My baby mice are 9 days old, they have a bit of fuzz but are doing great. the mum is an excellent mum. well they seemed old enough that i could clean out the tank, so i took the mum, babies and nesting tissue out and put them in a separate container, then i emptied out everything, making very sure there were no babies in there still and put new litter in. then i put the babies, mum and old nesting tissue back in the box, first in the old nest spot, but she seemed to ignore them there, so i moved them to a small cardboard box that was in there before with the old tissue, and she sits in the corner, or walks over them, but completely ignores them. she has been back to the old nest a few times and in the box a few times but it seems shes lost interest in them and doesnt even notice them anymore. whats going on? have i killed them all by cleaning out the box? will she start looking after them again. help me please.
2007-03-10 18:10:37 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
mice are not self sufficient at 9 days old. at 28 days old they might be. at 9 days old they havent even opened their eyes, 14 days old they open their eyes.
2007-03-10 18:19:51 · update #1
she had just fed them before i cleaned the tank. they still have the same old tissues they had for nesting, but the litter is new. the dad has been washing them, but mum isnt interested
2007-03-10 18:22:27 · update #2
You should have left nature to take its course, I know you didn't mean to do anything wrong but the natural cycle is now interrupted. Having said that they are mice and at 9 days they should be self sufficient. So there should be no concern about mother helping out or not any longer.
2007-03-10 18:16:19 · answer #1 · answered by patti duke 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmm I bred mice a while back, could your mum mouse be a first time mum? If she is it is recommended to leave her undisturbed for at least a while before cleaning out the cage or handling ( she can become stressed very easily). Then again she could just be getting comfortable to her different surroundings . My advice is slowly move the babies closer to her, and the baby might try and grab to her nipple and suckle from it ( at least that’s what my baby mice did, they wouldnt leave the mum alone!) Good luck if your still having problems write them down, and I’ll try and help.
Also I think its a good idea you seperate the mum form the dad unless you want more baby mice. It also tires out the mum. The mum shoudl at least have a 4 week break before conceiving another litter. She needs to regain her strength and health.
2007-03-10 19:18:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The babies are still pretty young. Usually it is safe to start handling them for short periods of time around 14-16 days old. When you changed their bedding you left your scent on the babies. The mother might reject them now. Also if the male is in there you need to remove him so he doesnt harm the babies. If the mother doesnt accept them back then you could try to call an exotics animal vet and see what their advice might be. Here is a web-site that might be helpful.
http://www.petwebsite.com/syrianrearing.htm
2007-03-10 18:27:35 · answer #3 · answered by JoV 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When momma mouse starts getting milk pains, she will go back to feeding the babies. No worries. I have changed hundreds of mouse pans in a day, many of which had babies in them.. Production mouse breeding is 1 male and 6 or 7 females for optimum performance.. (harvest is about 60 pinkies a month).
2007-03-10 22:10:55 · answer #4 · answered by hotsnakes2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just leave them be for a while. The mother is probably confused and the babies don't quite smell right. I imagine after a while she will start taking care of them again. Probably if you turned out the light and left the room it would help matters.
2007-03-10 18:23:12 · answer #5 · answered by don n 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some pets have peculiar behavior.They dont like thier babies being touched by anyone.Maybe you shoud put everything back? Better ask the vet before those babies die of hunger.
2007-03-10 18:21:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
positioned the mouse out of its misery and throw it away? you rather need to maintain a container mouse alive on your place? I merely don't get it! maybe I even have lived interior the rustic for too long.
2016-10-01 22:28:33 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you touched them,you got your smell on them witch mum doesn't recognize as her pinkies.run the water Luke warm on a soft cloth and take a dry one . pick the pinkies up in the dry cloth ONE AT A TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stroke the pinkies SOFT with the wet cloth put back pinkies with dry cloth. check randomly.*
2007-03-10 19:25:24 · answer #8 · answered by Dorothy L 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋