# Pregnant mouse/mice updates :)



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Rhea, our pregnant mouse has now been moved into the vivarium with her sisters Ciara and Rae. Ciara may also be pregnant but I'm not sure. When we got them they all looked around the same size, that was a month or so ago and they were 6 weeks old then, now Ciara looks a bit more rounded than Rae and Rhea is obviously pregnant, she is a kind of pear shape. 

Today, Rhea and Ciara have both been in their little house, it's clear so I can see them, and they've made a little nest with newspaper and kitchen roll. They've only really came out for food or water. I've been giving them their usual food and last night I gave them a small amount of boiled chicken.

I had taped a bottle to the side of the viv but it kept falling down so I've put a little dish in there and they're all using it fine. I plan to get a bird feeder to stand a bottle up in there tomorrow, I'll also update with photos then


----------



## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

aw glad they are ok, My mouse drinks from a dish he seems to like it better then and water bottle.


----------



## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

Will be waiting to see the pics!


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

dishes of water can be dangerous for baby meeces so you will need to get the bottle sorted before theyre mobile, Freckles looked enormous before she gave birth, I couldnt imagine a mouse could get that big and she was definately pear shaped. It would be a good idea to weigh the other females to see if they are gaining weight, which would indicate pregnancy.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> dishes of water can be dangerous for baby meeces so you will need to get the bottle sorted before theyre mobile, Freckles looked enormous before she gave birth, I couldnt imagine a mouse could get that big and she was definately pear shaped. It would be a good idea to weigh the other females to see if they are gaining weight, which would indicate pregnancy.


Thanks, what would I use to weight them? Kitchen scales?
Also, we're getting them a bottle tomorrow and the babies aren't born yet so it'll be fine


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> Thanks, what would I use to weight them? Kitchen scales?
> Also, we're getting them a bottle tomorrow and the babies aren't born yet so it'll be fine


If your kitchen scales are accurate enough then they would be fine, I used to pop mine in a tupperware box while I did it then I took the weight of the box off, I do weigh the rats, mice and gerbils from time to time now just to make sure they arent loosing or gaining too much.


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

This was Freckles two days before she gave birth, I meant to pop the picture on earlier.









and some baby pics to add to your broodyness


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> This was Freckles two days before she gave birth, I meant to pop the picture on earlier.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the photos, Freckles looks very much the same as Rhea now. I'm still not too sure about Ciara. The babies are adorable


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Rhea has had her babies, not sure how many as of yet. I've only seen the one through a little gap of bedding, she was giving the baby a clean then covering it to keep it warm


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

There are at least 2 babies  xx


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I would leave her to it hun, dont try to count them just yet, mice arent prone to eating their litters but it isnt unknown. Give her a couple of days to herself then we neeeeeeeed piccies


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> I would leave her to it hun, dont try to count them just yet, mice arent prone to eating their litters but it isnt unknown. Give her a couple of days to herself then we neeeeeeeed piccies


I can see them through the little house they're in as it's clear. I think Ciara may also have had babies. I could see all of Rhea's and there looked to be about 7-8. Then suddenly Ciara went in there as well and about 5 minutes later I could see them again and the amount of babies looked to be more and she looks thinner. I know Ciara is definitely pregnant now as just before this she pressed against the house and you could see her belly moving.


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> I can see them through the little house they're in as it's clear. I think Ciara may also have had babies. I could see all of Rhea's and there looked to be about 7-8. Then suddenly Ciara went in there as well and about 5 minutes later I could see them again and the amount of babies looked to be more and she looks thinner. I know Ciara is definitely pregnant now as just before this she pressed against the house and you could see her belly moving.


If the litters are too far apart you might have to watch that the older litter doesnt take all the milk off Ciara (the mums will suckle each others litters) with the older litter being bigger they will need more milk.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> If the litters are too far apart you might have to watch that the older litter doesnt take all the milk off Ciara (the mums will suckle each others litters) with the older litter being bigger they will need more milk.


Okay, thanks. I don't think they'll be too far apart. I'm not sure whether she's still pregnant or not, she hasn't came out much. She does look slimmer though.


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Ooh exciting!! 

How about the other girl? She showing any signs?


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

niki87 said:


> Ooh exciting!!
> 
> How about the other girl? She showing any signs?


The other girl, Rae, looks a bit bigger than usual but not as big as the others were so I'm not sure.
Although if she got pregnant just before we removed the male she'd have a few days left. 
We've moved her into a little tank on her own for now just in case, as OH thinks 3 litters all together will be too many.

Update on Rhea and Ciara- 
I've had to unfortunately move the girls into a RUB cage as one of our bearded dragons doesn't seem too well so we've had to put him into the viv. They seem fine though, they've barely noticed and are still feeding the babies fine. Ciara has definitely had her babies, I could see in when I moved the bed they're in and there's a pile of babies, there's around 15. We picked up the whole bed to move them, disturbing them as little as possible.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Here's a few photos of the girl mice today, Zack was too busy hiding in his house:-

Ciara-









Rhea-









Rae-


----------



## Ingrid25 (Oct 1, 2011)

cant wait to see the piccies of the bubs!
your mice r so cute!


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Ingrid25 said:


> cant wait to see the piccies of the bubs!
> your mice r so cute!


Aww thanks 
I had a little look at the babies today while the Mums were out being handled. There looks to be about 20  I'll get a photo tomorrow  x


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> Aww thanks
> I had a little look at the babies today while the Mums were out being handled. There looks to be about 20  I'll get a photo *tomorrow*  x


 But but but, I want baby mousie pics NOW


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> But but but, I want baby mousie pics NOW


Oh alright 
Give me a minute to take one


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

A few pictures of the babies, some are hiding under their Mums though


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww tiddly pink hippos . It doesnt seem two minutes since I had little hippos like those. I bet you cant wait to see what colours they will turn out. You need to do a baby mouse diary like I did, I posted a piccy of them every day HINT HINT


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

And here's a photo of Zack, our male and the Daddy


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww tiddly pink hippos . It doesnt seem two minutes since I had little hippos like those. I bet you cant wait to see what colours they will turn out. You need to do a baby mouse diary like I did, I posted a piccy of them every day HINT HINT


I really hope some are the same colours as their Dad, I think he's lovely. 
And I probably will put a picture up every day, they don't seem to mind me taking them at all


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> I really hope some are the same colours as their Dad, I think he's lovely.
> And I probably will put a picture up every day, they don't seem to mind me taking them at all


Do you think you'll keep some of the babies? Have you started finding homes for the ones you dont keep yet? Boys are hardest to rehome due to them been a bit smelly sometimes and not living with other males very often but I find the males that Ive had have all been the most peole orientated and the sweetest characters. It might be worth asking for help rehoming on the mouse forum.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> Do you think you'll keep some of the babies? Have you started finding homes for the ones you dont keep yet? Boys are hardest to rehome due to them been a bit smelly sometimes and not living with other males very often but I find the males that Ive had have all been the most peole orientated and the sweetest characters. It might be worth asking for help rehoming on the mouse forum.


We're planning to keep some of the females, I have also found homes for a couple more females and three males. I'll ask on the mouse forum in the next few days as welll


----------



## Drakino (Jan 1, 2012)

They are absolutely adorable *snuggles* *steals*


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Quick update..
Rae is having her babies now, I just had a little look and there she was with a tiny little baby

Also, Ciara and Rhea have managed to pop the top off the house they were in. It's been like this since 11am, I'm worried about the babies getting lost :/


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

How adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big pile of cuteness!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

I have held the older baby mice today for a little minute, the mothers seemed fine with it, it was while they were being handled. They're so wriggly and warm, bless them.

I forgot to take a photo. Is it okay to hold them more than once a day?


Also, Rae uncovered her little lot for a while today and there looks to be at least 11! Blimey!


----------



## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

Wow, you have a_ lot_ of cute little meeces there. I may just have to mouse-nab some


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Wow are you sure its their first litters? they are really big first litters. At that age I would take the mums away, rub my hands in the bedding and then hold the babies. It wont usually upset the mums to see their babies held but I wouldnt take the risk. Also dont use scented soap to wash your hands before you hold them as that smell will pass to the babies. I dont think it will be a problem to hold them more than once a day though. It might help you to read the thread I did about my surprise litters when I was in your position http://www.petforums.co.uk/rodents/87800-baby-mouse-thread.html Ive reorganised all my piccies in photobucket recently so no piccies on there any more Im afraid


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Yeah it's definitely their first litters 
That's what I've been doing, using unscented handwash 
I'll have a look at that thread now


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Some more baby photos 

Some of Rae's babies, 2 days old, the photo's unclear as it's taken from underneath the tank









The other babies, 5 days old 

















Big pile of the older babies, there are actually 19 in total, not 20 as I thought  If one of the black ones is a female we want to keep her


----------



## Drakino (Jan 1, 2012)

That is a lot of mice  so cute though! :001_wub:


----------



## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

They are adorable!


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Rhea and Ciara culled their litters to 16 babies a few days ago, since then no more have disappeared, we think they just had too many to cope with . They're doing fine apart from that, the babies have lovely fur coats now and their eyes have started to open today.

Rae is doing well with her babies too, she still has 11 at the moment. She ignored them for a good while after having the tank cleaned earlier but she's fine again now.

Piccies in a little while after I upload them to Photobucket, our internet is very slow today.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

The older two litters, taken today.
Only one photo as my internet is being so slow.

You can see one with their eyes open at the bottom left


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Am getting broody! Very very coooooot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

They really are adorable, its probably a good thing that you dont live anywhere near here or Niki and me would be coming on a mouse raid


----------



## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

What lovely mix of colours they are! X


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Can anyone give me any tips or a good link on sexing please?
xx


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> Can anyone give me any tips or a good link on sexing please?
> xx


Look for nipples, thats the only way I could sex them effectively, the girls have nipples and the boys dont (except in very rare cases of hermaphrodites), you may need to wet their bellys slightly to see the nipples.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

thedogsmother said:


> Look for nipples, thats the only way I could sex them effectively, the girls have nipples and the boys dont (except in very rare cases of hermaphrodites), you may need to wet their bellys slightly to see the nipples.


Thanks, we're going to have a go at sexing the older ones after we've had dinner, I'll let everyone know the results


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

From what we can gather, we have 8 boys, 7 girls and one that we're totally clueless about.

We've been told male genitals are further apart than females but ours all look very much the same and it's hard to compare.


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM said:


> From what we can gather, we have 8 boys, 7 girls and one that we're totally clueless about.
> 
> We've been told male genitals are further apart than females but ours all look very much the same and it's hard to compare.


Thats why I struggled with looking at genetalia alone, if you take an adult female out and compare the unsure one with her does it help? males who are a bit older can retract their testicals so it can even be hard with older mice, if you get them to hold onto the rim of a class or something so their bums hang over the edge they usually hang down though. have you tried wetting its belly? it sometimes helps to see nipples if you use a torch. Did you definately see nipples on the 7 girls? I found that for identification I drew little mouse outlines then filled in the markings for each mouse, then I wrote alongside each one what sex it is, it makes it a lot easier to tell at a glance which ones youve identified as male and which are females.


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

LauM said:


> From what we can gather, we have 8 boys, 7 girls and one that we're totally clueless about.
> 
> We've been told male genitals are further apart than females but ours all look very much the same and it's hard to compare.


As TDM said its all about the nipples  Yes boys genitals are further apart. I once spent 40 mins sexing a litter...over and over again. Was before I realised you should concentrate on the nip nips!! I still got one wrong!! Realised 2 days later  Gets harder the darker the fur though!


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

We'll have another go, just looking at nipples later on this evening.

Litters 1 and 2 photos from yesterday, our internet is terribly slow at the moment. We put the grey and white ones all together and the black and whites

















and this is Litter 3, taken yesterday  They've gotten big!


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

We had a mini search party this evening for baby GG, we thought she'd jumped out of the tank when we opened it or had been culled. Luckily we found her, she'd somehow got stuck under the food dish :| she was completely fine so she must not have been there long. We've took the dish out now and scattered their food around the tank, they seem to prefer that anyway.

Some of the babies, one in particular, have been using the water bottle today, is this good? He's also been having a little nibble on pieces of food


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Oh, also the babies from the first 2 litters have been named now. By OH, not me, he insisted.

We have:
Girls (we think)- Cherub, Adventure Mouse, Honey, GG, Boo, Ruby & Delilah
Boys (we think)- Pirate Petey (?), Winnie, Wiggles, Jitterbug, Clover, Reuben, Buddha & Rothgar.

Then we have Patch, who we're still unsure about


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

LauM said:


> We had a mini search party this evening for baby GG, we thought she'd jumped out of the tank when we opened it or had been culled. Luckily we found her, she'd somehow got stuck under the food dish :| she was completely fine so she must not have been there long. We've took the dish out now and scattered their food around the tank, they seem to prefer that anyway.
> 
> Some of the babies, one in particular, have been using the water bottle today, is this good? He's also been having a little nibble on pieces of food


From about 2 weeks they start doing these things so yeah I think that's fine. You keeping them all?? xx


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

No, we're going to rehome the majority. We might keep a girl or 2 and a few boys.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

The first 2 litters are getting very jumpy! They've been handled today and they're a lot more playful. We've added a few toilet roll tubes and kitchen roll tubes to their tank now they're more playful and they seem to be loving them.

Litter 3 haven't changed much from yesterday, still no eyes open.
Is it normal for the mum to just run around when the babies are feeding. Rae runs off when they're feeding so they just fall off as she runs.. :/ it looks horrible.


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

LauM if youre wanting homes for them it would be a good idea to make another thread in small animal rescue/rehoming section asking for homes for them, most times a mouse train can be arranged if people arent nearby.


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Thanks, I've done that.

The mice are doing well, they're all eating proper food and drinking from the water bottle now. A slight worry is that our younger ones are 3 days younger than the other litters but they are quite a lot smaller than the others were 3 days ago. They're doing fine, just very small. Is that a problem?


----------



## LauM (Aug 22, 2010)

Just a quick update, all the mice apart from 2 girls and 3 boys have now gone to their new homes. We are taking 2 girls and 2 boys to their new homes tomorrow and we're planning to keep the remaining boy.

Unfortunately we lost one girl yesterday after she became ill. We had an appointment for her at the vets for tomorrow morning but she passed away last night. She'd been a bit weak for a few days.


----------

