# Mice Emergency! Advice needed!



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

So about a week ago a friend of mine picked up three supposedly female mice from what I assume is a feeder breeder--most pet stores around here don't sell PEW mice and I am not aware of any fancy mouse breeders in the area.
Anyway, there as a family emergency and she had to head home to Cali for a week or two and asked me to babysit the mice for her. She was a little worried about it since I have two male mice, but she doesn't know anyone else who has mice or knows how to care for them so I agreed to keep them in separate rooms, etc. 
Well, this morning I heard A LOT of squeaking from their cage so I went over to check on them, and one of the mice, Teeny, was DEFINITELY mounting another mouse, Tiny. I freaked out and went to the cage to pull Teeny out and I flipped her over and... she is DEFINITELY a male. So Teeny, the male, has been living with Tiny and Stubby (both confirmed females) for a week. :/:/:/ Considering how much she was freaking out about them even being in the house with my males, I'm assuming she feels the same way I do about accidental litters. I have Teeny in his own bin cage now, but I'm terrified the damage has already been done. Does anyone know if it's possible to do an e-spay on mice? Or how much that might cost? Or what my other options might be? I've been trying to call my friend all morning but have been unable to get ahold of her and I'm freaking out.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

First, finding a vet who will do something like that is Extremely rare. Most won't do it simply because on an animal that size it is extremely dangerous between the anesthesia and the actual surgery. you can try to find someone who does though, but it will probably be really expensive. you can still try though.

What will most likely happen if you can find a vet for this, is that they'll try to give you basically a morning after pill if they aren't far along. It's used in rats too, but it's more popular in the UK then in the US. Isamurat might be able to chime in on what it's actually called (or you can send her a PM if she doesn't see this)

Other then that, raising an accidental litter will probably be what will happen to be honest. 

If you get a hold of her ask her to ask the person she got her from to see if they come from a line where they do better in pairs or alone when they have babies. Mice often are those creatures that do better in pairs since they can't handle large amounts of babies on their own, some prefer to be alone though so it depends on the line they come from.

That's really all I can say, the rest of it is similar to rats. Only thing with litters is to be Very careful with babies, some mice you have to wait till the babies are 2 weeks to begin handling then others you can handle at 1 day and they'll be fine. Mice can be weaned at around 4 weeks, and do be aware that some mice have a very bad habit of eating all or more of their young. Best to keep them in as calm of an environment as possible with litters because of this.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Yeah I'm having trouble even finding a vet who will see mice. I'm holding onto the hope that Teeny was too young to actually impregnate the girls (I thought all of them were around 5-6 weeks and I've read that males aren't sexually mature until 8 week), but it worries me a lot that his parts have dropped and that he was so enthusiastically mounting Tiny. I'll keep my fingers crossed. My friend's response, when I finally got ahold of her, was entirely unhelpful. I'm not sure what will happen with the girls if they do turn out pregnant as she made it quite clear she doesn't want to deal with any litters, but I think I need to find Teeny a new home. There is no way I'm going to try to introduce him to my boys; I'm already worried enough about them getting along.
I'll try to get ahold of the guy she bought them from to find out how he has his maternity tanks set up so I can prepare to mimic that if I need to. Is it likely that both of them are pregnant if one is?


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

Keep them separate and wait to see if they're pregnant or not. After you talk to your friend, she can decide what she wants to do, "IF" they turn out to be pregnant. 

About how old are the mice? If they're fairly young, under 16 weeks, they may not be pregnant. They can get pregnant prior to the 16 week mark, but it's less likely. I've seen mice that were set up for breeding and didn't start getting pregnant until they were 6 month old. 


BTW Mice, in large numbers.... like a mom raising a litter.... will become very stinky very fast. I had to baby sit a mom mouse and her babies, so I know they can smell "REALLY BAD"... So, if they are pregnant your friend might want to start looking for homes as soon as they're born. 

Good Luck,
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they're "NOT" pregnant.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Thank you! I'm keeping my fingers crossed too! I'm really scared that if they are pregnant she's going to try to leave them with me until the babies are weaned. She's really freaked out by the whole idea (and I'm not much better, but I'm certainly not going to abandon or rehome mice just because there was an accident).

I'm really, really hoping they're too young. She got then right when they were weaned at 4 or 5 weeks and that was just about a week ago, so I think they are too young... Teeny especially, because I'd be very surprised if he was older than 6 weeks. *sigh*


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Just like with rats mice have been known to mate and become pregnant at 6 weeks or earlier, though most males don't have an interest in mating till 8 weeks, so he would actually be around the right age for mice.

Also like rats, all the females he was with have a chance of being pregnant.


----------



## Roxy the Rat (Apr 7, 2013)

It depends on how long he has been sexually mature for, and on the mice in general. A while back I had a male and female in the same tank for 3 months before the female was impregnated, but then some mice will get down to business in a matter of minutes. It really depends on multiple factors.

Also, if she is pregnant she can stay with her cage mate so long as she doesn't get in the way. They can often help the new mother care for her babies, but if it looks like she's causing more harm then good (which does sometimes happen)then she should be taken out. Unlike rats, mice babies should not be held for quite a while after being born. This can sometimes cause the mother to reject and/or cull them. 

Oh, and if she is pregnant it would be a good idea to clean the cage very close to the times she's due to have her babies as once she has you shouldn't clean it for at least 10 days or, once again, she might reject the babies. When they're older but still relying on the mom for food(so mainly right after they start wriggling and crawling around) if one happens to wonder out of the nest or something you may need to move them using a spoon, empty toilet paper roll or something else similar, but still do not touch it with your hands.

If the smell in the nest gets really bad and you feel you absolutely HAVE to clean it, I would suggest taking the babies out using something other then your hands that doesn't have your scent on it and putting it in a container without the mother. If the mother is really stressed out she may resort to culling the babies. You may also want to wear gloves so that your scent isn't all in the bedding where the babies will be. Keep in mind that even with taking these precautions, it would still be risky and may very well result in the death of one or more babies. I would strongly suggest waiting a minimum of 10-14 days beforehand. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Ok, thank you so much for the advice! I'm going to continue to hope for no babies, but if babies do come I will be sure not to handle them for at least 14 days. I'm kind of used to the smell at this point, so I'll get over it.


----------



## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Oh no  what a dilemma! I hope the girls aren't pregnant, but if they are I'm happy you'll be there to help your friend out. She can't really be angry, it was an accident & I know how easy it can be to mis-sex critters, I had thought my male mouse was a girl when I first got him [& the store told me he was female which doesn't help!] good luck & keep us updated! Also glad your mice are doing good & nobody is fighting ;D


----------

