How to know?

_kaos

I got two mice on the 6th of January at what I would've said was 4/5 weeks, I did ask but they seemed pretty clueless(I got told 8 weeks and 5/6 weeks) they were separated from male litter mates the day I got them so how can I tell if they're pregnant? They're not extremely social but they do allow me to hold them without biting and generally they like exploring so when one of them didn't come out I was pretty concerned, she has quite a swollen(golf ball?) abdomen, I'm really hoping they're not pregnant

Thanks in advance

_kyrilliondaemon

I'm afraid the "I've swallowed a golf ball" look can often be a sign of pregnancy :( It was how we suspected Wingnut was pregnant when she was (like your mice she'd been kept with males before we got her)

The only sure fire way to know if a mouse is pregnant or not is to keep them away from male mice for 21 days and see if she gives birth. Maybe treat your mice as if they're pregnant until you know for sure that they're not?

_kaos

Really late reply sorry
She ballooned in the last few days and suddenly doesn't want to leave her hide
At this point I'm 85% sure she is :( really gutted as she is so young and I don't have any males for this reason, oh well

_kyrilliondaemon

I'm sorry to hear that :( Do you know what to do if she does have pups?

_kaos

Yeah, been looking it up, pretty similar to rats which I had a similar situation with, not the end of the world, just know I'm gonna end up keeping a few :roll:

_kyrilliondaemon

At least you know what you're doing and it could be worse... I believe both myself and Zany kept all the pups from our last unexpected litters :P (I say unexpected, I knew full well it was likely in my case but the mice needed out of their last home so the risk of pregnancy was worth it)

_kaos

Unfortunately multiple cages aren't an option so keeping boys isn't possible, theoretically I could upgrade the cage to keep any/all females but as they're in a mini duna right now I think 2 girls in there is pushing it :-/
I honestly thought they were too young when I got them! 5 weeks old seemed to be pushing it but I guess not! Stunted growth due to poor nutrition? Perhaps theyre just from a small family, guess I'll never know, ach well, I would've loved to have longer to tame them, but I'm long having them regardless :D

_kyrilliondaemon

We got the males in Wingnuts litter neutered so they're back with the girls now. I'm sure you'll be able to find homes for the pups though :)

Mice can get pregnant from four weeks, it looks like you got unlucky and yours did.

_kaos

Even getting boys neutered would be an issue as they'd have to be separated until neutered and then until healed:-(
One of them is looking really big tonight, and up until 20 minutes ago she was pretty restless, seems to have settled now though, Tuesday is day 21 so if anything will happen it should happen in the next 2-3 days

_kaos

I meant from the females, but my vet won't neuter anyone before 12 weeks :-(

I had them run across/sit on my hand a few hours ago and felt their bellies wriggling :roll: they've not left their hide since, won't be handling them or fiddling with the cage(bar feeding) for a few days now

_kaos

[attachment=2133]image.jpg[/attachment]


[attachment=2137]image_2015-01-25.jpg[/attachment]

_kaos

Woops

_kaos

Woops

_kaos

[attachment=2135]image_2015-01-25-2.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=2136]image_2015-01-25-3.jpg[/attachment]

_kaos

The bottom one is the bigger one, she's just not standing up completely, the top one is the one I'm not completely sure about, the bottom one is definitely pregnan, however she is very small, they both really placid and I've not seen them for a few hours bar about 5 minutes I'll try get a better PIC if I see her wondering again

_kyrilliondaemon

I feel the same as Ann, they look fairly normal to me. Today is Tuesday though so at least you should know for sure soon

_kaos

Hello, thought id update while I had a moment, there was a few babies born on Monday night some time but by last night the girls weren't sitting on the nest anymore so I don't know if they're still there or not, don't want to bother them much right now

_kaos

Sad news, babies were fine on the Tuesday, no idea how many there were as I didn't want to open the nest but yesterday they were gone, no idea how as there was no blood anywhere but the girls became a lot friendlier and social today...guess they just weren't ready! I've Bought them a new cage to make it up to them :)

_kyrilliondaemon

I'm sorry to hear that :(

_kaos

Its all good, it means other mice will get a home :love: and my girls got a Grosvenor out of it :roll: told myself I wouldn't upgrade, haha!