Mother eating babies

OK this is the 2nd liter the mother has had. I got the mother & father from a friend who didnt want the mice after they had babies(10), which were 4 weeks old by the time I got them, Now the mother had another 12 babies, which the babies and mother were put alone in there own tub, 2 days later 2 babies were gone, now its been a week and there are only 6 babies left, what do I do to not lose any more babies

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Originally Posted by escomaya

OK this is the 2nd liter the mother has had. I got the mother & father from a friend who didnt want the mice after they had babies(10), which were 4 weeks old by the time I got them, Now the mother had another 12 babies, which the babies and mother were put alone in there own tub, 2 days later 2 babies were gone, now its been a week and there are only 6 babies left, what do I do to not lose any more babies

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Sometimes the babies have something wrong with them, and could be eaten for that reason, or they just die. Make sure they are clean, comfortable, fed, and hydrated. That is the most you can do. If she turns out to be a bad mom, replace her with a more reliable mouse.

And don't bother separating them. It makes no difference.

Good luck.

the babies are a week old, eyes not even open yet, if i separate the mom from the babies how will they eat and drink???

I meant, do not separate the male from the females. They will all care for the babies.

try giving them a piece of salt to chew on.

A) Make sure they have things to chew, plenty of water, and especially a quiet, hidden spot for the enclosure. Mice are really nervous critters.

B) Give them a good mixed diet including lab block and senior dog food to ensure good protein levels. Becky's Rodent Mix here on the forums is a great feed!

C) You don't have to separate the male and female. In fact, sometimes being moved around a lot can cause the losses. Mice don't like disturbances unless they are really used to you and trust you. :)

In the end, as was said, if the mom just keeps doing it despite precautions then you should replace her. Good luck. :)

I have added fat to their diets. Like Balonga, left over chicken (fried).

I had one cannibalism issue and wondered with all that I am feeding them, why would they eat a kit. I thought about what is the kit made of and then decided to add fat to their diets and see if this worked. I haven't had a reoccurrance of cannibalism yet.

However, in the male rack (feeders), I did have dominance issues and subsequent deaths. This is usually resolved by putting them in the BIGGEST rack I have and putting all kinds of food in there and a LOT of it. :rofl:

I used to breed my own mice and rats and eventually gave up. The mice would breed fine, but they'd turn cannibalistic and eat the babies. I had them in a 40breeder tank, they were healthy and clean, and they still killed the babies.
Sometimes you can fix whatever is causing them to be that way and sometimes it just happens and you can't do anything about it. some are bad mothers, bad breeding mice.

Good luck with it though.