Pregnant mouse

by Bennies_mice Thu 19 Apr 2018, 4:47 am

Hi everybody! I'm Benedetta, I live in Italy and I have 2 pet mice! I need your help figuring out if my youngest mouse is pregnant. On the 24th of april 2017 I bought 2 mice from the pet store, but this year on april 3rd one of them, Beatrix, unfortunately died from a tumor. To keep Amèlie company I bought a new mouse, Cora, on the 6th. I've had her now for 13 days and I'm pretty sure she's pregnant but I'm a little worried: a couple of days ago I found a drop of blood in her cage, but no signs of a fight or wounds. Yesterday I woke up to a table tennis ball sized Cora, and today I found traces of watered down blood in her bedding. She's doing great and she never stops climbing and running and apart from the eating and the fatness you wouldn't tell she's pregnant by her behavior. Should I be worried about an abortion? Is she just getting fat?

by scaredymouse Thu 19 Apr 2018, 7:58 am

Cam you get a picture of her? Pregnant mice are usually very active, it didn't slow my momma mouse down a bit. If she is rapidly gaining weight and looks like she swallowed a golf ball, she is probably pregnant. And probably ready to deliver within a week. She should really be houses alone when she delivers and until the babies are weaned. Unfortunately any number of things can go wrong, she might just be ready to deliver. Try to get a picture of her and read through the sticky post in reproduction section on pregnancy and babies. Good luck!

by scaredymouse Thu 19 Apr 2018, 8:00 am

Here's the link

https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t43-breeding-packet

by Bennies_mice Thu 19 Apr 2018, 9:58 am

Thank you! (Also sorry, I just realised that i posted this in the wrong section) I'm a little afraid of separating the two girls because they are getting along wonderfully, they started grooming each other ever since I put them together and they now do everything together. I know that some things can go wrong, I can only hope for the best and be the best nanny possible! Thank you for giving me that link, I'm gonna read it right away! I'm attaching 2 photos I took yesterday of Cora and Amèlie, you can see that Cora is pretty big! Should I be worried about the blood?

by scaredymouse Thu 19 Apr 2018, 11:05 am

Oh my, she looks pretty round! Yeah, if that came on suddenly, she's pregnant! My pregnant mouse did not spot, but i think it's unusual. However, like i said, maybe her water broke and she's in labor. There isn't anything you can do... So try not to worry. Nature will take is course, it always does. Best of luck, keep us posted. After you read the packet let us know if you have any questions.

by Bennies_mice Fri 20 Apr 2018, 12:33 pm

Update: she had babies I think 5 hrs ago! Love

I can only see 2 that are outside the nest but still in a soft and warm spot, the mom has come out to eat and drink but she hasn't taken them with her inside their home. I put extra bedding just to keep them super warm but I'm afraid she might want to abandon those two. I still don't know how numerous the litter is but I'm guessing she hasn't had more than 5 babies. I've read the whole thread that you linked me, can I do anything for those pinkies though? I know that I'm not supposed to touch them but it breakes my heart to see them like that. They seem healthy and they were moving and crying, I wouldn't want them to die :/

by scaredymouse Fri 20 Apr 2018, 2:15 pm

oh, I'm sorry. there isn't anything you can do. hand raising nearly always fails and momma mouse usually knows best. there could be something wrong with them that we don't know about. i feel for you.... that would break my heart too.

if they die, you will need to remove them as soon as possible because she will cannibalize them. its the only way they know how to keep their tank clean and sanitary. it's gross but it's nature.

fingers crossed everything else goes smooth. keep us posted.

by AppleCheeks Fri 20 Apr 2018, 6:06 pm

When I was breeding mice (its been a few years now mind you), I was handling babies from the minute they were born - well.. providing Mum had finished giving birth and had fed them of course. That said, I knew my lines incredibly well.

HOWEVER.
Babies can be found outside the nest for many different reasons. Mum abandoning them is one option but it could be something as simple as they were still feeding when she left the nest and didn't let go until they were outside of the nest.
So my advice, remove Mum etc from the cage/tank and put her in a small holding tub (it can be anything really), rub your hands in some dirty bedding and grab those babies and put them in the nest.

You NEED to check on the babies in the nest, do a head count and make sure they are all still alive. Remove any that have passed (it does happen) and then cover them back up and put Mum back in the cage. Pretty simple.

by Bennies_mice Fri 20 Apr 2018, 7:34 pm

Thank you so much to both of you! AppleCheeks, I followed your advice and I very carefully did a head count: 6 alive (I think those two just crawled out of the nest) and 1 dead, which I immediately removed as Scaredymouse advised me to do and buried near my Beatrix. I'm getting the feeling that the other girl is being more protective and caring towards the babies than their actual mother, even though she's never been a mom before! I think they both did an awesome job and I hope everything goes smoothly. Thank you again, I'll keep you updated!

Here's a picture of the pups

by scaredymouse Sat 21 Apr 2018, 6:12 pm

Good job! And thanks to applecheeks, she has much more experience with these situations. We usually don't advise messing around in the nest for 3 days but if you're going to do it, you did it the right way. Good luck, keep us posted.

by Bennies_mice Mon 23 Apr 2018, 9:14 am

Today I checked on the babies (it's been 3 whole days since they were born) and unfortunately 4 of them have died. They weren't killed and the girls haven't cannibalized them, they were just there in the nest. I held the 2 that are left for some minutes and they seem healthy, but so did the other ones. I figured that since this was Cora's first litter and she is so young they just weren't strong enough to survive. I'll post a picture of the two, I think one of them is a peanut and I'm afraid he won't make it :/ I'm asking myself if the mom is feeding them, but I think they would already have starved to death. Thank you again for your help

by Bennies_mice Mon 23 Apr 2018, 9:50 am

Also her nipples don't look different that the other girl's and I can't understand if the babies have milk bellies, that's why I'm afraid she might not be lactating them. Surely one of the girls is taking care of the bubs because they made a perfect nest with the babies in the middle of it, but then they start to dig and play around the nest and I don't think they're being too delicate going in and out of the house

by scaredymouse Mon 23 Apr 2018, 3:43 pm

milk bands are good! and if they are still alive, someone is taking tare of them. they look like healthy 3 day olds. sorry about the other bubs... she could have delivered prematurely, after all she was spotting before delivery. there are just a million things that could go wrong...

by Jadamouse Mon 23 Apr 2018, 10:35 pm

your 2 babies that are left look healthy Smile

by Bennies_mice Sun 29 Apr 2018, 4:10 pm

Thanks to both of you

today they are 9 days old and they're starting to have fur! They're too cute. I still think that one of them is a peanut or a runt because it's significantly smaller that the other one but it still runs around and is very active! I'll attach photos - let me know what you think!

by Sponsored content

Pregnant mouse

Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse

Re: Pregnant mouse