Mice breeding troubles

So I recently started a breeding colony with one male and four females in a 10 gallon tank. Three of the females became pregnant and the first one gave birth to her litter yesterday. However, she ate the entire litter within the first day. I had the male and the non-pregnant female in a separate enclosure, and she was in the tank with the two other pregnant females. After I noticed that she was eating her litter, I looked in and saw one of the other pregnant females joining her in eating a pinkie. I then decided to remove the third pregnant female and put her in a separate enclosure. I peeked into the room this morning and saw that she had given birth, but was disappointed to see that there were two pinkies in one corner of the cage, another at the opposite corner, and one just inside the entrance to the hide. Does this mean that she is rejecting the litter and won't care for them? Don't they need to be huddled together in the nest for warmth? Things were going so well and now the results are turning out pretty poorly. And advice or comments from successful mice breeders?

Do they have a little "house" in the enclosure or is it all open? The Mom could have felt stressed if it all open. Are they new moms or established breeders?

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Do they have wheels, chew blox, toilet paper rolls? Those types of things keep stress levels down, so theyre not as likely to cannibalise their babies. Also, i agree with crazy monkee girl about little houses n hides.

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Omg speaking of wheels... the hoppers are sooo funny, they latch on while the biggers ones run it and they go round and round lol

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Yeah I have a hide in all the enclosures. I had one of the "flying saucer" wheels that they would run on, but then they just started burying it in the bedding and not using it so I took it out. I lifted the hide to check on them and that's when I saw that she had delivered. Could that have caused her to eat them?

The other mom that I isolated in her own tub yesterday has a hide and I have not disturbed the tub at all since she gave birth. I checked a little while ago and the pinkies are still where they were when I first saw them, scattered around the tub. Do you think she will eventually bring them in the hide and put them in the nest or will she most likely abandon them? Anything I could do at this point? Thanks.

What are you feeding?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

What are you feeding?

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I've been feeding them Wild Harvest Rat and Mouse Daily Blend. I also gave them a little peanut butter a couple nights ago.

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Originally Posted by sinclair

I've been feeding them Wild Harvest Rat and Mouse Daily Blend. I also gave them a little peanut butter a couple nights ago.

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Not enough protein in that... find a good rodent block (preferably breeder formulation). I use Mazuri. Start adding fresh foods... bread, pasta, hard boiled egg, mine also get lettuce and carrots.
Try not to disturb the nest for 3 days after delivery.

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I don't know that food, but too little protein can lead a mouse to eat it's litter for that needed nutrition.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I don't know that food, but too little protein can lead a mouse to eat it's litter for that needed nutrition.

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It's the Walmart brand... the seeds and stuff type

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I also use Mazuri, I have never given fresh foods, but I guess it wouldnt hurt them.

I give in moderation, but until the OP could get better food, it should help

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I don't offer fresh produce on a regular basis either. It tends to make their stool wet and runny. But they do get some left over veggie or apple once in a while as treats.

And yeah. Pure seed diets are not balanced. Needs more whole grains. Could even try to offer some meal worms for a boost in protein.

OP, if you can, try getting some Mazuri 6f, Mazuri 9f, or Native Earth brand lab block food. Its perfectly balanced and designed to maintain a breeding rodent colony.

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

It's the Walmart brand... the seeds and stuff type

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Ah. No wonder. I don't shop at Walmart.

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It's hard to say, could be a combo of bad food, stress, new moms. I would definitely find a better food. I do mazuri 6f plus a mix of grains. They get scraps sometimes but not a ton, they love veggies and scrambled eggs though.

I was looking at the nutrition analysis and ingredients on the Wild Harvest food blocks and it is very similar to Mazuri 6F. 16% protein, 6% fat, 5% fiber. Most of the ingredients are the same including corn, wheat middlings, and fish meal. What is wrong with this food?

I checked in the tub where I had the single female mouse and there were no pinkies in her nest aside from a partially eaten one. There were two other dead but uneaten ones in the bedding. Disappointing. I haven't checked on the third pregnant female to see if her pinkies are alive because I'm afraid that it could cause her to eat them if she hasn't already. When do you think it would be okay to check? Thanks.

For mice I use the 9f. I wasn't aware that Wild Harvest had blocks.
The Mazuri 9f has16% protein 9%fat and 6% fiber, I don't know the list of :ingredients for the one you're using so I can't compare.
I understand it's disappointing but wait at least 3 days after she gave birth to peek on them.


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Most mouse blends from the store suck. Corn is useless to mice, and all those seeds aren't good for them either. When I made home made mix, I put 50-70% whole grains, 20-30% dog food and 10-20% seeds and other filler. That could be a bit off, it's been a while since I've mixed my own, but the point is that it wasn't mostly seeds, and the seeds that were in there, were millet and thistle, where-as the seeds in typical pet store mouse mix are sunflower which aren't so good for mice, and other things like peanuts can be bad for them too. Ramble ramble ramble.

To sum it up, I use pig chow now. It's got the same basic ingredients and nutrition as mouse food, only I don't have to special order it every time I need food. If I think about it, I'll special order lab block over the pig food, but I never think about it, lol.

While the foods may seem to have similar ingredients and protein and such, what's on the label, and what is truth are 2 different things.

Wild harvest could have this much:
|................................corn.................................||.....eve rything else......|

Where mazuri will have:
|.............corn............||............................Everything else.......................|


Plus protein levels can be easily fibbed by adding more nitrogen to the product.

Whole corn cannot be digested or absorbed.

Corn in lab block has been processed and can be digested and absorbed..