New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions

>Is it necessary to remove Buddha?

I only left a male in a cage with a pregnant female once. he attacked the
babies as they were born. most everyone else reports no problem at all.
likely my experience was not normal, nevertheless I always take the males out
before the babies show up. if you leave your mice together then you should
watch them constantly if possible.

making babies is hard work, and sometimes the mother becomes starved for
protein. if hungry enough she will eat her babies. to prevent this give the
mother some protein during and after pregnancy. boiled egg works very well,
and dry cat food is a good protein source as well. let her have as much as
she'll eat.
--

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father, but
through me." john 14:6
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions 

Thanks for all the great information!

Current plan is *not* to remove Buddha. We'll get the babies sexed out by 4
weeks of age, and the males will go into a separate cage. Hopefully we'll
be lucky and get them separated correctly -- the "rodent guy" at the Good
petstore agreed that it's sometimes difficult to determine gender when
they're so young.

This cage setup we have (Habitrail, not Hagen like I said previously) is a
great size for two mice and with the added rooms it should be okay for one
or two more, but we may have to expand further than I'd anticipated if Lotus
has a large litter. I poked some vent holes into the plastic caps on the
connector pieces (joining the side rooms to the tunnel to the main cage), so
that should eliminate or reduce the potential condensation problem.

The comments about protein needs are interesting, as we've noticed that
Lotus is demanding a lot of high-protein foods in the past 2-3 days. She
can't get enough of the dog biscuits (milkbone, 40% protein) and begs for
pieces of chicken when she smells it. We'll continue to provide lots of
high-protein foods for her (in addition to the usual grain and seed mix).
I'll also try some boiled egg -- I know the ratties used to love it, as well
as salmon. Is fish okay for mice to eat? (Our mouse-care book is a bit
inadequate.)

We're looking for a friend to take the cage of male mice once they're old
enough to leave mom, but so far there's no volunteers. If it turns out that
we end up keeping both males and females (in separate cages, of course), is
it okay to have both cages in the same room? or will the scent of the
females nearby cause the males to fight among themselves?

Patricia
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions 

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 2:35:34 -0500, Don Fitch wrote
(in message <20040217023534.18858.00002280 RemoveThis @mb-m28.aol.com>):

> I think the books generally warn that another female in the
> cage might kill the young, and I guess that's correct as far
> as it goes, but in several hundred births I've had this
> happen only four or five times -- all but one of which
> involved a rather-overcrowded cage.

I find it strange that books would say that. Lots of breeders allow their
females to stay together and in fact it is the natural living arrangement of
wild house mice (the usual family structure is one male and a "harem" of
several females who share child care duties).

Both times I had a pregnant mouse, I left her with her female cage mates and
both times they all helped care for the babies. It was really rather
touching to watch.


Heather
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions 

>Is fish okay for mice to eat?

probably. mice are pretty tough.

some things your book may not mention:

1) lysol, the spray-can room air freshener, kills mice. avoid it.

2) pine wood shavings are bad for mice. they contain phenols that eventually
overload their livers. use paper-based bedding instead.

>is
>it okay to have both cages in the same room?

yes.

>or will the scent of the
>females nearby cause the males to fight among themselves?

they might fight no matter what you do. males frequently just fight. have a
spare cage available to rescue anyone who needs it. the bathtub makes a good
emergency cage if you don't have a cage available (put the plug in).
--

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father, but
through me." john 14:6
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions 

In message <WyAYb.549309$ts4.215224@pd7tw3no>, "Patricia" <spamfree DeleteThis @shaw.ca>
wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the great information!
>
> Current plan is *not* to remove Buddha. We'll get the babies sexed out
by 4
> weeks of age, and the males will go into a separate cage. Hopefully we'll
> be lucky and get them separated correctly -- the "rodent guy" at the Good
> petstore agreed that it's sometimes difficult to determine gender when
> they're so young.

You will notice when/who to remove as they wil suddenly start showing an
interest in the females well before they can actually become a father. (it's
4 to 6 weeks for the females to become fertile, but for the boys it's 60 days
(and that seems to be minimum from what I've seen).)

Regards
John G
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions 

In article <gpgYb.520219$JQ1.460813@pd7tw1no>, spamfree.TakeThisOut@shaw.ca (Patricia)
wrote:

> Hi,
> We're new to the world of mice. My (college-aged) son came home with a
> mouse the first week of January, a beautiful charcoal, white and tan
> who he
> named Buddha. The pet store "guessed" Buddha was male, but the staff
> weren't able to hold two mice side by side to determine if they were the
> same gender or not, hence the solo mouse purchase -- plus mouse
> supplies,
> including a book on mouse care.
>
> He took Buddha to a different pet store 2 weeks ago where the staff can
> tell
> boys from girls. Turns out Buddha is a girl. There was only one female
> mouse available for sale at this second store, a lovely red-head who
> we've
> named Lotus. Buddha and Lotus are now best buddies.
>
> Lotus was in a cage with a bunch of male mice and, judging from her
> widening
> girth, we're pretty sure she's pregnant. Our mouse care book says
> gestation
> is approximately 21 days, so the babies will likely be born this week.
> The
> mice have one of those Hagen mouse cage setups, plus we've added a
> couple of
> tunnels and side rooms so Lotus will have a quiet place to have her
> pups,
> away from the activity of the main cage.
>
> Is it necessary to remove Buddha? At the moment, the two of them sleep
> curled up together, tails wrapped around one another (very adorable!),
> but I
> don't know if having another mouse around will upset Lotus.
>
> Any information will be gratefully received!
>
> -Patricia
>
>
>
Female mice can be very caring to others babies. I had one female had
little ones and the other female in the cage would sit in the nest, while
the mum left the nest to have a walk. I had one mouse Smokey that ate her
litter and then her mum Moonlight who lived in the same cage with her had
a litter and Smokey would also feed Moonlights little ones as they had a
litter around the same time.

Chloe <:3>>---
 >> Stay informed about: New to mousing and we're going to have babies -- questions