#mymice

[chilifrog]

Sitting down on the couch in my grandparents basement so so slowly because it was only this year that I realized as an adult how incredibly many mice are in this house and that the smell of half of the rooms is just the smell of mice (brothers fiance pointed it out to me) and I want to give any mice in the couch proper warning

[losttrackoftimeagain]

A friend of mine who knows how to care for mice gave me some better suggestions on how to help the little runt (which I've now named Pinky) nurse.  So before I hand fed it, I took out all the babies and left it with just it's mommy.  However, Meredith completely rejected that idea and removed the mouse from her bedding area.  After trying things similar to it I gave up and hand fed Pinky a little bit.  It was so cute seeing it open its mouth and try desperately to drink everything I had, which really wasn't all that much.  

Then tonight my girlfriend and I came up with the idea to put a couple of the other babies in with the mommy and Pinky.  It worked!  Pinky has been on and off nursing since then.  So until I go to bed, I'll be switching out two babies every hour.  Then I'll do the same when I wake up.  While I'm asleep or busy they'll all be in their cage together.  I'm really hoping Pinky pulls through!

[losttrackoftimeagain]

I went over to Rachael’s house to visit my other mice and play with them and now it appears that Princess is pregnant and possibly Cruella as well… I initially couldn’t figure out where I went wrong in my math (granted, my math skills are absolutely terrible), but the moment I noticed Princess’ belly it dawned on me.  I forgot to calculate in that although their menstrual cycles last only 1-5 days, Meredith could’ve been pregnant long before I bought her and just not showing. Duh, I feel dumb now.  So Meredith gave birth right on time rather than a couple days early.  And if Princess follows the same schedule, her babies should be here in less than 10 days, which means I now need to figure out where I’m going to put her.  Time to research putting pregnant mice in the same cage together!  As for Cruella she probably won’t give birth (if she’s pregnant) for at least 10 days.  Peanut is a skinny mini and doesn’t appear to be showing signs of pregnancy at all THANK GOODNESS (*crosses fingers*).  Also, once mice are 3ish weeks old they can get each other pregnant which is a whole other situation, but I can take all the mice back to the pet store by then and they don’t mind managing pregnant mice. :)

I plan to keep one female mouse from each litter, but not sure yet.  And I have a calendar book to keep track of all this craziness.

This is definitely not what I was expecting when I got some mice for my birthday!

[losttrackoftimeagain]

younglegsss replied to your photoset “They look like aliens”

Did you take the other parent out? Don't touch them the mom will eat them if she smells your scent!

I have no clue who the other parent is because she came home from the pet store already pregnant (though I didn't know that at the time).  It is just her and her babies in the cage.  Also, she is not a skittish mouse and therefore very unlikely to eat her babies.  I have touched the babies already, but for the most part they are left alone.  I've been keeping a close eye on both her and the babies to make sure she has everything she needs and is not stressed out.  I have read so much information and talked to so many people about it that my head might explode!  I most trust the workers at the pet store because they know where my mice came from and how they handle pregnancy, birth, and mice pups.  The mice I have are very friendly, tame, and don't bite, and I do not feel she will eat any of her mice based on the info I have been given and how comfortable she seems in her home. :)

[losttrackoftimeagain]

sentimentalroach replied to your photo “Meredith Grey is having her babies!! I didn’t realize it at first...”

When my mice had babies some of them were eaten which was quite disturbing.

Mice that are skittish are usually the ones that eat their babies if they are scared.  They will also eat stillborn babies.  After talking with the people who work at the pet store and know the breeder really well, it's unlikely Meredith will eat any of her babies.  However, if it does happen I'll be prepared for it and hopefully not traumatized!

I am of course still learning a lot about mice and have only been researching this information for a week now.

[losttrackoftimeagain]

All my mice are female, but one apparently got pregnant while at the pet store soooo looks like there are gonna be some mice babies in the next 2ish weeks... :)