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Post by bluedove on May 4, 2009 1:34:23 GMT -5
I was just about to turn in for the night when I heard a mousey shrieking coming from my colony's bin. Had to shine a light at them to see what was going on and I spy a tiny little pinky under the new mom's attentions... I quickly backed off once I realized she was birthing. I believe the shrieking is the baby responding to mom tugging and chewing the umbilical cord... at least I think I remember reading something about that. Here's hoping they aren't eaten by morning!
Ok, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but do I need to be doing anything? Fortunately I just cleaned the cage out 2 days ago so we should pretty good to go regarding cleanliness. Any special supplement I should pick up for mom while I'm out tomorrow? How long should I avoid disturbing the nest to get a tail count, etc? I want to sex them at the stage where the nipples are visible... I think that's 9 days old?
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Post by harrisi on May 4, 2009 14:08:18 GMT -5
Congrats! You dont need to do anything, if you can get a some high protein foods (packaged tofu, kale, boiled brown rice etc) then you can add a bit of high protein foods to her diet to help her along with raising them. I sometimes end up messing about with nests of 2-5 hour old pinkies and clearing out the cage , I just leave some old bedding by them, best to rub your hands in the old bedding and then you can handle them pretty much whenever you want, best to give the mom some porridge or something though to keep her busy whilst you count so she doesn't notice! sexing age is 9-15 days old, 14-18 days old they start to really fluff up and the nipple get covered over with fur. Good luck!
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Post by goingpostal on May 4, 2009 18:23:08 GMT -5
I give mine some scrambled eggs, canned cat food, canned chicken, etc when pregnant/weaning. I usually leave moms alone the first few days, then take her out and handle them daily after that. Sex around two weeks or when you can see the nipples. Separate by 4 weeks.
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Post by bluedove on May 4, 2009 19:09:09 GMT -5
Dangit! I just looked in on them and I see several dead, partially eaten babies. I was really hoping to have a successful first litter... is there anything to do now? The other two mice are totally clustered with mom on top of the babies... should I try and remove them in hopes that they are the ones doing the killing or are they just at lost cause at this point? EDIT: I decided to go ahead and separate the other male and female from mom and pups rather than wait for an answer... I figured if mom is the killer, it won't matter, and if not, I might be able to save the remaining 3. Looks like she had 6 total and 3 have been killed. I suspect the thus far sterile female to be the culprit. She was reluctant to leave the nest and hunkered over the young like she might be about to bite one of them... could have just been being protective though, I suppose. We'll see if the rest survive.
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Post by bluedove on May 5, 2009 1:34:06 GMT -5
Well, 24 hrs after the "blessed event" has resulted in mousey D-day! Not 2 hours after I separated the others from mom and pups did I find the male (I think) dead in the bin.. And though it does not appear that mom was DIRECTLY killing the pups, she seems intent on neglecting them to death. She had them scattered all over the bin and was running helter skelter on her saucer... I don't think she's nursed them at all. I made one last attempt to save them by placing them together under a shelter. I figure she'll go in there to sleep and one or more might "accidentally" nurse and she'll get a clue. Probably not though, I think they may be too weak already. Gah! I'm just disgusted with this turn of events. I wish I had an idea what went wrong... >_<
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Post by harrisi on May 5, 2009 3:44:28 GMT -5
How big is the bin? what are they getting to eat? how many in the bin? is it mums first litter? etc.
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Post by bluedove on May 5, 2009 18:58:31 GMT -5
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Post by harrisi on May 8, 2009 3:30:50 GMT -5
Housing sounds fine (just make sure they don't make a nest on the saucer ), diet sounds fine and so on. Seems like you have everything right. DON'T FEED OFF THE FEMALE(S)!! It is common for even the best of breeders to kill their first litter, breed them 2 more times before deciding whether to feed them off or not. Also, don't worry about opening the bins. I handle mice kits since they are born and have no problems.
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Post by goingpostal on May 8, 2009 14:08:27 GMT -5
If it was her first litter the stress from other mice being around was probably enough for her to cull. I put my females by themselves or with a sister whose also pregnant although the latter can go badly as well but usually doesn't.
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Post by bluedove on May 8, 2009 16:02:57 GMT -5
Ok, I may yet get a bigger bin set up just because it's a pain that they can climb out so easily while I'm checking on them and such. I think I will order "fancy" mice this time... these were feeders and just seemed so dang sickly! One was culled with a bad URI and that one male just dropped dead for seemingly no reason. Hopefully the fancy type will be stronger, hardier stock.
I did feed off the mom... it's probably due to my being 9m pregnant and about to have a baby myself, but the fact that she abandoned and killed them just pissed me off... lol! I actually told her as I gave her to the ferret that since she thinks it's ok to eat her babies, my baby thinks it's ok to eat her! lmao
I will be better prepared next time. Thanks for all the input!
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