Mouse Question?

[GootySapphire]

My girlfriend has two mice, a boy and a girl. They had babies the first time and she kept the male in with the female, and the female ate ALL the babies. So now that they had babies again, we took the male out and put him in a seperate cage, and she has already ate at least ONE of the babies. Can anyone tell me possibly why she is doing this, and what we can do to prevent it? Thank you so much.

 

[ScorpDemon]

Feed her more. She needs protein. When mine have babies I make sure they have plenty of food available at all times, and I havent had any problems since I started doing that.
If that doesnt work, feed her to something and get a new female.

 

[AneesasMuse]

I agree... feed her some tuna, eggs, chicken, etc. Something could be wrong with the babies, too and she is eating them cuz she "knows".

Good Luck!

 

[LeilaNami]

don't touch them either...that'll make her freak and eat the whole litter

 

[SmokinAFuente]

Feed her more. She needs protein. When mine have babies I make sure they have plenty of food available at all times, and I havent had any problems since I started doing that.
If that doesnt work, feed her to something and get a new female.

Couldn't have said it any better! :clap:

 

[Princess_Peach]

...

I had 3 mice all in one cage at one time... 2 Females one male, the one female produced a litter and didn't eat any (that I know of)... I Handled all 6 babies and the mother still didn't reject them... Most mice mothers will eat their litter if they fear no room, or lack of food for the litter... I had a double layer cage so they knew they could separate, from their litter... If the mother continues to eat her babies it could be the male she's protecting them from, I've owned many mice and I've seen mothers eat their babies right after the father has tried to go near them... Just keep it up, maybe she knows she's too young for children lol...

 

[Taceas]

I would say its inexperience or lack of protein in the diet, personally.

With an inexperienced mother, the cannibalization typically starts from eating the placenta that is born still attached to the pink via the umbilical cord. The mother typically eats that to recoup nutritional losses, hormones, and to hide evidence of giving birth. Some new females don't know when to stop eating, and will follow up the umbilicus and start munching on the baby. Generally I don't have cannibalization after the first litter, because they know better.

What are you feeding them? If its a seed mix, they're probably only eating the seeds highest in fat (sunflower) and ignoring the protein filled tidbits. Try to find a rodent lab block (ex. Mazuri) or un-dyed dog food (ex. Nutros) that's at least 18% protein. Make them eat that as a staple diet, and give them weekly treats of seeds.

The male being present generally has no bearing on the litter, in most cases he'll be just as gentle and attentive as she is. Re-introducing him later is going to be a problem because mice don't like "new" mice encroaching upon their territory, especially males, regardless of past histories. If and when you do re-introduce him, there will be fighting, mice aren't nice creatures.

Another reason a female will eat her newborns is when she perceives overcrowding. I've had it happen when the previous litter was left in the cage to grow up a tad bit more when I was short of other accommodations and the mother felt crowded and it was merely a factor of population control. But if you only have two mice, I doubt it's that.

Another less common reason is just simply an unbalanced female. You get one like that occasionally. She won't just eat her own young, but any other female's young in the same cage. Usually if a female munches her second litter, she's instant snake food at my home.

I have NEVER, repeat NEVER, had a female to eat her babies because I messed with them. I think that's a common misconception. I've owned many rodents over my life and have had hundreds of mice and not one litter was ever cannibalized due to my handling of the babies.

Hope that helps a little bit.

 

[Tleilaxu]

I would just like to reiterate what Taceas has said, and add one more, the female mouse I had would adopt wild mice babies with no questions asked. For more tricky moms cover the baby with butter and as the mom is licking the butter off her sent comes off on the baby and she takes it as her own, Also I had one one brood of babies eaten and that was due to climate, it got way to hot. Also this female I had would let me do whatever with the babies and was not nervous at all. I think you may have a female thats off her hinges, wait to see if she raises this litter completely. If not then get a new one. Also that oner babyh she ate may have been sick may have died.

 

[Varden]

I raised my own feeder mice in a huge flat bin. There were four females and one male, who stayed in there full time. I never had any cannibalize and I, too, handled the babies. I had lots of food available all the time, and lots of space for them to get away from each other or the babies. A lack of either one of those could be the cause.

 

[IguanaMama]

Try feeding a bit of whole grain bread dipped in milk.