• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Mother mouse won't let the babies in the nest

jimmythetiger

New member
So, my mouse had 11 babies today, and 10 lived. She hasn't killed any herself, but she won't let any of them in the nest. Will she ever take care of her babies? I can't tell if they have milk or not either. Also, I think she may be overheating cause of the weather, so maybe she doesn't want them against her? What should I do? Any ideas?
 
If you're worried about Mom overheating, get a small desk fan and stick it on top of the cage. As for looking for milk in their bellies, if you look at their undersides and see a splotch of white (you can normally see it in f/t pinkies, even), then they've been fed. If there's no white to be found, then you can worry.

I hope momma mouse stops being persnickety for you. =)
 
I see white but it looks like its too far up to be their bellies so Im not sure. I'm just more worried than I would be normally because her last litter was eaten, although we're not sure if it was her or her roommate. This time she's alone, but I'm still unsure. I just don't want her to end up killing her babies while I'm sleeping.
 
If she hasn't eaten the babies yet, she probably isn't going to. I've only dealt with one cannibal (so far), but she ate both of her litters and another mouse's litter always within 1-2 hours after birth... Usually sooner than later.

If you see white, it should be milk in their stomachs--I can't think of anything else white on a pink's stomach... If I remember right, there was no other "white" in my pinks' bellies than the milk. If there's white, she's probably feeding them.

Try cooling her down with a fan if you think she's too warm, and just see what happens. Remember, the mother doesn't ALWAYS tend to her litter--unless you have a nest box that she has kicked them out of, I wouldn't worry about her being in a different location. After all, she has to eat and drink, too... During these times, the male or another female will normally babysit.
 
unless you have a nest box that she has kicked them out of



actually... that's exactly the case. If one manages to get into her nest, she immediately takes it out. I put a sock on top of them for now to keep them warm, but I honestly don't know what else to do
 
Maybe remove the nest box so she doesn't have that option? To clarify: You could remove the nest box completely. Chase her off the nest once the box is out, and place the babies on the nest. Do not replace the nest box, and, again, see what happens... That's just baffling, though!! I hope my advice helps out, though...

If she continues to refuse to accept the litter, your only other option would be to foster some out to another mouse who is currently nursing a litter--which, of course, is only possible if you have another nursing mother--or euthanize and feed them off.
 
Yeah, Ill try that. And I guess I'm not at a total loss, cause I do only need pinkies... however I was HOPING that she would raise at least a couple so I could give them to my friend as fuzzies for her snake. Plus, it sucks that most of my mice suck at breeding in general, and it's annoying that every mother so far has been a bad one. (Another mother ate her babies tails lol)
 
You could raise a couple of the females up from the litter for more breeders (if the mother accepts them back).

Yeah, mice are a huge PITA. One of my colonies hasn't even gotten started yet, and, in the other, I have probably 1.1 that can actually breed... It was originally 1.3: one female turned out to be a cannibal, and the second hasn't successfully completed a single pregnancy yet (in the time it took for both the other females have had two litters apiece).
 
Is she by herself? Or in a colony? If she is by herself, and you see white, Don't worry....
The more you mess with them, the worse it is. I would take the hide out (I don't use them) but I would put something over the cage to darken it. If you are afraid she is going to over heat then put a small fan blowing over the top (not into). Most singled mice will often feed the pinkies then go off in another part of the cage to groom and get away from them. If it is hot, she maybe letting them, and herself cool off.
 
Back
Top