cannibal mouse

If it was their first time having babies, i have found not just with mice and rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils. all seems to have a high chance of eating their first born. not sure why, but my assumption is they can tell when the babies have issues and will euthanize them, rather than allowing them to live. it seems to be more of a norm to me than an oddity. i never consider the first 'clutch to survive.

on a side note did you remove the male once she got prego?.

ETA: i misread that this was the 2nd drop from her.

I would check the amount of protein in the diet also.

What kind of bedding are you using too? I had massive issues with bedding that was very dusty and the babies' noses would clog up with it, then then some moms would seem to panic and bite their faces off.

Once i switched bedding back to my regular stuff, the face chewing stopped.

Otherwise, I'd suspect the food. Check the label and see what it's offering in nutrition.

If I had a female kill 2 litters, they were snake food. If they have a large enough cage, proper food and water, and no stress, and they still kill them, there's something wrong with them, and lots of times, it can be passed down. Any babies that survive will be prone to killing their own litters.

Unless you have something wrong with the husbandry, just get rid of her and save yourself some headache.

i dont know the amount of protein in the food hadnt checked. as for bedding im using pine

i checked the protein on the mice food and it was 16.0%.. what food type would you recomend i feed my mice

16 is a tad on the low side.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JaGv

i checked the protein on the mice food and it was 16.0%.. what food type would you recomend i feed my mice

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For mice I go no lower than 18% and my colony is very prolific and NO cannibalism not even first timers.

Again it can take time I would write her off and try again.

Pine is bad (oils can lead to problems). You really should switch to Aspen.

Kild dried pine, is fine.