# Urgh to over grooming (picture warning)



## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

Caught a doe eating a baby from her litter a little over a week ago, so took her out, killed the pinkie that was half eaten then put her back in with treats and stuff to keep her occupied. Didn't check rest of the litter as they were tucked away in a hide i didn't fancy taking apart as they were newborn.

anyways left it a week or so, and have just realised when taken them out to sex and look at that she totally over groomed all but 2 of the 6 young :|

2 of them will be fine, they just have a couple toes on one foot missing, the rest, well it seems they'll probably have to be culled as its not really a life for mice that look like this... 

Gutted too, especially for the vari as this was first time i got more than one in a litter and that have been nice and chunky...


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## Serena (Dec 29, 2011)

wow, that's extensive damage.
I'm surprised, the wounds seem to have healed so well. Despite: sucks for the babies 
I would cull them too if there's more than a few toes missing.


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

I think the 3 legged one might be ok to rehome as special needs, however the ones with 2 legs missing i don't think will have much quality of live, they will probably suffer sore stumps and issues keeping clean constantly.


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

OH my god...so heartbreaking! It's amazing that they survived such horrible wounds! And I agree with Velvet. Poor little we darlings!


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I was going to say the same about the three legs, if you've seen dogs and cat's with three legs they are completely mobile. I don't know if the site wound makes a difference, or if it's supposed to be at the shoulder though.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I've seen stubby mice get by fine, but obviously her branch of the line is dead. Pets or culls. :/


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

oh wow. I've never anything like that before.
The wounds healed up good though.
I have a 3 legged dog that is fine, but not sure if its the same for a mouse or not.


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## m137b (Sep 22, 2010)

I have two 3 legged mice, they get along extremely well, you don't even notice the missing leg unless you handle them, they run, climb, and the buck breeds just fine even though it is a rear leg he's missing.

I wouldn't cull them just yet, mice are extremely adaptable, if they start to show problems, sores, or an inability to ambulate effectively then I would consider culling them. But since mice are so light weight and they are kept on soft bedding you shouldn't have issues with sores like you would with a dog/cat where the animal is on a hard surface and has a larger body mass.

Was this the doe's first litter? If not then I wouldn't use her again. But if it's her first time, I'd give her a second chance, there might have been something that startled or frightened her into attempting to cull the litter. She may have culled them all had you not interrupted her behavior and redirected her to something else.


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

Is there any chance that these could be birth defects - the reason why she started culling in the first place?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

I've never seen birth defects like this. I have seen babies with parts nibbled off like this; it's really sad and the only solution is to not breed that does anymore.

I've wondered on the couple of occasions this happened in my mousery, if maybe the babies had mites between their toes that started the doe nibbling.


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

When i first noticed ones with toes missing they were scabbed over so i assume she did this herself. It is her first litter so she will get a second chance.


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## DeepBlueC (Feb 9, 2012)

What a shame, poor little mice. Hope you manage to keep the three legged one though.


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