Update - Andy & Jackpot first litter, my first grand-litter.

Finally have been able to get a better look at the litter. There were
10, then the last time I counted 9 - I've been feeding her especially
well, so I don't know if perhaps one of them squirmed off into the
bedding somewhere, I just didn't see it amidst the sea of little pink
arms, legs and tails, or if she ate it.

At about the 6th day, I finally began hearing them squeak.
AWWWWWWWWWW.... My heart melted. When I looked at them, one of them
already had some fuzz, but all the others were as pink and hairless as
the day they were born. I'm keeping my eye on that one, as extra
fuzziness is a definite trait of the kind of mouse strain I'll be
developing over the next few years.

Andy, the father, almost never goes into the nest, he sits outside
like he's guarding it. Then when I get close and pull back the can a
little to peak in, he sneaks into the nest and stands over the pups
that Jackpot is unable to cover herself, looking directly at my hand
as though it were the most menacing thing in the world. I imagine if
I'd have touched or irritated any of the pups, I'd have had a nice
little bite mark as a souvenir. ;-) I had no idea they were such
protective little critters! I mean, when you hear about and see that
they eat their own young sometimes, the phrase "parental instinct"
doesn't leap readily to mind. But these two seem to be great parents.

Anyway, they did the cutest thing yesterday. Andy was outside the
nest on the other side of a "monkey bars" wall I have set up for them,
sleeping. I watched as Jackpot emerged from the nest, and heard the
babies squeaking like mad. She roved on over to Andy, crawled on top
of him as he slept and she just plain old passed out. The kids seem
to be getting to her lately, and I hope that doesn't cause anything
bad, but that was one of the cutest things I've ever seen a mouse do.
At that point, both mommy & daddy seemed to be too tired to care as I
lifted the lid from the tank, lifted the cashew can under which the
nest is built, and petted some of the babies (this was after one seems
to have "disappeared", so I'm sure that's not what caused it -
sometimes animals get "weird" when humans touch their young). One of
them even tried latching on to my finger, though it didn't keep it up
very long. Their eyes aren't open yet, but BOY, are their little
_lungs_ developing well... And it's just a small litter. I imagine
her second litter will be bigger - I don't think Jackpot's going to be
the only one crawling off at that point to seek a little peace &
quiet. ;-)

Anyway, just updating. What a cool thing to do, this mouse-farming
thang. :-)