# Very pregnant mouse!!!



## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Here's a picof one of my mice.
She is very pregnant but not showing any signs of giving birth yet.










Sorry about her being on a plate it was just where she wanted to be to have her picture taken.
Does give new meaning to 'feeder food' tho'.


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## SuperTed (Apr 19, 2007)

she wants surgey performed thats why she is trying to pick up that steak knife


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

It was the only place she would sit still'ish' so I could get a pic.:smile:
If I was as pregnant as her I'd be insisting on a ceaser.

I'm hoping she won't eat the babies. It will be her first litter so I won't be surprised if she does.
Her sister did the other day. She had about 20 babies they were so tiny but she had killed them all when I came home and found them. I'm hoping, if they kill the first litters, they will be OK with the next litters.


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## bullorrties (May 10, 2007)

well this is my very pregnant mouse & she had 13 babys today


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Mine are lab mice. I was told they should have very large litters. the other ones babies were very tiny only aobut 10mm long.
She isn't a big mouse but her poor little legs hardly reach the floor now. She looks like a tennis ball on legs.
I would imagine she should have them in the next day or two!!!


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## MissHayho (Mar 17, 2007)

awwwww they luk so sweet fat hehe!


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bullorrties said:


> well this is my very pregnant mouse & she had 13 babys today


Oh good, is she doing well for you then? I hope that the move and all hasn't unsettled them too much


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## bullorrties (May 10, 2007)

nope they doing just fine ta 
& she is being a good mom, 
looks like two of the others are preg tooo,, 
i cant wait , 
did you get your new mice, 
i have a guy in my town comr round tonight he wants a couple of the babys whey they grow, 
& he also breeds mice we are doing swap, 
he has white with red eyes, 
& reds , 
i still want some husky though :mf_dribble:


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bullorrties said:


> nope they doing just fine ta
> & she is being a good mom,
> looks like two of the others are preg tooo,,
> i cant wait ,
> ...


Be careful with the Reds and Fawns. Don't pair a Red to a Red or a Fawn (or a Fawn to a Fawn or a Red) if you can possibly help it - you'll reduce your litter size AND Reds and Fawns are genetically prone to obesity. 

You'll have to send me photos of the babies once they start getting fur 

Unfortunately I didn't wind up with any new mice - the shop just didn't have anything I wanted. I don't know why it is shops are FULL of spotty "cow" mice... all I want is nice clean solid colours. 

And Saxon: I love it when female mice wind up all "lightbulby"


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bullorrties said:


> i still want some husky though :mf_dribble:


Though you won't find "husky" mice... the Roan gene in mice is totally different to the Roan gene in rats that makes Husky rats. I'm not sure there's any Roan mice in the UK at all, to be honest


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## bullorrties (May 10, 2007)

well the ones i saw that you had, 
that looked like husy mice they were gray n white like husky 
i said i liked em when i picked these up from you , 
this guy in my town does all solid colours of mice sppoke to him today he has 8 preg females now , 
Mice for sale | Dales Website


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

bullorrties said:


> well the ones i saw that you had,
> that looked like husy mice they were gray n white like husky
> i said i liked em when i picked these up from you ,
> this guy in my town does all solid colours of mice sppoke to him today he has 8 preg females now ,
> Mice for sale | Dales Website


Yup, I do have husky rodents, but no husky mice ... the husky girl in the yellow cage on top of the mouse stack is a young rat 

BTW: I'd be careful about the advice that you can keep two or more males together, too. Males can suddenly decide they'd like to kill each other.


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## bullorrties (May 10, 2007)

no wont be keepin 2 males 
only need 1


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

yay i havnt gone mad and missed huskie mice *sigh* i have some solid blacks if want some SSthisto


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Well my mouse had her babies.
I don't know how many are left but they did kill quite a few.
I can hear them squeaking so there must be a few left. Maybe 7 or 8 I think.
What is it with mice killing their first litters?
When I had them years ago they sometimes did this but then went on to have more litters and never did it to any of them.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

saxon said:


> What is it with mice killing their first litters?


Maternal behaviour is only partially instinctive - it also requires practice or observation.

Imagine this: You're a new mother mouse with a load of little squeakings. There's several things that are really obvious that can go wrong.

1. You don't know how often you need to feed them, so you don't feed them often enough. They get weak and/or die - and your instinct then is to clean up the mess. Hey, baby mice are made of meat!

2. You don't know when to stop grooming them, you draw blood... Hey, baby mice are made of meat!

3. You're weaker than you thought after giving birth... Hey, baby mice are made of meat!

If you've got an experienced mother in there who knows all of this, you're much less likely to lose babies, because she knows how often to feed, when to stop grooming and so on - and can SHOW first-timers what to do.


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## punky_jen (Feb 22, 2007)

how old are these mice? 
my only female had a litter yesterday, but she ate the last lot(was her 1st litter) so iv not really looked in the nest yet.

I know they are alive as iv heard them squeek and stuff.

But my mouse was no where near as big as them ones in pics.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

My mice were 5-6 weeks when I got them and I've had them about 4-5 weeks so they are about 10-11 weeks.
They've been together all that time and only now bred.
They are all the same age so none of them had had a litter before.
Hopefully they will rear this litter.


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## punky_jen (Feb 22, 2007)

mine must have less babies, she is no where near as big as those you have.

She is the last one now, i had 4, but they all died  did me head in, they are not hard to keep grrr. we figured out it was some kind of resp infection, so im not gona hold my breath for the mom and babies. although they seem to be ok, will have to wait and see.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Mine are lab mice I think she had a lot more but ate some of them.
THe one the other day had 18 and killed them all.


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## punky_jen (Feb 22, 2007)

god, bet you were gutted, they only supposed to do it first time, else dont use the ones that kill every litter for breeding.

I cant seem to find lab mice anywhere here.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Yes I know what mice are like I used to breed them 15yrs ago.
They'll be fine with their next litters. Ithought the firstone was going to die because she looked so ill before giving birth. As soon as she had had them she was fine tho'.
I got mine from Snakebreeder (Stephen Sharpe) as I live close by.


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## Pro Mantis (Apr 7, 2007)

what do you do with the babies? Do you gas or freeze them, or are they pet mice?

Do mice smell, or is it only the males?


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

If the mice rear the babies I am gong to try and build a co2 chamber but I won't be euthanising them all I will be selling some as well if I have enough to do so.
I need to build up my mouse freezer though.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

i must be so lucky i have over 20 breeding groups and none have killed there litters!!!!!


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

If you had so many you probably wouldn't know if they disposed of their litters.
Mice can be very clean in their disposal.
As Jen said it is usually only the first litter simply because they learn by observation. As my young mice weren't kept with older females to learn how to care for the young then they are having to learn by their mistakes.
No doubt they will rear their next litters no problem.
I bred mice many years ago so I'm not exactly new to it.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

saxon said:


> If you had so many you probably wouldn't know if they disposed of their litters.
> Mice can be very clean in their disposal.
> As Jen said it is usually only the first litter simply because they learn by observation. As my young mice weren't kept with older females to learn how to care for the young then they are having to learn by their mistakes.
> No doubt they will rear their next litters no problem.
> I bred mice many years ago so I'm not exactly new to it.


 
sorry but where are you been off with me all i said was i must be vry lucky? i have bred mice for a while now and i worked for a company that bred mice by the thousands. and yes i have a lot but i keep such a strict records i would notice as i keep a close eye on my pregnant does and if there suddenly went from very fat to normal i would no something was up. i dont know how would think i wouldnt know!


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