Am I A Bad Breeder?

[white]

my mother mouse's ears are looking like the have been eatin. i clean the cage twice a week. i feel bad am i a bad breeder?

[tmlowe5704]

my mother mouse's ears are looking like the have been eatin. i clean the cage twice a week. i feel bad am i a bad breeder?

is the mother in an enclosure alone with her young? how old are the babies?

[white]

yes, they are hopper size now.....

[recycling goddess]

i think you're going to need to give us more details? how did her ears get eaten? are there any other adults in with her?

rats eat mice... is there a rat enclosure next to your mouse enclosure?

[Evan Jamison]

How old is she? Some lines of mice tend to get infections on their ears (not in their inner ears, but on the ears themselves.) They constantly scratch at them at this point, and they scab up pretty good. It happens over just a few days, and after about a week their ears can be all but gone. One of my lines do this almost like clockwork at around 7-8 months old. When I see this in a bin, I feed off all the occupants and start a new group.

-Evan

[recycling goddess]

wow evan i had no idea. thanks for sharing that!

[MarkS]

How old is she? Some lines of mice tend to get infections on their ears (not in their inner ears, but on the ears themselves.) They constantly scratch at them at this point, and they scab up pretty good. It happens over just a few days, and after about a week their ears can be all but gone. One of my lines do this almost like clockwork at around 7-8 months old. When I see this in a bin, I feed off all the occupants and start a new group.

I've seen the same thing with some of mine. The scruff of the necks and back of the head and ears get really raw and crusty looking. All mice in the rack are kept exactly the same way, same litter, same food, same water supply etc... But only a few cases like this pop up from time to time. I figured it was just some genetic defect and do like you do and just feed them off.

Mark

[Evan Jamison]

I've seen the same thing with some of mine. The scruff of the necks and back of the head and ears get really raw and crusty looking. All mice in the rack are kept exactly the same way, same litter, same food, same water supply etc... But only a few cases like this pop up from time to time. I figured it was just some genetic defect and do like you do and just feed them off.

Mark

Yeah, I do think it is genetic too. It seems to happen in my males with a little more regularity than the females. The females seem prone to get tumors when they get older too; I've never had a male get a tumor before.

-Evan

[white]

there is only my lab cage next across from my snake cage. only her and her hopper babies. and i clean it about twice a week. so get rid of her babies?