# Obese young mouse



## Socks (Oct 13, 2013)

Hi,
I purchased two mice a few weeks ago. One had a litter, and the other I suspected may be pregnant, however time proved she was not. This mouse has strangely been gaining weight and is now a grumpy, lazy and fat creature. Jabba the Hutt, as I have renamed her, has a generally healthy, varied diet and her sister who is in her cage as well as my other mice (who are all on the same diet) are happy and healthy. I weighed them all today, and while her cagemate was a healthy 20g, Jabba was 40g. I have removed all corn and sunflower seeds from their diet for now but I'm not sure what I can do. She runs on the wheel frequently and otherwise has no health issues. She is a light yellow colour and I have heard that this may cause health issues. What could be the cause of Jabba's obesity?


----------



## BlackSelf (Apr 15, 2014)

she could be preggers, how long has she been obese?
also are you from the UK? if so, i think she might have red genes


----------



## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Sounds like she is a dominant red mouse, that gene and its variants cause obesity. Nothing can be done, you can't make them diet, they are genetically fat. If she was bought as a future breeder you need to be aware that when they get fat they often won't be fertile. There's no reason that she won't live a long life with no health problems in spite of her weight, so if she is a pet i wouldn't worry about it


----------



## BlackSelf (Apr 15, 2014)

So, I was kind of right?


----------



## Socks (Oct 13, 2013)

She's definitely not pregnant  She's been gaining weight from around 8-10 weeks old, and she's not for breeding. I'll still restrict their sunflower seeds a bit more just for general health, and so she won't gain too much.


----------

