# First and Last Litter



## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

My mouse gave birth today. I just peeked in and was horrorified. Little mutalitated pinkies everywhere.  One little one survived and clearly had a milk belly. Hopefully, she/he will make it. I'm more than a little sad. It's been a long night.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

oh dear,good luck with the remaining pinky.


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks! I must sound very irresponsible, but I purchased the mouse without realizing it was pregnant. Right now she's with another (definitely) female mouse, her sister. The breeder who supplies for mice for Petsmart obviously had no idea what they were doing. Poor girl probably got pregnant around four-five weeks.


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## Onyx (May 2, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear about your night =( You will probably find it was petsmart who made the mistake of allowing your doe to get pregnant, chain stores (and sadly even small stores) are terrible for putting males and females together and so so many people go home with pregnant females, males/females instead of males/females and so on. I wouldn't say you are irresponsible at all. Some Mums just don't take to being Mums, but she may have also been very stressed, not fit and healthy enough (no dig at how you have kept her!) to nurse them, etc etc. So try not to feel too downhearted!

x


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks, Onyx. My dad called Petsmart today. They claimed she was pregnant before they got her. They offered to take them all back but we refused. As for her nutrition (not in a defensive matter) I added extra protein in her food as soon as I realized she was pregnant and she ate constantly. She still ran on her wheel. No telling how healthy she was at the pet store, though. I managed to convince my sister that a very pregnant mouse did _not_ want to be held, so the cage was only opened to change the food and water and the cage was cleaned three days ago.

I heard him (my dad said it looked like a him when he was removing the deceased pinkies) squeaking last night. Stella (his mother) ran into her nest, then came out a few minutes later. Then, about thirty minutes later he squeaked and she ran to him again.

Oddly enough, I think the remaining baby is being fed. Stella seems to be a good mother to the remaining baby. I almost wonder if the other doe with her ate the babies...But they were both in there together. Whenever the other doe (not the mother) Stella would run in after. No sounds of struggle or anything. I guess it's a mystery.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

You'll never know why, unfortunately. So sorry you had to go through this.


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks, moustress. It wasn't so bad for me, as it was my younger sister. I told her to be ready for that, but it was still difficult. He's still alive and both does spend all day in the nest. Out of curiousity does cannibalism happen much with you guys?


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

The mother was probably under stress, especially since you didn't know she was pregnant.

I don't think its your fault at all, it happens a lot with irresponsible pet stores. ):


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks. Mice from that pet store have given us problems. I don't know if you remember, Rhasputin, but you answered a forum about one of the mice being sick. Unfortunately, she passed away and the employee who sold it to us said it wasn't the mouse we got from her. :roll: And blamed it on fighting, when the mouse had been ill. And now this one had babies...It just irritates me that they're so irresponsible. :x


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

The employee did WHAT!? UGH!
That would drive me nuts. Sell me a sick animal, and then not take responsibility for it . . .

My friend bought a hamster once, from a pet store. Right before she left, she noticed that it's pee was cloudy, and strange looking, and she made sure to mention it to the manager, who said it was nothing. My friend took his word for it, took it home, and all of her other dwarf hamsters died from some 'mysterious' disease that they all contracted suspiciously after the new one came home. (why quarantine is important)

Anywho, she complained to the pet store corporate, and got replacements for ALL of the animals that were killed, and a gift card to cover her vet exspenses. The trick is to bitch at the management a whole lot. :lol:

You're in North Carolina, that's not terribly far from me. You should try getting some mice from me, instead of a pet store. :roll: 
There are also a few breeders in NC, though I'm not 100% sure where. I believe 'Karstent' is in NC. He is on the 'Mouse Lovers' forum. And I'm sure there are several others. 

I can guarantee you're not going to bring home any sick, or pregnant mice from my house.


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks, I'll make sure to do that next time. After all this, though, I doubt my parents would let me. They also wouldn't drive me anywhere. :roll: I'm sure there are breeders near me _somewhere_ but it's like they're all in hiding.  The store told us they would cover the cost of up to five mice (I think there were more), but I think they wanted to take the live ones back to give us the money and I just don't have the heart to give them back to that place.

I'm a shy, faint-hearted person (though I wished I wasn't), so my dad handled management. (I think he ripped them a new one.  )

Luna, my other doe, is wandering around the cage, trying to figure out what happened to the wheel that I took out. :lol:


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## CatWoman (Jun 19, 2010)

StellaLuna, I was working on some of my rescue stuff and discovered Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Control has some mice right now that have been in the shelter waiting for homes since February/March. The rodent list that was forwarded to me was:



> A white male and a white female (not sure of eye color) estimated around 8 months old, 3 young solid brown mice (2 females, 1 male), a young black male, a young cream colored,very odd looking male (see photo), a buttload of russian dwarf hamsters (about a dozen), and a white rooster chicken.


I have no idea why the chicken was on the rodent list. :lol:

If you're looking for more mice and ok with petstore quality, that might be an option. The last I heard, the adoption fee for mice was $5 each and $8 for pairs, but I can't swear to that. At least you'd be sure nobody's pregnant, since they've been in the shelter for several months now.

I've attached the photo of the very odd looking boy - not a very good photo, but he's cute! :lol:


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## StellaLuna (Jun 22, 2010)

Thanks a lot! I'd love to but I don't think my parents would let me. Now they're on the argument of my being odd because "who would want a pet that eats their own babies?" :roll:

He is a pretty boy too! I love the ones with lots if fur! 

I checked out their site here: http://www.petharbor.com/results.as...helterlist='CHRL'&atype=&where=type_OO&PAGE=1 And they have seven mice! He's definitely my favorite though!


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