What to do... Help!

[Moofins07]

Alright. Here's the deal: I have a female mouse who is pregnant with her second litter, and I've begun to notice signs of a bad respiratory infection. Every time I handle her, she sneezes violently and rubs her nose. I can notice the sneezing inside her enclosure as well. She still eats and is still allowing the young from her first litter to receive milk (hoppers, nibbling on solids, but still dependent on their mother). What is the likelihood of her "getting over" this RI, what causes them in the first place, will her second litter suffer... and ultimately, should I just not bother with waiting for her to get better and feed her off (and have the other female take over her young, who is ALSO pregnant, GUH)?

The first colony I tried to get going, the female got an RI as well, only in this case there was tons of wheezing and whistling. Her health deteriorated fast, and her first litter died in a matter of days, which set me back a while.

Thanks so much for any advice, BP.net'ers!

[Jeremy78]

RI? At what temp are you keeping them? Are the temps consistant?
What food do you feed?

[Moofins07]

That's what it seems to be, I think... I asked around on this site if a heat lamp would be necessary, and some said no, and others said it would be undesirable, actually. They're not in a drafty area, and the house temp typically stays around 70 degrees. Highest being 75 during the day this time of year, and maybe 65 at night.

Oh, and as for food, they get lab blocks and a seed mix. All the other mice seem to be fine. The second female just gave birth to her first litter last night. A very large, healthy-looking litter.

[Jeremy78]

Mine are kept at the same temps and I have never had a problem with ris before. Maybe you have a bad strain?
Please remember this is my opinion...
But if it were me I'd co2 mom and the babies and any babies she's had in the past and go buy a juvenile 1.3-1.5. Then restart my colony. If you has a history of ris in the group through inbreeding it will amplify it. (i think)