Mouse rubbing her belly?
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Mouse rubbing her belly?
by FurMommy Mon 13 Feb 2017, 9:20 pm
Hopefully someone has some idea of what this could be...
A few days ago I got a new mouse, she looks to be about 3-4 weeks old. The first few days when I would have her out crawling around on my hands and arms, everything appeared normal. As far as I could tell, she was peeing and pooping normally. Eating and drinking normally. No sign of anything.
I hope I can explain this so it makes some sense... Tonight, I had her out crawling around, and I noticed every so often it looked like she was stretching her back legs. She would be walking across my arm, then without missing a step, she would literally stretch her back legs out. Just like if she was just waking up and stretching. At first, that's what I thought she was doing, just stretching. She kept doing it though, every few steps. Then I noticed that just about each time she did it, right after there would be a little poop left behind. I thought maybe she's rubbing her belly on my arm as she walks to help her poop. She does appear to be very young, like I said, 3-4 weeks. And I do know that the moms lick the baby's belly to help stimulate them to go to the bathroom. I was hand raising an abandoned wild mouse that was about a week old when I found it, and was told to rub it's belly after feeding to help him go potty. I could be waaay wrong, but is it possible that's what she's doing? It's like as she's walking, she stretches her back legs out and belly crawls for a few steps. Then gets up and walks away totally normal, with a few poops left behind. I'm just hoping someone may have seen this before and can say if it's normal behavior for such a youngin.
A few days ago I got a new mouse, she looks to be about 3-4 weeks old. The first few days when I would have her out crawling around on my hands and arms, everything appeared normal. As far as I could tell, she was peeing and pooping normally. Eating and drinking normally. No sign of anything.
I hope I can explain this so it makes some sense... Tonight, I had her out crawling around, and I noticed every so often it looked like she was stretching her back legs. She would be walking across my arm, then without missing a step, she would literally stretch her back legs out. Just like if she was just waking up and stretching. At first, that's what I thought she was doing, just stretching. She kept doing it though, every few steps. Then I noticed that just about each time she did it, right after there would be a little poop left behind. I thought maybe she's rubbing her belly on my arm as she walks to help her poop. She does appear to be very young, like I said, 3-4 weeks. And I do know that the moms lick the baby's belly to help stimulate them to go to the bathroom. I was hand raising an abandoned wild mouse that was about a week old when I found it, and was told to rub it's belly after feeding to help him go potty. I could be waaay wrong, but is it possible that's what she's doing? It's like as she's walking, she stretches her back legs out and belly crawls for a few steps. Then gets up and walks away totally normal, with a few poops left behind. I'm just hoping someone may have seen this before and can say if it's normal behavior for such a youngin.
FurMommy- Jr Member
- Join date : 2016-12-29
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Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by scaredymouse Mon 13 Feb 2017, 9:50 pm
I am not familiar with that move in young mice. The only mouse I've ever seen stretch like that though was pregnant. Where did mousie come from and is it possible she's older than she looks? Feel free to add a picture!
_________________
Lady mice: stormy, Dahlia, lily, Ella billie, coco, maggie
Gentleman mice: milo, jimmy
Other pets: Little Buddy, Kevin (cats) robert, lulu, Englebert, harold, Gerald, Zumi, nico, charlie, (hamsters), stella (gerbil), Gilly (hedgehog)
Penny, Honeybun, Lucy, Annie, Gilly, Furgie, Tedward Wigglesworth, Olivia, Goose, Sweet Katie, Binky, Delilah, Bitsy, Boopers, Sprout, Splotchy, Eva, Slappy, Shuggie, Fancy Pants, Jellybean, Charlie, Murray, Sally, Maya, Gunther, Lil Smokey, Magnus, Norman, Winnie, Sally, George, Harriet, Spec, Erzulie, Lucille, Agatha and Clementine.
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Posts : 2458
Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by FurMommy Mon 13 Feb 2017, 10:37 pm
She came from a regular old pet store. I guess it's possible that she's older than I think. I'm basing her age off of her size, and that the "rodent expert" at the pet store wasn't even positive that she was a female after checking her and her siblings because they were so young. Still, she could be older than I think, but I don't think she could be much older than a few weeks. I'll try to get a clear picture of her, but she skitters away so fast that all of my pics of her are blurry lol!
Do you know why the pregnant female was stretching like that? Maybe there's something that's going on with my little one that's also common in pregnant females? Otherwise, she seems to be doing fine. Only other thing was that her poops turned a little green after a few days, but I'm guessing thats due to the change in food from the pet store. I can take her to the vet, but there is only one that treats mice, and she works part time. I might not be able to get an appointment for a few days.
Do you know why the pregnant female was stretching like that? Maybe there's something that's going on with my little one that's also common in pregnant females? Otherwise, she seems to be doing fine. Only other thing was that her poops turned a little green after a few days, but I'm guessing thats due to the change in food from the pet store. I can take her to the vet, but there is only one that treats mice, and she works part time. I might not be able to get an appointment for a few days.
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Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by FurMommy Mon 13 Feb 2017, 11:05 pm
I think it's also probably worth mentioning that aside from these few moments when she seems to be stretching or dragging her back legs, she runs and jumps around just like normal. She's still a bit skittish when I approach her cage, and I have never seen a mouse run and hide so fast lol! I just thought I'd mention that because whatever this stretching is, it doesn't appear to be neurological or any sort of degeneration. If it was, I wouldn't expect her to turn right around and zip through her cage faster than my eyes can move!
FurMommy- Jr Member
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Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by scaredymouse Tue 14 Feb 2017, 12:22 am
All mice stretch but usually not several times in a row or frequent enough for your to question it. Preggo moms do it because it feels good, I presume. As far as I know there isn't an actual reason they do it, per se.
I don't think a vet visit would answer any questions. And as long as it doesn't appear neurological and she's pooping fine... I don't think there is any cause for concern. And the green poops are fine. I guess you'll find out if she's pregnant sometime in the next 21 days! I'm dealing with that at the moment. I got a new trio about 10 days ago and one of them was knocked up. She was tiny when I got her and now I have this on my hands:
Anyway, unfortunately size doesn't always correspond to age. I just got a full grown boy who only weighs 18 grams. Here he is to give you an idea of little he is at 6 weeks old. That's tiny!
So if she isn't pregnant and she's pooping fine.... she just likes to stretch! Just like people, so mice are quirky. Maybe she's just a yoga mouse
I don't think a vet visit would answer any questions. And as long as it doesn't appear neurological and she's pooping fine... I don't think there is any cause for concern. And the green poops are fine. I guess you'll find out if she's pregnant sometime in the next 21 days! I'm dealing with that at the moment. I got a new trio about 10 days ago and one of them was knocked up. She was tiny when I got her and now I have this on my hands:
Anyway, unfortunately size doesn't always correspond to age. I just got a full grown boy who only weighs 18 grams. Here he is to give you an idea of little he is at 6 weeks old. That's tiny!
So if she isn't pregnant and she's pooping fine.... she just likes to stretch! Just like people, so mice are quirky. Maybe she's just a yoga mouse
_________________
Lady mice: stormy, Dahlia, lily, Ella billie, coco, maggie
Gentleman mice: milo, jimmy
Other pets: Little Buddy, Kevin (cats) robert, lulu, Englebert, harold, Gerald, Zumi, nico, charlie, (hamsters), stella (gerbil), Gilly (hedgehog)
Penny, Honeybun, Lucy, Annie, Gilly, Furgie, Tedward Wigglesworth, Olivia, Goose, Sweet Katie, Binky, Delilah, Bitsy, Boopers, Sprout, Splotchy, Eva, Slappy, Shuggie, Fancy Pants, Jellybean, Charlie, Murray, Sally, Maya, Gunther, Lil Smokey, Magnus, Norman, Winnie, Sally, George, Harriet, Spec, Erzulie, Lucille, Agatha and Clementine.
scaredymouse- Hero Member
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Posts : 2458
Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by FurMommy Tue 14 Feb 2017, 3:56 am
Yoga mouse! Too funny! The 3 other mice I've had were all full grown when I got them, 8 + weeks, and I'd estimate between 30-40 grams. I had assumed that's the normal size and weight since they were all pretty much the same size. Since your little guy is so teeny for his age though, it's entirely possible that she's older than I think. She was with at least 2 male roommates at the pet store, so it's also entirely possible that she's pregnant. Oh boy lol! I just had her out again for a few minutes and she didn't do any stretching this time. I guess I'll just keep an eye on her and wait and see what happens. At what age do they reach maturity and are able to mate? I've read that 4 weeks is considered the average age, which if that's the case, she may very well be pregnant!
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Re: Mouse rubbing her belly?
by scaredymouse Tue 14 Feb 2017, 5:31 am
Fun fact: A healthy adult pet shop mouse can weigh as little as 25g. I had a pet shop male who never went over 30g despite my best effort to spoil him with treats.
And you are correct, mice can get pregnant as early as 4 weeks! Also, the is a lot of variation in how they show. Some look like my mouse and others never look pregnant at all. So, just keep an eye on her for the next 3 weeks. If anything seems suspicious, come back and ask questions. With my girl, I just knew long before she really started to show. She had a little tummy, nothing special but when I kissed it... It felt different than all the other bellies I have kissed, more firm. And then there was the stretching. She moved around slower and didn't jump around. She was just more careful. To an untrained eye, she might have seemed sick. But it wasn't lethargy, she was tired because of all those darned babies suckin the life out of her!
Good luck!
And you are correct, mice can get pregnant as early as 4 weeks! Also, the is a lot of variation in how they show. Some look like my mouse and others never look pregnant at all. So, just keep an eye on her for the next 3 weeks. If anything seems suspicious, come back and ask questions. With my girl, I just knew long before she really started to show. She had a little tummy, nothing special but when I kissed it... It felt different than all the other bellies I have kissed, more firm. And then there was the stretching. She moved around slower and didn't jump around. She was just more careful. To an untrained eye, she might have seemed sick. But it wasn't lethargy, she was tired because of all those darned babies suckin the life out of her!
Good luck!
_________________
Lady mice: stormy, Dahlia, lily, Ella billie, coco, maggie
Gentleman mice: milo, jimmy
Other pets: Little Buddy, Kevin (cats) robert, lulu, Englebert, harold, Gerald, Zumi, nico, charlie, (hamsters), stella (gerbil), Gilly (hedgehog)
Penny, Honeybun, Lucy, Annie, Gilly, Furgie, Tedward Wigglesworth, Olivia, Goose, Sweet Katie, Binky, Delilah, Bitsy, Boopers, Sprout, Splotchy, Eva, Slappy, Shuggie, Fancy Pants, Jellybean, Charlie, Murray, Sally, Maya, Gunther, Lil Smokey, Magnus, Norman, Winnie, Sally, George, Harriet, Spec, Erzulie, Lucille, Agatha and Clementine.
scaredymouse- Hero Member
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