mouse breeding

by Danoboy25 Mon 27 Aug 2018, 7:56 am

Hi guys hoping someone can help I have a female mouse she gave birth to 11 babies the baby's are now 6 weeks old she gave birth to more the first bunch of babies are they OK left in with the mum and newbies or should I remove them from her cage

by windyhill Mon 27 Aug 2018, 9:25 am

If there is any males from the first litter, they need removed and separated from the females.
As for leaving the older babies with mom, I would recommend removing them. Even though they are (or should be) weaned, doesnt mean they wont step on,etc the new babies.

by CallaLily Mon 27 Aug 2018, 11:27 am

I agree. Separate the males into their own homes. And I would move the older daughters together into an appropriately sized setup. You’ll probably need to keep pregancy watch on the sisters too, since the males weren’t removed until now. Some breeders do keep a “nanny” mouse with mom but it comes with risks, especially with mice from “poor” lines so I wouldn’t recommend it.

With this second litter. Males should be removed at 4 weeks to prevent them from breeding with mom or sisters.

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

by Danoboy25 Mon 27 Aug 2018, 12:53 pm

Thanks for getting back to me do you think it be OK to leave all the sisters with the mom there's 4 girls from first little and 4 males

by Danoboy25 Mon 27 Aug 2018, 12:55 pm

There's 9 in cage mom with 8 babies from first litter there all 4 to 5 weeks old the dad is not with them its just the mom the first litter and the 2nd litter now

by Danoboy25 Mon 27 Aug 2018, 12:56 pm

What I was asking guys is the first litter would they be OK left in with mom and 2nd litter there's no big male in there just all the little ones who are still small there not even half the size of mom yet

by CallaLily Mon 27 Aug 2018, 3:48 pm

All male mice should be separated from the females at 4 weeks of age or you risk them breeding with mom and sisters. By 6 weeks of age (the age you give in your first post) they absolutely can get mom and sisters pregnant.

I personally don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the older daughters with mom and new babies. It’s a risk to the newborns. Especially if these mice aren’t from well-tracked lines. Don’t move mom and babies tho. Move the older daughters to another setup, so as not to overly stress mom.

Edit: from the Breeding Packet (which I linked above):

They will be fully weaned by 4 weeks. At this point, you MUST separate the bucks from the does. If the bucks are not removed at 4 weeks of age they may impregnate the mother and their sisters. Do not panic when reading that and separate them too early. There is no reason to panic. Those babies need to be with mom until 4 weeks to be as healthy as possible. Separating even a few days early can prove negative (as outlined in the section above), even deadly in extreme cases. Mice can not reproduce until after the 4 week mark (some older), thus separating them on 4 weeks to the day is the safest time frame possible. On the extremely rare occasion that someone has "claimed" that a 4 week old impregnated the mother or siblings most, if not ALL, cases it has been because the caregiver simply didn't keep track of their age well enough (i.e. the litter was actually over 4 weeks of age). There is a risk to both separating before 4 weeks and waiting until after 4 weeks. 4 weeks, to the day, is the safest possible time to separate the bucks. This isn't to say that separating younger will always result in death. That isn't the case and sadly some individuals pull babies too young, not realizing the harm they are doing. The healthiest and most well-rounded babies remain with mom until 4 weeks of age.

by Danoboy25 Mon 27 Aug 2018, 4:14 pm

Thank you for that I'll take the males out the females are carrying food into mom and babies and paper so I think there helping her so I'll leave the females but take the males

by CallaLily Mon 27 Aug 2018, 4:34 pm

Keep a close eye on the mom & new babies with the older daughters. It may work out just fine or it may end in disaster, with risk to new babies from older daughters or injury to older daughters from an overprotective mom. It’s generally not recommended with mice from untracked lines. Just a heads up. Smile

You prob want to keep close watch on if any of the older daughters are preggo too. And mom as well with a potential third litter.

Be sure to remove 2nd litter males right at 4 weeks of age to prevent it from happening all over again. Smile

by Sponsored content

mouse breeding

mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding

Re: mouse breeding