# Sexing Pinkies before 4 days.



## Carla (Nov 18, 2010)

I hear that it's best to cull pinkies before 4 days old but have had a look at the 'sexing pinkies' forum and it starts at 4 days old. Will it be easy enough for me to tell what ones are boys when so young? 
I am expecting babies soon so would like to be fully prepared as i only want to keep girls as i only have limited space, 
Thankks
xx


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## minibears (Jul 30, 2010)

start with the ones u know are boys, put the ones u don't know back and slowly work through them like that, :?:


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## VanLea (Jan 30, 2011)

i confuse myself...it all looks the same to me after a while lol....i give up in the end and keep them all... :lol:


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

If your not 100% sure, don`t cull and find homes for the ones you can`t keep. I would think only hardened breeders would know the difference at this young age. You definately need a good eye and experience.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Funny, I'd say the opposite; cull everything except those you are sure are does. You say "find homes for those you can't keep", well it doesn't work that way unfortunately. I've sold a grand total of 9 mice as pets in the last 2 years. They are just not very popular pets and it's not good to be left with a load of bucks you can't home!

Sexing babies is very easy at that age. Compare the babies to each other until you find two which look very different. Girls have tiny little genitals that just about touch the anus, boys have a big lumpy bit about 1-2mm away from the anus. Then, compare all the others to those two. If in doubt, you can always post pictures on here 

Sarah xxx


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## bethmccallister (Mar 5, 2010)

It's to the point where I look at them and say "button" or "stick" then put them in two piles. The ones I'm not sure about I put in the doe "button" pile and then see how many babies are left. If there are more then 4 babies left I go through the "button" or "stick" routine again to see if any look different a second time through. When in doubt I keep them and they usually end up being does.


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

It`s a shame they are not more popular as pets. The reason for that is probably because most pet shops (at least here in the UK) don`t stock mice. All those pet hamster owners are missing out!  Mice are THEE best small pet in my opinion if you can appreciate them as such. Most people would`nt and would never see that special character that mice have. Shame really...


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## bethmccallister (Mar 5, 2010)

I know, it's sad about the males. The boy mice that I don't cull I keep and they are usually my favorite cuddle buds.


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## Carla (Nov 18, 2010)

thanks people for the advice, 
i totally agree with racingmouse on this one.. mice are so much better, there more intelligent and i find gentler creatures than hamsters.
oh well. 
xx


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

If male mice did`nt have the falling out issues associated with them, I would keep groups of males rather than females because I feel their characters are so much more people friendly. But having kept pet males myself, they all ended up being kept singly either through having to split them up, or a few deaths leaving their cagemates alone. It`s such a shame because their characters are huge. We need breeders to breed a male that does`nt have aggressive hormones!!!


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

> We need breeders to breed a male that does`nt have aggressive hormones!!!


I've found that those males don't really breed unfortunately :lol: Shame though as it would certainly enable me to keep more males, giving me more choice in my breeding plans.

I used to breed rats, they were great in that way. I had one giant cage containing all my stud bucks. They came out for an evening to the 'loveshack' (a neutral territory cage reserved for mating only) with a lady, then went straight back into their man-group with no problems. I never had to cull the rat litters either, every kitten had a home to go to before they were ready to leave.

Sarah xxx


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

I`ve read that the aggression shown in male mice is due to a pheromone they ommit in their urine. Maybe if we can find a way to switch that off it would save all the hassle! Scientists also discovered just recently that mice carry an `itch` gene, which they turned off by injecting these mice with a substance in a trial and the mice stopped scratching. I have a link to a Youtube video somewhere showing one mouse on one side of a tank and another mouse on the opposite side. Mouse `A` was given this treatment to prevent it from itching, the other mouse was`nt. Watching the behaviour of both mice is clear to see. One walks around the tank looking inquisitive, while the other mouse stops to scratch itself all the time.

I wish conventional mice were not so prone to the allergies and illnesses that lab mice can be cured of. Anyway, we need to study pheromones in male urine now! :lol:


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## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

There are alot of pheromones in mices urine scientists have named one after a Jane Austins character from pride and predujice Mr Darcy ''Darcin'' is used to attract Females for mating.


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## racingmouse (Jan 12, 2011)

Very funny! I think we need some of these scientists to become vets to help us all out with our mousie dilemmas!


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