The Mama's and the Papa's (Feeder mice; 640x480 pics)

[Shelby]

Waste.. too small and I imagine they'd hold the urine smell.

I don't like tanks because they are a pain in the butt to clean out since they're heavy and bulky.. I love my lab cages. The food and water hoppers are a real time saver! http://www.bigappleherp.com/bigapple...roducts/110100

-they have a sale going on now for free shipping on orders over $125.

[IamKaervek]

Well, I didn't have the time to take pictures this morning before heading off to work (Yes, I had duty on Christmas day), but I woke up to 10 babies! I'm so proud of the little mama. She had gotten real plump one day, out of nowhere it seemed, and a little less than a week later she's a proud mommy of 10 pink stubbies

I'm a little concerned about canibalism, and was wondering how long after birth mice generally eat their young. Would she have eaten them already? When I pulled her drawer out this morning, she was nursing, so I'm hoping that this will be a successful litter. I'll post some pics tomorrow when I get home from work.

Oh, and if you're curious, the mother is the brown one with the white diamond on her head in the above photos. The father is pure black. There have been no issues with them chewing the plastic drawers or zip-ties that are holding the bottles, either.

[basuca]

I HAVE a Q about those drawers I know it is off topic but can I use those drawers to put snake like a rack sistem?thx and God bless

[IamKaervek]

I HAVE a Q about those drawers I know it is off topic but can I use those drawers to put snake like a rack sistem?thx and God bless

I'm afraid not. These drawers (the ones I have are individual drawers stacked atop one another) have too much of a gap at the top, and would allow any creature that can reach a great chance of escape. If you're really interested in using a rack system, I highly advise that you find plans for one online and build your own. It takes alot more time, but it is worth every second.

You can find some nice rack instructions here. Good luck!

Nobody has any ideas or input to my canibalism worries? I'll try browsing Google...

[Shelby]

Usually if the mother is nursing them, she won't eat them. Unless something happens to them of course.. if they die from another cause, she will eat them.

[IamKaervek]

Usually if the mother is nursing them, she won't eat them. Unless something happens to them of course.. if they die from another cause, she will eat them.

Phew! Thanks Shelby! I've got about 20+ pages worth of mice-breeding information to read while I lay down Time for some studying!

[IamKaervek]

Well, I have good news! Not only are the 10 pups from Christmas morning doing well and nursing, but my other set of mice had babies while I was at work! I checked on both sets of mice, and I was surprised to see more babies! Pretty exciting, actually!

The newest babies (Born Dec 26, 2005):



The first litter of babies (Born Dec 25, 2005):



Looks like only 4 in the second litter, while the first litter had 10. The second mama never did look very plump anyway, so maybe I'll keep her off the breeding schedule... I'll be transferring the babies and mommies over to a large Kritter Keeper in a couple of days, and clean their birth cages up.

[jglass38]

Newborn mice really do look like alien babies. Congrats!

[Shelby]

My new batch of mice just popped their first set of babies. It's nice to see babies in the drawers!

[IamKaervek]

My new batch of mice just popped their first set of babies. It's nice to see babies in the drawers!

Isn't it, though? It's almost a sense of accomplishment for yourself, and the poor mama mouse is the one that did all the work! LOL I'm just glad that I've provided an environment suitable enough for them to have babies, let alone not turn around and eat them the next day.