Question ,First Time Mom..

I have a colony of mice that I just started up several weeks ago. 1 male 3 females.

One of the females is just starting to give birth. She is a first time mom, I know because I bought all of them when they were small.

Question, schould I move the the female that is giving birth to a seperate cage, Because I CANNOT AFFORD for baby mice to be eaten ??

I have heard of baby mice being eaten by cage mates sometimes.

Thanks, Stephen

I'd leave them together, it;s not a good idea to move them so soon after birth.

FWIW, litter eating is relatively rare, and when it does happen, it's usually caused by stress, poor or insufficient diet or lack of water. Stress could be caused by a lack of a hide box or nesting box.

I've heard that first time mothers sometimes eat their first litter by accident, but I have never had that happen.

I've had 2 litters eaten by first time mothers. The latest one this past week. I've heard it's not unusual for that to happen.

I wouldn't take the mother from the rest of the colony. If you do, she may not be accepted back in after she has the babies.

Why do first time mothers do this ????????? When does this stop ??

I've put alot of time and energy trying to get these animals up to breeding size, just to get pinks, and then they could do this . I guess I'll have to take my chances ?

Make sure they have a constant supply of good quality lab blocks available at all times, as well as fresh water.

It wouldn't hurt to feed the mother.ot all of them, extra protein rich foods when there is a new litter or one about to be born. Runa, scrambled egg, cold cuts, etc.

Don't mess with the cage for at least 24 hours during and after birth.

I find my mice can be rather unpredictable. Some colonies will have the females gang up on the male and take him out. I've had others where the females will take out another female. I've had males take out females. And of course there is the baby eating which is done by father, mother, or another female. Mice are annoying that way! Don't get me wrong, this is by no means regular...but I've seen it all happen. Usually, there is little to no problems and you'll get plenty of new mice. Good luck. Hey...and if you got the time and space...it never hurts to have a couple colonies in case one goes splat! That's why I have at least 30 running at a time in my rack!!!

I'am Finnish fancymice breeder. It's not unusually that the other mice or the mothermouse eat the litter if the mothermouse is in the same cage that the others are. I handle babies allmoust instantly when the litter has born. Nervous mouse maybe eats her litter but normal good healt mouse doesn't.

I would leave the new mother and babies in the colony. If you remove them, you run the risk of stressing out the new mother which could cause a number of issues, PLUS you also run the risk of the colony not accepting them back into the "family unit".

My first colony was started with 3 very young females, 1 older, but still virgin, female, and an older male. I never had an issue with them eating ANY of their litters, until recently, and the four of them have provided me with 100 or more babies in the past 3-4 months. The ONLY reason I lost the one litter was because I switched using feeding blocks from seed and fruit mixtures, and I think they didn't like the blocks, or the block was failing to supply some necessary nutrients(Protein?). I switched them back to the fruit and seed mixture, and the subsequent litter of 11 was not eaten, AND I was successful in implanting 3 foster fuzzies that I bought live from the pet shop.

I'm not against lab blocks, but I had some crappy Kaytee brand chunks...I don't really know what it was, the pet shop gave it to me to try out. They tried it and had issues in their colonies, too. No other issues with that colony.

My second colony, started with 3 virgin females and a virgin male appears to be freshly pregnant for the first time currently. I know the male has been busy, and the girls are starting to develope "hips" and a chubby belly...

Good brand lab blocks are fine, Kaytee lab blocks are NOT. Any kind of Kaytee food is usually deficient and full of unhealthy ingredients, but their lab blocks are especially bad.

Harlan or Mazuri or LabDiet are all good quality lab blocks that work well with breeder mice and rats. (and ASF rats)

Just thought I would give you all an update. The new Mom and her young are fine. I guess ,I was a little overly anxious. I just hate to loose new born mice, because of parents eating them. Right now I have two trays going w/
the ratio of 1.4 .

I am using Mazuri Lab block and keeping plenty of fresh water available.

Now, If I can just figure out how to keep my plastic 8 x 8 storage building cool ( which my mice are in ) this summer ? That will be a whole new thread.

Thanks everyone !!

Flagg said:

Good brand lab blocks are fine, Kaytee lab blocks are NOT. Any kind of Kaytee food is usually deficient and full of unhealthy ingredients, but their lab blocks are especially bad.

Harlan or Mazuri or LabDiet are all good quality lab blocks that work well with breeder mice and rats. (and ASF rats)

Click to expand...

Yea...I know that Kaytee "stuff" is basically crap as regards the nutrient content. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way, and lost a litter of 11 because of food deficiencies. The problem is...it is the most readily and widely available brand...at least as far as I can tell.

That is the main reason I specified that what I was using was crap, and what brand. I would hate for someone to learn from their own mistake, when I have already made it. I would rather they learn from mine...

I was wondering if sombody can please explain to me how to breed mice?....do I just need a male and female and they do all of the work or is it like a snake and you have to do most of the work?....I'm expecting hacthlings soon so I wanted to breed my own pinkys instead of having to buy 100 a week

The mice pretty much do the work.
Main thing is 1 male per colony.
Set up the clony and leave it, no moving them around.
Make sure to get them good quality lab blocks like Mazuri or Harlan, provide a constant supply of food at all times. Best to use some kind of food hopper or wire mesh top they can eat the food through.

If you want 100 pinkies per week you are going to need a lot of females, which means multiple colonies.

Gestation is 3 weeks and litter sizes are around 8-15. Leave the males in the colony and the females will get pregnant again soon after birth.

It can take up to 2 months for them to get started breeding. Start with young adult mice so you don't get used up former breeders.

ok thanks for the tips.....if I want to frezz the pinkys how should I do it hunamly?

Ziplock bag and a Freezer

Just put them in a ziplock bag and put them in a freezer. Once the eyes start to open you will need to kill them first (blow to the head or a gas chamber).

If you freeze pinkies without killing first , be sure to keep them separate so they don't huddle together for warmth and prolong their death. An old ice cube tray works for this.