Is there anything I can do.......

[David_F]

short of strangling and freezing the nasty female mice I have (you have no idea how hard it is for me to put it this nicely :rolleyes: )? One of them had four babies almost two weeks ago. She's been caring for them just fine up until last night. Last night before I left for work I noticed she had left them on the opposite side of the tank and this morning when I looked in on them I found three partially eaten baby mice (one of the four died with no apparent cause earlier this week). The other female I have is probably going to have a litter in the next week or so. The only thing I can think of that could have caused this is stress caused by me moving them to clean the tank. I've only cleaned it twice (once a week) since she had the pinkies. Could this be the cause? Should I do away with these mice or give them another try?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[pcar]

I had this problem too, but didn't kull my mice. Have either of your females had litters before? If not, then this could be caused by a jealousy issue. The first time that my females had litters, I had this problem and ended up having to seperate the mice. I have them back together now, same three females with a male, and now all 3 females share litters...it is kinda funny to watch. when one female leaves the nest, another takes her place.

I would give them a little bit of time to adjust to multiple females having babies at a different time so that the 2 females can get used to it.

[David_F]

Thanks for the info. Yes, these mice were from a local pet stores breeding stock so I'm sure they've had litters before. I'm pretty sure they, along with the ancient male they sold me, came from the same tank. It's really strange to me because both females were taking care of the pinks. Well, I guess I'll just give them another chance.

Thanks again.

[pcar]

Ar you sure that they had enough food? I lost a litter of 13 babies because I went away for the weekend and the mice ran out of food before I got back and decided that the pinks would be a good replacement. i was only able to save one pink. I was very upset and ready to get rid of all the mice until I realized what had happened.

[David_F]

I'm pretty sure they had enough. I check their bowl every day and usually refill it because they dump it all over the place. So, even if there's none in the bowl, there's always plenty in the tank. I guess this could cause a problem due to the food getting soiled though. Is there a good type of dish I could use? Something they're going to be less likely to tip over?

[Sasheena]

Sometimes mice go wacko for no reason. I don't feed mine in a bowl, I just dump it in the substrate... if i put it in a bowl, it's gone within half an hour. The basic thing to do is get your own breeder groups going, and then stick with the mice you have once you are successful. Every time you bring in outside mice, you raise the risk of losing some to disease. I had some trouble to begin with, but then finally got some stable groups of mice going... sometimes I have a shortage of mice, due to seasonal die-offs, and sometimes I think about bringing in outside mice, but the mice do replenish. Enough wild mice have voluntarily joined my captive mice that I never have to worry about serious inbreeding.

Mice are just a pain! Learn that and your stress levels will drop!

[David_F]

Mice are just a pain! Learn that and your stress levels will drop!


LOL I think I'm beginning to figure this out. I've stayed away from keeping mammals for so long due to the frustration involved. The female that ate her babies died yesterday so I'm thinking maybe her age had something to do with her killing spree. All three were old when I got them (damn pet shop :angry01: ). I'll get some more (younger ones) next week and try just putting the food in the substrate.

Thanks for all the help pcar and Sasheena. :cheers: