 4

It could be because they're missing something nutritionally, but it's probably because they worry they can't care for so many properly, or because they feel threatened. I assume you mean the females are eating the babies. The males should have been taken out by now, I believe.

Answer 5

Loads of reasons - mostly too much stress. This could be caused by too much interference from you, unsuitable nesting conditions, overcrowding, lack of privacy, etc. I suggest you stop breeding mice and leave the breeding to the professionals.

Answer 6

You should seperate your mice because it is unhealthy for them so have so many babies. She is eith being underfed or she feels they are unhealthy or she cant take care of them.

Answer 7

Usually stress, you need to remove the male and disturb them as little as possible.

Answer 8

My chipmunks do this also, its disgusting i know, i tried to get them out quick and hand rear them but the trouble is i don't know when they are expecting. Not sure why they do it.

Answer 9

One less mouth to feed. Voodoo Economics.

Answer 10

i think its some sort of defense mechinism. it usually means that they're worried or anything.