# Will my mice die if they give birth?



## bewerewolff (May 29, 2012)

I have three female mice that I got a few days ago. One of them is larger than the rest so I'm assuming she's the oldest of the three. She seems to be almost full grown. She is definitely pregnant...you can tell by looking at her. She's large enough to give birth so I'm not worried about her.

My other two, however, are much smaller. I estimate them to be about 5-8 weeks old. There are no reputable mouse breeders in my area and my local shelter had no mice for adoption so I had no choice but to buy from the pet store. This isn't a chain store and the mice aren't bought from rodent farms so I was okay with buying my mice from this store. However, they do not separate their males and females because while they do sell the mice as pets too, they are predominantly sold for food. Therefore I am sure my two little girls are pregnant, especially because the majority of the mice in the tank were males (it took me over 5 minutes just to find three females.) To get to the point, is there a big chance my mice will die when (and if) they give birth?


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

im going off what i know for rats here, but younger rats have been known to give birth, survive and raise the litter, but its easier when a adult rat does it. 

at 6-8 weeks old they are still babies, they are tiny, they may still absorb the babies, even hours before they are supposed to give birth, especially if stressed. you need to get in touch with a vet and ecplain the situation, because if tonight the mice go into labour and are having difficulties you will need to get them to a vet for assistance or they will likely die. or they may have a very safe delivery. but watch out for younger mothers, especially that young, as sometimes they dont make the best mothers and need a bit of help, so buying some lactol (i think thats what they use for mice, but just double check) and small syringes.


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## peter0 (Oct 4, 2011)

I had the same problem as you. I had 4 'female' mice from a pet store that i bonded in October and decided to get 2 more in December. Anyway to cut a long story short my first 4 turned out all to be males (I didn't know how to sex them before) and one of the newest 'girls' was also a boy. The dilemma is i had 1 girl in amongst them and she was pregnant. She luckily only had a small litter of 5 (4 girls, 1 boy) and she done okay. There can be problems with them only being young but and they might not be the best mothers. You can try and help by feeding lactol but i'd use a fine paint brush to give it to them. There is a person on Youtube who has posted videos of how he hand raised 2 mice and it goes into every detail. He's in Canada and i could give you his link if you like?

I hope your mice aren't pregnant but if they are i hope it's nice small litters and there are no problems


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

There are a lot of breeders on a mouse forum I go on, I will ask your question on there and let you know what they say, biologically mice can get pregnant at 4 weeks old, I cant imagine many wild mice would still be alive today if that was going to kill them.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Ive had one reply on the mouse forum so far and she said this:

*It is rare for young mice to die when they give birth, especially if they have been fed plenty of extra protein during pregnancy and later while feeding the babies. However, unless the mother culls the litter herself, it is essential to reduce the number of babies she cares for to five or six. The strain of attempting to raise a large litter is far more likely to result in the death of a young doe than the actual birth.*

I dont think I could personally "reduce" the litter so I dont know how you feel about that, its a very contravercial subject but it would be a worry that a large litter could cause the death of the mum . The person who replied to this is a very experienced breeder though. You could also contact micklemarsh mouse who is another member on that forum (she has her own website) Im sure she would be able to advise you as she has dealt with a lot of rescue mice who will have had unplanned litters.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I have another reply for you from the mouse forum 

*I thought protein should be avoided during pregnancy as it could lead to the doe having large babies and so have difficulty giving birth? or is there a certain stage when it should be given?

I also have to add, respectfully, and with mod hat on:

I'd just like to politely point out that the above is an opinion only and does not represent the ethos of this forum. I'd be tempted to look for a foster mum should the litter be considered too large for the mum to cope with*


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