Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok well when i pick her up by the tail she has a very FAT stomache! shes a pretty small mouse but a huge stomache...i bought her from a pet store 3 days ago like that.....right now i have her in with a male. Is she pregneant? Also if i leave her in there with the male and she has babies will she get pregneant again that night of birth? I want her too. If so can i take the male out like 2 days after birth and shell be pregneant? Also when will she have the second litter,
thanks sorry if i'm annoying lol,
Jake

Go do some research online under raising mice and all your questions will be answered, also look through old threads on this forum
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

First off, I don't recommend picking her up by the tail. They do it at the pet shops cause it could take forever to catch them and pick them up in their hands. It stresses them out and hurts them. I have read a bit on breeding mice (but oddly enough it doesn't say how else to house a large group...lol) anyways, my female just had a litter about three or four weeks ago. When I saw that she was huge, day or two prior to birth, I removed her from her normal housing cage with her mate and other females, and placed her in a cage for herself. There she had privacy and did not feel threatend by other mice. Also she was a good mother with feeding and caring for her young. She didn't freak when I went in to check on the babies to see if any where malformed, dead, etc. I think by having her being secluded into her own cage she knew I was doing something good for her, so it became a small trust issue. She knew that I was helping her by separating her. So therefore she did not freak and eat her babies when I came to check on them. I know I probably sound like a complete freak, but this is my philosophy. Take it or leave it. Basically, just give her space and she will most-likely be just fine.
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Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

If she is pregnant she is not very far along yet. When you see her close to term you'll see what I mean. When she looks like she swollowed a couple golf balls and can't possibly get any larger~ she'll get a little larger yet and then drop the pups. (First litter she may not get quite as fat as I described)

It's probably best that she is not too close anyway. The male is less likely to kill the pups if he has been with the female for a while~ and she is more likely to allow him to breed imediately if they have been together for a while. If she does let him breed right away you can expect another litter in 3 weeks.

Not to argue with the other poster~ to each his/her own~ but I would not suggest moving the female. In fact I would suggest you put together your colony (one male and however many females~ 3 to 5) and leave it that way. Mice are hatefull~ you move that female out your not building trust~ your breaking the colony and may get the female killed when you try to re-introduce her.

Also~ Nothing wrong with picking a mouse up by the tail. Never seen it to seem to stress the mouse any more than just picking it up. Rats sometimes are too heavy and you can tell lifting by the tail is painfull~ mice don't seem to have that problem.

Good luck.
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

I also am not trying to argue, I am glad that people can post their own thoughts That is simply my interpretation. Of all the books I have read about mice, they all say never to pick a mouse up by the tail. But I suppose if you don't think it bothers them, by all means, do as you please. I just don't like doing it if I can avoid it. When I sepereated the female from the colony and then re-intoduced her, all the mice got along fine, and are still doing fine. I have a mouse that has been cannibalist before, that is why I don't trust keeping her with the babies. She sometimes gets territorial. She hasn't tried anything since the male has been in there with her with all the other females, so I am not too worried about her or any others killing the "new comer". Also, they were all fine when I introduced a new female a while back while the mother was in her own cage. They all seem to be doing very well with the set up. Again just my opinon... so please take it or leave it, my feelings won't be hurt if you want to disagree
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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn