Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 8:40:16 GMT -5
Hi All,
I thought I'd write my observations so far with keeping and breeding my mice as it might be helpful or interesting to others. By 'observations' I mean the things you generally don't find in a basic care guide but notice as you learn more about the animals.
- my very first mouse was a pregnant female. She had her young & then proceeded to eat all but 3 of them. After some online research I came to the conclusion she did not have enough protein in her diet & added the ferrets kitten kibble to her food. No young have been eaten since but she has not had another litter of her own again yet.
- I had a first time mum in with 2 females who had recently had litters. The 2 females took over the care & feeding of the young and I rarely observed the mum feeding her young at all.
- one of my females had only 3 very large young. She became very thin & bony despite continuing to eat well & having a pet milk formula offered daily which she drank. Her young on the other hand had rolls of fat. I monitored the situation but wasn't sure how early to intervene. Amazingly, she weaned the young herself early at 3 weeks. They even slept separate to the other mice when this happened with one of the males keeping them company.
- the males don't fight with one another and can be kept together in a group if they are litter mates or the offspring of one of the littermates
- as per the advice of the breeder I got my original mouse from, I have kept my two adult males (siblings) in with the females. So far, no females have become pregnant before 12 weeks of age & none have become pregnant immediately after giving birth or while raising their litter - it seems quite self regulating which is contrary to what I have read. It is still early days for me to be sure that this pattern is going to continue though. I've had 3 litters so far to different females & just as one litter reaches 5 weeks of age, the next has been born. So I'm yet to have more than one litter at once in a group with 2 males & 4 breeding females. It also appears to me that only one of the two males is doing all the mating & he has quite pronounced testicles. Whereas the other male spends his time keeping the babies company & is very sedate - he even sleeps so deeply he doesn't wake up when I pat him. I have read that the sexual maturity age can vary in each line so perhaps this is the explanation.
- I've noticed that the young mice all gather around the primary male quite frequently throughout the day & he stands up on his back legs with them all reaching up and leaning on him - have no idea what this means but they look like they are holding a little mouse conference or something! Lol! I'll have to capture it on video & post it - anyone know what this behaviour is about?
I thought I'd write my observations so far with keeping and breeding my mice as it might be helpful or interesting to others. By 'observations' I mean the things you generally don't find in a basic care guide but notice as you learn more about the animals.
- my very first mouse was a pregnant female. She had her young & then proceeded to eat all but 3 of them. After some online research I came to the conclusion she did not have enough protein in her diet & added the ferrets kitten kibble to her food. No young have been eaten since but she has not had another litter of her own again yet.
- I had a first time mum in with 2 females who had recently had litters. The 2 females took over the care & feeding of the young and I rarely observed the mum feeding her young at all.
- one of my females had only 3 very large young. She became very thin & bony despite continuing to eat well & having a pet milk formula offered daily which she drank. Her young on the other hand had rolls of fat. I monitored the situation but wasn't sure how early to intervene. Amazingly, she weaned the young herself early at 3 weeks. They even slept separate to the other mice when this happened with one of the males keeping them company.
- the males don't fight with one another and can be kept together in a group if they are litter mates or the offspring of one of the littermates
- as per the advice of the breeder I got my original mouse from, I have kept my two adult males (siblings) in with the females. So far, no females have become pregnant before 12 weeks of age & none have become pregnant immediately after giving birth or while raising their litter - it seems quite self regulating which is contrary to what I have read. It is still early days for me to be sure that this pattern is going to continue though. I've had 3 litters so far to different females & just as one litter reaches 5 weeks of age, the next has been born. So I'm yet to have more than one litter at once in a group with 2 males & 4 breeding females. It also appears to me that only one of the two males is doing all the mating & he has quite pronounced testicles. Whereas the other male spends his time keeping the babies company & is very sedate - he even sleeps so deeply he doesn't wake up when I pat him. I have read that the sexual maturity age can vary in each line so perhaps this is the explanation.
- I've noticed that the young mice all gather around the primary male quite frequently throughout the day & he stands up on his back legs with them all reaching up and leaning on him - have no idea what this means but they look like they are holding a little mouse conference or something! Lol! I'll have to capture it on video & post it - anyone know what this behaviour is about?
