Are my females pregnant?

As you guys know, I started my breeding project about a week ago. I recorded the females weight on April 2nd, and again now on April 6th. Here are the weights.

April 2nd
Female #1- 33 grams
Female #2- 26 grams
Female #3- 23 grams
Female #4- 15 grams
Female #5- 28 grams
Female #6- 20 grams

April 6th
Female #1- 36 grams (+3)
Female #2- 30 grams (+4)
Female #3- 27 grams (+4)
Female #4- 16 grams (+1)
Female #5- 33 grams (+5)
Female #6- 23 grams (+3)

Are these females pregnant? A few of them look pretty larger, but dont have that "ping pong ball" looking belly. Would a ping pong ball looking belly show up within 3-4 days of pregnancy or is this weight gain proof of pregnancy?

Also, in my feeder tank, I have a pregnant female that is clearly pregnant.... She looks like she has a big golf ball as a belly. Should I remove her from the tank and give her her own space or leave her with the other feeder mice? I was going to feed her to my BP but she is clearly pregnant.

I would say no. You can't really go by weight, especially when the females are still growing. My females are around 40g when they are not pregnant, almost 50g when they are. The 16g girl is definitely not pregnant. She probably won't conceive until she reaches a higher weight. None of my mice have become pregnant until they had already reached 25g or more. And that was them controlling it, not me. (I placed several 16-20g females in with a male and none became pregnant until they were well above 25g) Also, a pregnant mouse will only get the "ping-pong ball" effect when she is in her 3rd week of pregnancy.

With the other pregnant female, give her own place. Its free baby mice! I always keep pregnant mice I get from the store.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I would say no. You can't really go by weight, especially when the females are still growing. My females are around 40g when they are not pregnant, almost 50g when they are. The 16g girl is definitely not pregnant. She probably won't conceive until she reaches a higher weight. None of my mice have become pregnant until they had already reached 25g or more. And that was them controlling it, not me. (I placed several 16-20g females in with a male and none became pregnant until they were well above 25g) Also, a pregnant mouse will only get the "ping-pong ball" effect when she is in her 3rd week of pregnancy.

With the other pregnant female, give her own place. Its free baby mice! I always keep pregnant mice I get from the store.

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Thanks for the info! :gj:

so that female is in her 3rd week of pregnancy!? :O Man she is going to pop any day now. She has had that ping pong look for 2 days now! I will seperate her and hook her up with her own nice home.

I took some pictures of one of my females going into the "ping pong ball" stage. She is due to drop this week. She is my satin long haired blue female.

This is her and her black satin daughter.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...ntmouse002.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...ntmouse001.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...ntmouse003.jpg

lol thats a mouse? deer lord jay, it looks like a rat

Haha, yea. Must be how I'm holding her. She's only about 50g or so when she's pregnant. I'll get a picture of her once she is about to pop.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

Haha, yea. Must be how I'm holding her. She's only about 50g or so when she's pregnant. I'll get a picture of her once she is about to pop.

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i weighed the white mouse that i was planning on feeding to my snake.

she is only 33 grams..... yet she looks like she has a ping pong ball in her stomach....

how is this possible? Shouldnt she weigh a lot more? She is clearly pregnant.

Sometimes they don't gain a ton of weight while pregnant. If she got pregnant while she was 23 or 25g, then 8-10g is a good weight gain during a pregnancy. It may be a small litter. I do not use weight as an indicator of pregnancy and as long as they look healthy, I don't pay much attention to it while they are pregnant. I regularly weigh all my females to make sure they are a healthy weight. If a female is 25g, that is a good starting weight for breeding. By their 2nd litter, I like them to be over 30g.

It is way too soon to be sure if your girls are pregnant. The weight gain is most likely just because they are young and growing still. It could just be because you are feeding them better food than they had been getting. Or even just tastier food and they've been pigging out. But some of them may be pregnant. You'll have to wait and see.

I wouldn't say it is IMPOSSIBLE that the little 16g girl is pregnant, but pretty unlikely. It depends on whether her small size is due to her stage of development, or just because she is genetically programmed to be small.

I can often tell when my females are pregnant when they still have about 1 1/2 weeks to go, but only because I am familiar with the individual female and how they usually look, and they still sometimes fool me (or possibly reabsorb?). By the time they are 5-7 days from giving birth, it is much more of a sure thing, and by the time they are about 3 days from giving birth, it is pretty much impossible to miss with most females.

I would definitely separate the pregnant female you have in with your feeders, but don't be too surprised if she eats her whole litter. Changing her living situation so close to her due date may be too much stress for her. If she does raise the babies, then I'd hold back some females, because a mom that is that easy going is the kind of genetics you want in your colony.

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Originally Posted by kc261

It is way too soon to be sure if your girls are pregnant. The weight gain is most likely just because they are young and growing still. It could just be because you are feeding them better food than they had been getting. Or even just tastier food and they've been pigging out. But some of them may be pregnant. You'll have to wait and see.

I wouldn't say it is IMPOSSIBLE that the little 16g girl is pregnant, but pretty unlikely. It depends on whether her small size is due to her stage of development, or just because she is genetically programmed to be small.

I can often tell when my females are pregnant when they still have about 1 1/2 weeks to go, but only because I am familiar with the individual female and how they usually look, and they still sometimes fool me (or possibly reabsorb?). By the time they are 5-7 days from giving birth, it is much more of a sure thing, and by the time they are about 3 days from giving birth, it is pretty much impossible to miss with most females.

I would definitely separate the pregnant female you have in with your feeders, but don't be too surprised if she eats her whole litter. Changing her living situation so close to her due date may be too much stress for her. If she does raise the babies, then I'd hold back some females, because a mom that is that easy going is the kind of genetics you want in your colony.

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@ kc261 - thats great news. Yeah instead of seperating the pregnant female, I just seperated the other mice and let the pregnant one stay where she has been this whole time. I didn't want to stress her out too bad.

I am pretty sure she is going to give birth within the next 7-10 days, because she is digging holes (nests?) and she keeps bringing shredded newspaper into her little hide (like she is preparing for warmth in her nest)

this is pretty exciting. my first litter coming up! (and I wasnt even trying for this one to get pregnant, haha)

Nesting behavior is always good. I notice my girls do it during the last week of pregnancy and about a day or two before they give birth, they will stay in their nest for really long periods of time.

Litters are always exciting. :D

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

Yeah instead of seperating the pregnant female, I just seperated the other mice and let the pregnant one stay where she has been this whole time. I didn't want to stress her out too bad.

....

this is pretty exciting. my first litter coming up! (and I wasnt even trying for this one to get pregnant, haha)

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That was smart to leave her in that enclosure and move the others. :gj:

Litters are ALWAYS exciting. I've been breeding mice for close to 2 years now, and I still get excited each time!

im planning on breeding mice for my bp when i get it, since mice at my petshop cost $7.99 ea. ( thats $39.95 for mice for 1 month). i have some q's though

1) how long is a female's gestation period?
2) how long does a female nurse before she can be bred again?
3) will a male kill babies if they're all left together?

Hey guys, my pregnant mouse has had the "golfball" look for about a week now, and she has went from 33 grams to 43 grams within 3 days....

Is she going to pop or what? lol She honestly looks so gigantic that she is uncomfortable. When she runs around she wobbles like crazy, and she spends much of her time in her hide or in the corners of the tank digging up aspen till she hits the bottom.

When do you guys think she is going to deliver?