Treating Mites with Pups (and other issues..)

by Nicolademee Sat 15 May 2021, 2:38 pm

Yesterday, i brought home 4 female mice who were rescued about a month ago from a hoarder. Among these girls, one lady (Mama Nutmeg) has approximately 6 pups, likely born Monday night. There is a good chance one other girl, Cinnamon, is also pregnant. While I'm ecstatic to finally have the chance to watch babies grow and give them a good life, unfortunately everyone is unhealthy. All of them have mites, 2 girls are missing tail tips, and Mama Nutmeg has a bad wound on her tail. The last inch is starting to die, and she may have an eye infection. Despite all this, everyone is active, eating, enjoying peanuts and running on their new wheels.

I would like to ask: how old must the pups be to go through mite treatment with Ivermectin? How old do they need to be to be apart from Nutmeg long enough for her to have her tail amputated? When can antibiotics be started for Mama's infection, if she does have it?

Ive already called my wonderful vet for advice, and he should call me back today so we can figure out a game plan. I love my vet, but he doesn't know everything about little ones, so I'd also like to supplement his advice with some from you guys. Another vet is not an option since there are none here besides him.

I'm doing my best for them, but their conditions were horrible beforehand. The bedding was fully soaked on the bottom, like actually WET, and I'm slowly taking some out once or twice a day to replace it. I have only opened the nest box once to see if there were still babies alive after the 10 hours they spent on the road (luckily yes and while i didn't look long enough to count, there did not appear to be any blood), and will avoid changing any bedding from there unless you guys think it would outweigh the risk of Mama eating them. I've given her lots of fresh bedding, paper bedding and toilet paper outside the den for her to bring inside. She does appear to be using the toilet paper. All the others are doing great jobs as nannies while Mama eats and explores. Their old 10gal is sitting inside my Linmon enclosure with a ladder to walk out. I think the other girl is nesting in a box elsewhere in the cage, so I'm expecting more pups from her.

Thank you all for your advice and help, i appreciate it!

by Dee67 Mon 17 May 2021, 6:32 pm

@Nicolademee I'm not sure how to answer your questions but it sounds like you're doing a terrific job for these poor mice, and they sound happy, if not fully healthy. Keep us updated, I'd be interested to know what the vet had to say.

by Nicolademee Thu 01 Jul 2021, 1:59 am

Dee67 wrote: @Nicolademee I'm not sure how to answer your questions but it sounds like you're doing a terrific job for these poor mice, and they sound happy, if not fully healthy. Keep us updated, I'd be interested to know what the vet had to say.

Hi! Been a bit... Updates: All are mite-free, i ended up not having to treat and I see no symptoms of mites anymore! Nutmeg's tail tip fell off before surgery was possible and she is healthy otherwise. Her and the pups were all treated for eye infections and all clean now. There was 8 pups from her and 5 are healthy, 7-week old boys now! Unfortunately, 3 did not make it. Cinnamon gave birth but ate her litter the same night, so I never saw those babies.

Everyone is happy and healthy now! The boys are scheduled to be neutered in September at 4 months old, however if they're still on the small side, we'll wait until 5 or 6 months. Once neutered and healed, I may break up my female colony of 6 mice to pair 2 girls with 2 boys each. We will see though and I'll cross that bridge when we get there.

The pups are named Gharry, Jemaya, Bougie, Spinach and Tortellini Smile

They're very active and healthy. Gharry is super personable and currently free roaming my room while I type this. He's taken to biting off my fingertips though, which will need to be worked on...

Thanks for your faith in me! I think I did alright for my first time with such sick mice and pups. Love

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Treating Mites with Pups (and other issues..)

Treating Mites with Pups (and other issues..)

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Re: Treating Mites with Pups (and other issues..)

Re: Treating Mites with Pups (and other issues..)