Perhaps they're already pregnant?
Hello!
I'm relatively new to mouse/rat breeding, although I've had rat litters in years past. However, this is my first attempt at breeding for feeders. 3 weeks ago I purchased 2 female and 1 male mouse from Petco (there are not many private breeders where I live). They seemed fairly young, as they weren't fully grown, but certainly old enough to breed.
Day 1 I put them all together and kept them housed for 2 heat cycles (10-11 days). I witnessed a few times where the male was obviously trying to fulfill his purposes (haha), however, I was never sure of what days exactly the two females went into heat. So after 10 days I separated them all into their own enclosures and began to watch and wait. It's now been 22 days since I first introduced them, and still neither of the females has had babies. They seem to be showing some signs of pregnancy, and of course, I realize they could have gotten pregnant later in those 10 days and then there would still be time to wait...
I'm probably just getting anxious about waiting to see more signs of pregnancy because while both have visible nipples and a slight little bulge, neither of them look anywhere near as big as pictures of other pregnant mice I'm seeing. Hopefully soon, though...
I noticed something today as I was cleaning out their enclosures when I placed all 3 together again for about 10 minutes. The male immediately realized they were female and tried to mate! However, neither of the girls seemed at all receptive, and in fact, squeaked and ran away in protest. I'm wondering if this could be another indicator that they're already pregnant and have no interest in a male??? I've heard male mice can often attempt to mate even when a female isn't in heat, but my interest was more in the females behavior...
(I realize this has been more of a rant than filled with questions, but any advice or input or ideas would be appreciated). Thank you!
