Posted by FRANK on January 26, 2002 at 00:56:56:
In Reply to: New Mouse Set Up .... and problems posted by Sasheena on January 18, 2002 at 14:55:12:
: Well several days before christmas I got 1.2 mice from the pet store. This is a pet store that has white mice for feeders, and fancy mice for pets, but their fancies breed all the time, and the feeders don't, so I got the fancy mice, partly because their cuter, and partly because they come from a line with a better track record. They were probably weanlings.
: Last weekend I decided it was safe to increase my colony size, since I didn't have any babies yet. I bought a couple of female (fat) mice from a feeder bin. I dabbed everyone's noses with vanilla, put the male in a new cage, added the new girls and the old girls. Everything seemed fine. I did notice some scuffling, but since no fur or blood was flying, I figured it was just figuring out the right pecking order. The male sure didn't mind! Well one of the newbies looks like a juvenile rat. She's not only fat, she's BIG. Her head, when next to my smallest female, is twice the size! And yesterday, when I got home, I noticed blood in the cage. I didn't think any of the girls were fat enough to have litters yet, and none were thinner than before. I am not sure if there was a small litter born and eaten, or if it was a scuffle with injuries. After I changed the cage, I noticed the big rat-looking new female attacking EVERY mouse in the cage. I decided to put her in solitary to see if she has babies, and if she doesn't I'll just sell her to a pet store. (don't have snakes large enough to eat her yet!). Is there any way to tell if one of the mice had a litter? There was nothing but blood in the cage, and I checked carefully for partly masticated pinkie parts. Is there anything I can do in case one of the other mice has an injury I couldn't find? Any advice at this point would be appreciated.
in my opinion your mouse had a misscarriage they will eat the fetus if it is stillborn i dont recomend having mor than two males in with more than 2 or3 females email me if you have any further questions
Frank
