vanishing over night

Hello Everyone. I'm new to the forum page here and have been breeding mice successfully so far for 6 months. Last night before i went to bed I had checked on my newest litter that was about 2 weeks old and there were a total of 12 pups. this morning when I awoke to my shock 11 of the pups completely vanished with no trace. I thoroughly searched the cage and bedding thinking they have buried themselves to keep warm and found nothing. Next thought that crossed my mind was that mommy killed and ate them but again no traces of blood or remains were found. there is also no way the could have crawled out, do to the depth of the cage. Any thoughts or helpful information would be greatly helpful.

Mom ate them... they are very clean when they do it, pretty much "without a trace".

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but there was 11 2 week old pups that vanished no trace i dont see one mouse having the stomach to consume that many over night with out leaving something behind not ever bloody bedding

How many adult are in with the babies? You won't see blood

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Was mom the only one in there with the pups? I breed rats and sometime this happens to me too. Usely its when I didnt get out there quick enough to get them fed, but have also had it happen a day or two after putting food out. I dont know the full reason of why they do that sometimes, but it does. Ive also gone out and have found my Male dead and have a hole in him from where the 3 females have eaten on him, couldnt figure that one out either.

just the mommy but why did she leave the one pup and kill the other ones, and it happened over night. i just don't see how it is possible for one mouse to kill and eat 11 2 week almost 3 old pups and not see anything from it, just very odd to me.

Wtfffff

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Sounds like they are excessively inbred

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Sounds like they are excessively inbred

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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I dont think it has anything to do with "Inbred". When rats/Mice get bored or hungry/thirsty they will sometimes do that. I think even if they detect that the young are sick they will eat them. Was there anything in the cage for them to chew on? How was their food and water? And like Crazymonkee said, you wont see any blood! They are extremly clean about it!

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Originally Posted by ROACH

I dont think it has anything to do with "Inbred". When rats/Mice get bored or hungry/thirsty they will sometimes do that. I think even if they detect that the young are sick they will eat them. Was there anything in the cage for them to chew on? How was their food and water? And like Crazymonkee said, you wont see any blood! They are extremly clean about it!

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I literally just read that excessive inbreeding can cause that to happen. Cant figure out where so I cant link you so just ask Google. Its not the most common reason though. And more often than not its because the babies are weak. Not because they need protein. Also increase protein halfway through pregnancy with a milk one for dogs. If you have more than one male with the pregnant female that can also cause this to happen. But the mothers being hungryfor protein is a grossly over used assumption. They eat LOW protein diets.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

There are many different reasons why a mother rodent will kill/eat their young:
-Not enough food/water
-Not enough space
-Baby was sick
-Baby died
-First litter

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Originally Posted by ROACH

I dont think it has anything to do with "Inbred". When rats/Mice get bored or hungry/thirsty they will sometimes do that. I think even if they detect that the young are sick they will eat them. Was there anything in the cage for them to chew on? How was their food and water? And like Crazymonkee said, you wont see any blood! They are extremly clean about it!

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BOREDOM!! Omg here this is for you http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/breeding.cfm

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Originally Posted by Bobbafett

There are many different reasons why a mother rodent will kill/eat their young:
-Not enough food/water
-Not enough space
-Baby was sick
-Baby died
-First litter

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I agree but I don't see how inbreeding has NOTHING to do with it when several breeding info pages mentioned it. I guess its some collective between these website owners to confuse us. Those bastards!

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bobbafett

There are many different reasons why a mother rodent will kill/eat their young:
-Not enough food/water
-Not enough space
-Baby was sick
-Baby died
-First litter

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Didn't say that was the only reason but if you read more of what the op said they have plenty of food and water plenty of space. Actually I read the inbreeding thing from the site owners FAQ.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brettliff

I literally just read that excessive inbreeding can cause that to happen. Cant figure out where so I cant link you so just ask Google. Its not the most common reason though. And more often than not its because the babies are weak. Not because they need protein. Also increase protein halfway through pregnancy with a milk one for dogs. If you have more than one male with the pregnant female that can also cause this to happen. But the mothers being hungryfor protein is a grossly over used assumption. They eat LOW protein diets.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Thats cool, Im not going to argue with you about it. Just the past 10 years Ive been breeding rats this is what Ive noticed. And believe me....there has been a couple times, over the years, I didnt have time to get out to feed or water and mama did eat her babies. And I said nothing about them "needing protein", what I said was "I think even if they detect that the young are sick they will eat them". Again I wont argue with you about this, just what Ive learned.

I didn't say you said anything about protein someone else did. Read the whole thread instead of picking pieces to pick at. And there wouldn't be an obvious sign of inbreeding like there would be when you starved them now would there?

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Originally Posted by ROACH

Thats cool, Im not going to argue with you about it. Just the past 10 years Ive been breeding rats this is what Ive noticed. And believe me....there has been a couple times, over the years, I didnt have time to get out to feed or water and mama did eat her babies. And I said nothing about them "needing protein", what I said was "I think even if they detect that the young are sick they will eat them". Again I wont argue with you about this, just what Ive learned.

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Sorry I always forget to quote more than one person when responding to two of u in the same post, it causes a lot of confusion

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

To op, go to feeder forumand go to breeding Q's or something like that. All very clearly explained. Hope u get it figured

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

I think people usually don't consider inbreeding because its not visually obvious that's the problem like an underfed mouse would be

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brettliff

I literally just read that excessive inbreeding can cause that to happen. Cant figure out where so I cant link you so just ask Google. Its not the most common reason though. And more often than not its because the babies are weak. Not because they need protein. Also increase protein halfway through pregnancy with a milk one for dogs. If you have more than one male with the pregnant female that can also cause this to happen. But the mothers being hungryfor protein is a grossly over used assumption. They eat LOW protein diets.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Yes they eat low protein diets... but ANY pregnant/ lactating mammals need extra during that time

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Yes they eat low protein diets... but ANY pregnant/ lactating mammals need extra during that time

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That's why u up protein mid pregnancy, milk bones are great for that. Or literal protein powder on their food but a very small amount.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brettliff

That's why u up protein mid pregnancy, milk bones are great for that. Or literal protein powder on their food but a very small amount.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Or just use quality rodent block, but some don't do either... so that's why it is sometimes an issue.
No one can really say for sure why it happened... but to cover all the bases is needed.
I do agree that excessive inbreeding can play a part... but you can't say it "is" the reason

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Or just use quality rodent block, but some don't do either... so that's why it is sometimes an issue.
No one can really say for sure why it happened... but to cover all the bases is needed.
I do agree that excessive inbreeding can play a part... but you can't say it "is" the reason

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Yeah def I think I should get a rb. I meant it could be a reason. I don't remember what I said now.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Didn't say that was the only reason but if you read more of what the op said they have plenty of food and water plenty of space. Actually I read the inbreeding thing from the site owners FAQ.

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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Show me in this thread where the OP said "they have plenty of food and water or space"? And Im not saying they didnt, Im sure the OP does take care of them. But nowhere in this thread did the OP mention that. Now as for the link you provided me...nowhere in there does it mention about mother eating their young, but I did find this for you: pregnant and nursing moms need additional protein and fat at this critical time. Boosting their diet should start half way through pregnancy and last until after they wean their young. Now if this has not been met, then it is possiable that the mother did eat her young to get the additional protein she needed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Or just use quality rodent block, but some don't do either... so that's why it is sometimes an issue.
No one can really say for sure why it happened... but to cover all the bases is needed.
I do agree that excessive inbreeding can play a part... but you can't say it "is" the reason

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I dont totally disagree with the fact that over the years it "could" or "possiably" play a part, but the OP said they have only been breeding for 6 months.

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Originally Posted by ROACH

I dont totally disagree with the fact that over the years it "could" or "possiably" play a part, but the OP said they have only been breeding for 6 months.

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I doubt its inbreeding, I would say in no particular order
Lack of adequate food/ water
Boredom/lack of exercise
Lack of spacs

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We actually have no idea of the OP's setup, food or anything for that matter,....

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by brettliff

I didn't say you said anything about protein someone else did. Read the whole thread instead of picking pieces to pick at. And there wouldn't be an obvious sign of inbreeding like there would be when you starved them now would there?

my mom never went to college thank you very much.

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It was you:

POST #10
"I literally just read that excessive inbreeding can cause that to happen. Cant figure out where so I cant link you so just ask Google. Its not the most common reason though. And more often than not its because the babies are weak. Not because they need protein. Also increase protein halfway through pregnancy with a milk one for dogs. If you have more than one male with the pregnant female that can also cause this to happen. But the mothers being hungryfor protein is a grossly over used assumption. They eat LOW protein diets."

It could be anything. Just happens!

Post a pic of your Setup. Enclosure, water and food delivery, etc ...


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