I have decided to breed my mice.
Could I be able to GENTLY touch or hold the baby mice?
Would the mom get mad?
I want to socialize the mice as much as possible to insure they become the nicest less-skittish way possible.
2007-11-11 07:13:16 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
It's hard to say what to tell you. Animals are unpredictacble and each will react differently. You should not disturb them for the first couple days after they are born. Then what I would do is rub some bedding in your hands(to get the scent) before you pick them up. Another method would be to pick up mamma mouse first before handling the babies. Again this all depends on your animals and how much they trust you. It's risky, especially if this is a first time mom. Mice get stressed easily. You didn't say how old the mice were? As they get a little older they will jump and must be handled with extreme care. Mice need to be seperated by sex between the ages of 31/2 to 4 weeks. (I say 3 1/2 because some males can develop early) All males will need to be seperated from the females. Below is some links that will help you. Hope this helps..good luck
dave<:3}~...OWNER/ SHAGGYMOUSE YAHOO GROUP
2007-11-11 07:27:39 · answer #1 · answered by dave s 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes the mom would get mad and the male will most likely eat them i have been breeding mice and rats four 8 years this has happend alot to me also don't let the cage get over populated or the will fight and eat each other try to keep it like maybe 8 to 9 in each cage
2007-11-11 07:41:46 · answer #2 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i breed natal rats . they are a i guess if you lookat them the missing link between mice and rats.
anyways.. i touch their pinkies from day one. my rats are aggresive so I have to be carefull not to get bitten, but they dont kill their babies without reason(weaklings ,sick ones ...). touch your mice play with them so they already know you, this way they wont be mad when you take the babies. i leave the moms together with the other females because they are really social and help each other
2007-11-11 07:57:02 · answer #3 · answered by gonecrazy_fl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've raised literally hundreds of mice and my advice is wait until they are hoppers--about 2 weeks old--and then you can start to handle them safely. The mother won't kill them if you touch them earlier, but it's best not to stress her out.
2007-11-11 07:33:04 · answer #4 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At about 14 days you can touch them. ANY SOONER AND THE MOM WILL LIKELY EAT HER BABIES! Also when I had a oops litter of hamsters this site was useful for gender telling http://russiandwarfhamsters.tripod.com/hams/id19.html although it is for hamsters, it should also work with mice.
2007-11-11 07:21:09 · answer #5 · answered by Chihuahua ♥r 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no dont gently touch them yet. the mom probably will bite and be protective of her babies. dont touch them after they r about a week old.
2007-11-11 07:21:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well if it is like just born then the mother might want to protect it and bite u it depends on the age of the baby
2007-11-11 07:19:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yOU SHOULDNT touch the mice until you are able to tell their gender. That is because the mom will eat her babies and think that thats safer for them.
2007-11-11 10:10:37 · answer #8 · answered by Rachael 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it is ok as long as the mother is not trying to bite but after about after 2-5 weeks it should be ok. If the mother trys to bite do it any way.
2007-11-11 07:26:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I advice you not to touch them. Why would you do that in the first place? Oviously like any other animal the mother has the rights to protect her babies, and would more probably bite you to defend herself and her babies.
2007-11-11 07:22:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋