# first time babies! please help



## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

hi, so today my mouse shimmer has given birth to her 1st litter, there are at least 6 but i cant be sure as i dont want to disturb her too much. im really worried that if i check on them or touch them she'll kill them, is this possible? she's usually a friendly mouse but running up to the birth she got a bit nippy. when i looked in in them earlier she nips at the babies. is there anything i should be doing or shouldnt be doing? i thought i wud have been able to touch her babies from day 1 but i think she wont like it so i havent :S if anyone has any help or information on what to do that would be great, thanks


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

sometimes you can, a lot of breeders who know their mice very well do so but i personally don't until day 2 or 3 espically if she's nipping you. It may look like she's nipping the babies but i think she's proberly moving them about or getting ready to. They usually eat them because of lack of protien (toss in a dog biscuit if you have any) or because they're ill in which case its for the best.

good luck!!!!!!!!


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

thankyou, i have dogs so i'll pop a biscuit in, what about keeping them warm? will her body heat be enough? i must admit my house is not the warmest, my mice have all been fine but ive never had newborns before. and do you think it'd be fine if i took a quick pic? im so excited i cant help myself


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

I handle all mine from day 1, ive had females in the past who were not that impressed and moved the litter after me handling them. I sort through the litters straight way so need to be able to handle them on day 1, so if any mother has a real problem with it i wont breed her again if she does it twice unless she is a realy nice mouse otherwise. I think it all depends on the mothers personality and how well she knows you.

It should get nice and warm in the nest what with their body heat and mums, but if your worried just chuck in some more bedding so mum can extend the nest if needed. I normaly add extra bedding just incase mum wants it.


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

I'm with Joanne. I handle mine from day one for the same reasons, plus it gets the babies used to your smell. I also give nursing mothers extra bedding whch they tend to use to cover the litter when they are out of the nest. I offer them dried cat food for extra protein, which they all love, and is a more convenient size than dog biscuits as far as the mice are concerned.


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

hi, thanks everyone, i cant help but worry, i went out earlier and when i came home i checked on them and there was 1 out of the nest, dont know if it was thrown out or she's forgotten it but i put it back in, later there was another out of the nest but not the same one! oh my days


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

here they are


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Looks like healthy little babies! Her body heat is definitely enough. Keep providing good food, clean water, and I see you've got paper toweling in there for extra bedding. If she was a bit nippy, she may just be a little worried about the litter, too. If she keeps acting aggressive, you may want to back off, disturb them a little less. If she's not being aggressive, you're probably okay to handle the babies. When she nips the babies, she's usually picking them up, moving them around, just generally fussing over them. If you don't see blood, they're fine. At this age, you may be able to tell which are boys and which are girls, if you're not planning on keeping the boys to adulthood.


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

she's absolutely fine now, no nipping or anything, she's ok with me touching them so maybe she just didnt want me near when it came around to giving birth. i tried to look for nipples on the babies as i thought that was how i would be able to sex them really early on but i couldnt see anything, hope they're not all boys!


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

you can't see nipples until they start to grow hair. The only way to tell gender at this age is the spacing of the genital "bump" from the anus.


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

i suppose i would need to compare them really, i didnt want to mess about with them too much yesterday so at a glance they all looked the same


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

i go on nipple watch at around 7-10 days. I sex at day one by the gap as said above then resex at around 7 days with nipples. Heres a good sexing thread with photos.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6


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## jadeguppy (Jun 4, 2011)

With ones this little, I find taking a picture and enlarging it on my computer makes it much easier to tell distance.


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

thanks i will try everything, dont want to get it wrong, cant actually tell them apart at the minute anyway all except 1 which has a little black foot. Actually ive been wondering about the foot as it looks weird, i'll try and get a photo but it looks like a gathering of blood rather than a marking, hope it doesnt mean theres anything wrong with the foot


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

awww this is so exciting !!! yeah my mum chucked a few out too once :lol:


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

> awww this is so exciting !!!


its nerve wracking! im at my whits end and they were only born yesterday!

im just so worried they're not getting fed enough, they're dehydrated and mums not eating so much


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

they won't be either of those things, mice are good mums  and she may not need too much food either... just see if she leaves a lot over a few days


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

whats made me think they are dehydrated is that i checked on them earlier and notice if i touched the skin it bunched up and stayed that way rather than pinging back into shape, ive always known/thought that to mean dehydration, unless its just that their skin is so thin and delicate?


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Bunching skin is normal. It just means they've still got a lot of loose skin. Once they pudge up, it'll be firmer. The black foot doesn't sound good, though. Sometimes, a thread can get wrapped around a mouse's foot or tail, cutting off circulation to the growing extremity, until it does and falls off. If it's black, I'd definitely get a photo of that, just in case. On the other hand, it could just be a spotted black mouse whose only black spot is on his foot, depending on the age of the mouse.


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## skinnybaby212 (Oct 18, 2011)

ive checked earlier, this one is the runt but the foot is looking ok now, he has the same tiny bit on the end of his tail but that may go away too


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