Almost lost one last night.

by Mouseketeers Sun 22 May 2016, 11:32 pm

I am not sure what happened. Mocha's litter is 3 1/2 weeks old. Late last night I was cleaning / playing with all the young ones. When I noticed one was missing from this litter. Went digging in the very deep substrate to find one of them stiff and very cold. The house is cool but nowhere near as cold as it will get. Last night was one of the warmer nights we have had in the last few weeks at 10 degrees ( 50 F ). Nothing was obviously wrong with the little guy, bar the fact that he was barely alive. I warmed him up slowly ( makes me sound like I cooked him! Razz

) whilst I let my mind wonder over all the possible reasons. Mainly focusing on a concern for that particular line, I had come to the conclusion that there was no reviving him.

Then just like that he jumps up, has a grand run around. Finds a cheerio and has a great time demolishing it. He is still looking 100%. Still worried about what was originally wrong and not hopeful that it was something simple. I really really loved this line too. Time will tell I guess.

This was straight after.
Almost lost one last night. IMG_7286_zpsmpjkby7q

Almost lost one last night. IMG_7286_zpsmpjkby7q

Almost lost one last night. IMG_7289_zpsbhz9dnfi

by Soren Sun 22 May 2016, 11:49 pm

That is very scary. He looks very vital though! Especially for being cold under bedding for who knows how long.
But it is concerning. Was he stuck underneath something besides the bedding? How deep is your bedding? What kind of bedding are your using? It just seems strange for him to get stuck, if the bedding is easy to maneuver around in (like carefresh). With my experience with babies, they bury themselves in bedding, and get themselves out without a problem. I've never experienced a stuck baby, especially weird since they are pretty mobile (and gymnasts) at 3 weeks.

I hope there isn't a underlying problem that caused it. I hope it was just a one time event.

He is super cute by the way. I love his eyes in the second pic, they are curious and adorable.

Keep us updated if anything changes with the cutie.

by scaredymouse Mon 23 May 2016, 1:30 am

How fortunate that you found him when you did! What a sweet looking little fella. Glad he looks like he's doing well Cheer

by MouseLover Mon 23 May 2016, 5:21 am

Aaw he is so sweet looking, poor little thing. Hope he stays well now!

by peas Mon 23 May 2016, 5:30 pm

I am confused. How hot is it where the mice are being kept?

by Mouseketeers Tue 24 May 2016, 8:03 am

This house doesn't have heating or Aircon, old and facing the wrong way. So in summer it will reach temps of 40 degrees celsius ( 104 f ) and in winter it sits around 6-10 degrees ( 42 - 50 f ). Right now it is around the 10 degree mark so not too cold.

He hasn't had a hiccup since. Soren I am wondering if he had tried to borrow under one of the houses and got stuck? I was a bit too hurried to pay much attention to if he was stuck or not. It is always possible. :/

by peas Thu 26 May 2016, 10:45 pm

That is far too hot. And far too cold.

I saw you mentioned in another thread that your mice can survive this. Animals can survive a lot of things, that does not make it safe for them or healthy for them.

Please pay special care to cooling your mice down with alternative methods if you cannot have an air conditioner. 90 plus degrees puts all sorts of strains on internal organs that you cannot see and can lead to damage that may not show itself until later in life, if not right away.

10 degrees is too cold. And like the heat, just because your mice "can" survive this does not make it healthy for them or safe for them or comfortable for them. Mice do best when kept between 68 and 80 degrees. 10 degrees celsius is almost the temperature of a fridge. You are essentially freezing your mice and regardless of whether or not they survive it's cruel.

by Mouseketeers Fri 27 May 2016, 7:01 am

peas wrote:That is far too hot. And far too cold.

I saw you mentioned in another thread that your mice can survive this. Animals can survive a lot of things, that does not make it safe for them or healthy for them.

Please pay special care to cooling your mice down with alternative methods if you cannot have an air conditioner. 90 plus degrees puts all sorts of strains on internal organs that you cannot see and can lead to damage that may not show itself until later in life, if not right away.

10 degrees is too cold. And like the heat, just because your mice "can" survive this does not make it healthy for them or safe for them or comfortable for them. Mice do best when kept between 68 and 80 degrees. 10 degrees celsius is almost the temperature of a fridge. You are essentially freezing your mice and regardless of whether or not they survive it's cruel.

I appreciate your concern for my well cared for and loved pets.

by peas Mon 30 May 2016, 6:39 pm

Did you not just write a post about how you thought one of your mice froze to death?

by MouseLover Mon 30 May 2016, 8:12 pm

Not sure what country you are from peas, but I don't consider 10 degrees c to be too cold. Maybe it's because I'm from the UK and am used to much colder?

Mice can cope with the cold much better than they cope with heat. Generally speaking, if it's not too cold for a human, it's not too cold for a mouse. If Mouseketeers isn't too cold, I'm sure they're fine. Especially if they have plenty of bedding and buddies to snuggle up to.

by CinnamonPearl Mon 30 May 2016, 8:16 pm

I agree that mice can handle cold pretty well, but I gotta second Peas on the matter of heat. 104 F is way too hot for a mouse. I can't imagine it's very good for them. But I assume that Mouseketeers probably takes measures to ensure their mice are able to cool down.

by CallaLily Mon 30 May 2016, 8:40 pm

CinnamonPearl wrote:But I assume that Mouseketeers probably takes measures to ensure their mice are able to cool down.

This. There are steps you can take to help cool/warm your mice when temps creep out of comfortable range. I also don't think 50F is low enough to cause trouble, especially with warm bedding and other mice. Certainly not cold enough to "freeze to death." Wink

by Mouseketeers Tue 31 May 2016, 6:29 am

Thanks for not jumping down my throat guys. Whilst I do post heaps of pictures of all my young mice I am not a breeding factory. Each and every one of my mice including all the individual pups are incredibly loved and well looked after ( way more attention and time is spent on my mice than my horse and sometimes even myself Wink

).

I have never felt the need to prove how healthy my mice are, or how I house them. Part of the reason why I like this forum and its lovely open community. However I do appreciate that everyone has varying opinions on every possible aspect of mouse keeping ( animal keeping ) for that matter.

Australia has a funny climate, one that must seem bizarre to those who have never experienced it. Whilst we are accustomed to a very very warm climate. The temperatures are more than capable of dropping and especially where I am we experience quite cold winters. It is common to go from 40 to 20 degrees ( 104 f to 68f ) in 24 hours or 20 degrees during the day to below zero over night ( 68f - 30f ).

I think I mentioned it on another post as have several other members. I am much much much more concerned of the high temps in summer than I am in winter when we chill below zero. I run several tropical fish tanks, ranging in size and have spent a long time figuring out the best system to keep both my fish tanks and mouse tanks at a stable comfortable level in summer. As a quick side note, the fish tanks are way harder!
This includes having different tanks for winter and summer. Anything like 10 gallon fish tanks, bins and show cages need to be retired over summer. To be replaced with much bigger glass tanks ( more often than not large reptile tanks that have ventilation along the roof, side and strips down the very bottom under their bedding( Reptile tanks rock for mice by the way!). Their substrate changes between the seasons, so does their diet and toys. I even change what room of the house they are in depending on the season. This is standard start of summer practise. Not to mention the daily work that goes into giving them areas that are manually cooled down every day. Adjusting for each days individual temps. Not something we take lightly down here.

Now, all that aside. Mice are super smart versatile creatures. Whilst I am sure they would prefer the perfect not too hot, not too cold temp ( as would I ) they can handle comfortably a swing in temperature as the seasons change. Thankfully otherwise they may not have lasted long enough for us to domesticate them in the first place.

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