A few quetions.... Please advise.

[snakecharmer3638]

Okay, well I used to breed both mice and rats. But that was about 15 to almost 20 years ago. So my memory is a little foggy. My question is this. I clean cages on Friday, today being friday. And I finally have my first litter. I check the mice every day, so I know for sure these little ones were born yesterday. And this is her first litter. So provided she does not eat them. When is it okay to disturbe her and the little ones.

Would it be okay to clean her cage today?
Should I just spot clean it?
Or should I wait? If so, How long?


Thanks!!

[Brandon Osborne]

I have cleaned cages as they were hanging out of momma with no occurrences. It is safe to clean.

Enjoy.

[Jenn]

I scoop up pinkies and momma to put them in a clean enclosure all the time.

[snakecharmer3638]

Thank You!! for the responses. Off to clean...........

[Stewart_Reptiles]

With mice you can never really predict, it really depends on how social and used to your presence they are, how skittish they are etc

I have seen somewhere you would clean the cage and they would eat all the babies afterward.

I my case when it is cleaning day it is cleaning day, I never had any issue with them even if the babies were born a few hours before.

It is all about knowing your colony and try, if you try and there is a problem you will learn and know for next time.

[instinct27]

Just to be safe I would maybe use gloves and grab some of the bedding and rub it around on the glove to pick up the scent. Then scoop up the entire litter including some of the bedding (limit the amount of contact). Then transfer the mother.

It's always better to be safe, there are some mothers that will reject young that have a foreign scent. The strategy above will limit that.

[Clear]

I try to clean my tubs out a day or 2 before I expect them to have babies, my girls go exactly 19 days apart so that helps a lot. I usually clean and then that night they build a nest and have the babies.

[Argentra]

Agreed. I use vinyl gloves when cleaning any tub with pinks and I always scoop up the whole bunch with some litter. The only incidents of baby eating in this apartment have been as a result of too many pups of different ages (once) and two sick/malformed pinks (also once).

[snakecharmer3638]

With mice you can never really predict, it really depends on how social and used to your presence they are, how skittish they are etc

I have seen somewhere you would clean the cage and they would eat all the babies afterward.

I my case when it is cleaning day it is cleaning day, I never had any issue with them even if the babies were born a few hours before.

It is all about knowing your colony and try, if you try and there is a problem you will learn and know for next time.

Thanks! That is kind of what I remember from 15 plus years ago. As far as the mother I have had her for about two months and this is her first litter. I do check in on them everyday. And sometimes will take them out and handle them for awhile. So I am hoping she is use to me enough that she does not feel threatened. I cleaned her cage and counted the babies, she had a litter of eight, not bad. I checked on her a little while ago and she has got her nest all rearranged and is nursing the little ones. So all seems to be good for now.

Here's a pic:

[kc261]

Glad to hear all went well with the cage cleaning.

In my experience, mice that are going to eat their babies seem to do it no matter how much or little I bother them. Mice that aren't going to eat their babies, will sometimes get visibly upset, such as grabbing up a pinkie and running around the cage with it when I check on them, but they still don't eat the babies.

I still try to clean cages a day or 2 before a female is ready to deliver, and then wait until the babies are a week old, just to be sure, but I'm not sure it makes a difference. One time a female surprised me and was in the middle of delivering when I went to clean her cage. I waited a day and cleaned it anyway, and everything was fine.