# First Litter (Ginger and Pepper)



## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

All my mice have spice names, because I like cooking with spices, and so far they fit and I haven't run out of names. Perhaps this litter will have a different theme, who knows.










This is Cinnamon and Ginger, from left to right. I've had Cinnamon a long time, and she is starting to slow down, so I decided I wouldn't ever breed her. She was and is one of my more friendly mice. Ginger is relatively new, I've had her maybe two months now, and she is a fairly shy feeder-bin mouse. However, she doesn't bite or have any bad behaviors, just shy.










This is Pepper, my male, first ever. I've had him a little less than Ginger, but he is one of the most chill mice I've ever seen. Not sure if this is just a male mouse thing, or if he is special, but I love how calm and totally okay with handling he is.

I'm hoping that, small scale, I can produce some really sweet, well-tempered mice for pets. There are not a lot of breeders in my area, if any, so I'd rather breed pets for myself that are both healthy and handled at a young age, than buying from feeder bins forever.

According to my research, and the help of Lilly, I've figured out their genes to be:
Fawn - Ay? B? C? D? pp or aa B? C? D? pp ee
Black - aa B? C? D? P?

My goal, that if I continue breeding and want to focus on color, I would go in the Blue and Dove route, as I love both of those colors immensely. Their genes are a bit of a mystery, so it is possible I end up with all blacks, or maybe a Dove or two, if Pepper is Pp, and not PP.
Blue would be possible if both are Dd, and I would feel extremely lucky if that were the case.

Other things I like about them, Ginger has an amazing tail, in my novice experience. Long, tapered, and thick at the base. Pepper has a pretty nice nose, and great ears, so I am curious to see what the offspring will look like.

They were introduced two weeks ago, so 26 of October, and Ginger is starting to look suspiciously pregnant, so I've separated her to see if she is, and can be by herself for her first litter. If not, I'll put her back in with Pepper.

I've just purchased a scale, so at this point in time, Ginger weighs 35g and Pepper weighs 34g.

Pictures to continue!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Just another cute photo of the pair, taken on 26 October. There was quite a bit of squeaking from Ginger, but when I watched them, Pepper wasn't even within whisker distance of her when she would complain and run off. They pretty quickly settled down, and I didn't hear any complaints after that.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

look lovely healthy mice.


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Thank you! I fall asleep to the sound of mice running on wheels, and they love their various foods and treats. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so to speak. :]


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Ginger is now at 41g, and looking rather round. :]
I will be adding a new photo next time I see her out and about.


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

She is getting so big! Eek! I'm impatient, but it seems it shouldn't be too much longer a wait. Currently at 43 g.


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Ginger is up to 50g, and being very nesty. I am going to do a last minute bedding change, in hopes that she will have babies soon and the bedding will be relatively fresh for that, instead of trying to do one within the first few days. Getting very impatient and excited!


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

Very exciting! The baby wait can seem like forever can't it? lol


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

It does feel like forever! But I have lots of other things going on, which take up my time enough that I'm not just watching water boil. ;]


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

People have been guessing how many babies there will be. I've guessed five, other have guessed eight, three and six. We shall see who is right!


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

5 is a pretty small litter, I would expect 8 as a minimum but obviously small litters do happen


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Five is small, I agree. But 8 was already picked, so I wanted to be different. Obviously could be well over 5, or even 8. She seems pretty uncomfortable and isn't moving about as much at all, usually she starts moving around quite a bit when I come over to say hi and now she just sits and watches me.


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

She is up to 54g! Also, based on this link, that would mean 10+ babies. (roughly, averages, etc.)
http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/conten ... 88.extract

So excited and impatient.


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

There are babies! Born around 3pm today. I'll wait until a bit later to see how many, but I am so excited!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

First count says 11, but I tried to disturb them as little as possible. They are So Tiny!!!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Day Three!

Getting some pigment, getting bigger, and taking a guess at sexes. 7 bucks, 5 does. I've never sexed baby mice before, so it is possible I am totally off and will know as they get older. About 2 grams at the moment!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Everyone looks to be dark, probably black, with mostly white toes and some tail tips.

So far, I'm guessing 10 females and 2 males!


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## Viverrinae (Nov 22, 2016)

twelve is a lot of babies! also a lot of cuteness, too, good luck with raising them!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

It is! This first litter I decided to just see how it went. I'm trying to get blue mice, so hoped with more babies I'd have a better chance of getting the color I want. Not quite what happened, but next litters I won't let stay so big. Also, been weighing them daily, and taking pictures, so I have kind of a basis for growth for later litters when I do decide to keep them smaller. Hope that all made sense!


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## RoseSpice (Oct 24, 2016)

Eyes opened today! Hopefully going to get some pictures up.


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