# Three moms that get along so well!



## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I have three brindle girlies. All in the same cage.
When I bought them, they were all HUGELY pregnant, but I didn't think they were going to have babies THAT NIGHT!

Anyways, one of them did. And I was waiting for the horror of finding them all dead the next morning, or the morning after that, or the morning after that...

But to my surprise... They all lived.
Not only did they all live, but all of the mothers took care of the babies together, and even helped NURSE the babies together!
Now the other two have recently, in the last few weeks, had their litters together, and the same thing is happening! All three mothers are sharing responsibilities, and taking care of the babies.

This is the most amazing part, to me. 
All of the original litter was still in the cage with the three mamas, when the second mama gave birth. The first mama MOVED all of her babies, out of the nest, and into a hammock, while the new mother gave birth that night. and after a few days of letting them settle, she moved them back down into the original nesting area. How NICE!

I'll probably never have this much success on accident ever again, lol. But I just wanted to share it with everyone, because I thought it was SO amazing. 

There are currently two litters in the cage together, with the moms. One is about a week older than the other, and everyone is still getting along perfectly!
The original litter, has been taken out weeks ago, to make room for the new babies. x)


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Very sweet =o)

Its quite common for me to put two or more girls in with a buck, for the intention of them littering together. Funnily enough though, most of the time, only one female gets caught and the other just nannies! hehe

W xx


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## Jammy (Jul 14, 2009)

What a lovely story


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

It's so nice when it works out like that; I'd bet that the does were sisters, that is one scenario I can easily imagine would produce this sort of family relationship and cooperation.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Yes! They are sisters.


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

Aww


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

This is how mice breed in the wild: they use a harem system, that is to say one dominant male with multiple females who litter together or at different times and care for each others children as they're all related. This ensures that if one mother is eaten by a cat or an owl, her offspring will live. Wild mouse life expectancy is rarely over a few months or a year due to very heavy predation so this system works well for wild mice.

This can work in captivity as well but not really for long-term back-to-back breedings like it does in the wild since our mice are generally designed to live longer, more slowly-paced lives. Don't get me wrong. People (usually feeder breeders) _do_ sometimes use the harem system in captivity and have constantly pregnant females but even they will tell you the mice's size and general robustness is compromised.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

There's a farm and garden store near where I live in the city; she a feeder breeder, and she has the biggest, most strapping meeces you'd ever hope to see outside of 100% English stock. She keeps three does with one buck for back to back litters. I check them out every now and then in case there's something I might want. I found my founding buck, Pudge, for my satin lines there seven years ago. I don't know about their longevity, but Pudge lived to over three years.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Being that she's a feeder breeder, their longevity can't be very long.

As a side note, I have a silver agouti mouse who is nearly 12" long from nose to tail and he has little to no English blood, and certainly not 100%. His ancestors are from various parts of Europe as well as the United States. His general condition (judged from a show standpoint) is very good as well.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I really want to get a hold of one or two REALLY nice, perfect bodied show standard mice, to bring into some of my lines that need a quick boost. 

I have several mice with really nice bod types, but they're small, and I'd like to get them beefed up a little bit.
Hmmn.

Jack, if you are coming to the Fall Rodentfest, you wouldn't happen to be bringing any mice with real robust bodies, would 'ya?


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## zany_toon (Apr 3, 2010)

That is so sweet that they did that!! My two sister mice (Sookie and Sherbet) put all their babies in one nest and took turns to look after the babies so they could each get a break - it;s so nice seeing them do that!


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