# When can i seperate babies from mum ?



## jammin32 (Jun 14, 2012)

I have a litter of 3 week olds in with a newborn litter so when can i seperate the older ones from mum ?
The newborn litter is lacking a good feed due to the bigger ones being stronger and im not sure which mum belings to which litter.
Is it 4 weeks that babies are fully weaned and ok to be on their own ?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Five weeks is a good general cutoff for that; in practice, the best time can vary. If the doe is stressed out or ill, I sometimes move the babies into a separate tank with an auntie, or if they are still nursing for most of their nutrition try to foster with a doe who is still lactating.

Boys sometimes seem to mature early, showing interest in mating as early as 3 1/2 weeks...then they need to come out and live in bachelor's quarters.

Since meeces can eat solid food long before the five week guide line, there is a lot of wiggle room. I find that you get a benefit from leaving the babies in as long as you reasonably can in the form of better behavior later on their lives. they really don't need to nurse after three weeks. I just put in stuff the older ones will like to eat in order to reduce and eventually, in the course of a week or so starting at about two weeks, in order to reduce their dependence on Mom's lunchwagon.


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## Benjamin (Feb 21, 2009)

Personally, I'd take my best guess at the mother of the oldest babies and move them to a new cage. Both mothers will be lactating and chances are they will accept any young they get. Alternatively I'd see if I could make a second nest and move one of the litters to a different area of the cage, the mother's may well rejoin the nests but it's worth a shot.

I always take the males away at 4 weeks and let the females run on with the mothers until at least 6 weeks.


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

4 weeks is my earlyest i take the boys out, i prefur 5 but ive noticed my boys seem to take there time to get intrested in the ladys. The girls i normaly leave in with mum untill i want to either rebreed her to breed one if the daughters.


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