# Pregnant Doe



## jessierose2006 (Dec 1, 2010)

She was due on the 21st (i know im getting anxious with excitement as its only the 22nd) :lol:

I can feel little lumps in her belly. does this mean she is close to having them?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Does must love to keep us guessing. Twenty one days is usually when a doe pops, but sometimes it can take a couple days more...and sometimes you just can't believe she can get any bigger...and the waiting is almost enough to make you wanna scream. A pregnancy that is a little too long is much better than one that is too short. Pinkies grow a lot in the last couple of days, so feeling lumps doesn't really mean much.

You know, the shininess on a satin doe with a regular coat makes the bumps visible as the light bounces off the little lumps, and sometimes you can see them move inside the doe? (Not that yours is satin, I don't know, just babbling..)

When was your girl bred?


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## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

Yes funny enough watching my satins as im typing this and the bumps are moving


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## jessierose2006 (Dec 1, 2010)

i cant tell if they are moving as the doe moves to much lol.


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## MouseHeaven (Oct 25, 2010)

When my angora doe was pregnant, she was so big that I could see the babies moving even with her long fur, lol. She only had 11 though


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## jessierose2006 (Dec 1, 2010)

11?!?! :shock: wow thats a big litter..... i hope mine has a big litter or are bigger litters bad?


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## MouseHeaven (Oct 25, 2010)

Well, usually a healthier mouse will have fewer, she was healthy - she just had a lot of babies XD I ended up culling a lot though, I kept 4 from the entire litter. 11 mice for one mom is too much to handle, so usually they would cull some. Having a large litter isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you plan on keeping them all, I hope you have a second doe available for help. Also, if the doe starts to cull any, it may be best to let her take care of it, they have the ability to tell deficiencies from birth.


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## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

One of my does I think she killed two of the litter. I found them side by side laid out in the corner of the cage covered in a bit of bedding .There wasnt a mark on them and they were quite well fed .Can the mother cull them my a small nip to the neck? or is she more ruthless with them.I have only seen one litter of dwarf spiny mice culled by the mother there wasnt much left .


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## jessierose2006 (Dec 1, 2010)

i know with rabbits the mother would eat her babies if she felt threatened or to cull them for another reason. We had found one it was still alive while she was eating it. others would just rmove them from the nest and leave to die in the cold on the cage wire bottom.


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## MouseHeaven (Oct 25, 2010)

I don't think they can kill them with just a nip, unless they bit into the windpipe. She may have carried them outside the nest because they might've passed on their own.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

I've seen does kill pinkies by grabbing them by the back of the neck and shaking them a couple of times real hard. It also looked like it had been bit...so I'm not sure which thing killed them. Eleven is a very big litter, but sometimes does can handle that. Culling is one way to ensure that the bigger ones survive, though they are usually able to compete for nipple time. I've had does that split the litter into two separate nests and nurse each group separately; mother's milk is produced on an 'as needed' basis, so as long as the doe has excellent and plentiful foods, she can produce enough milk to feed a really large litter.

You babies may have not had a chance to nurse, and that usually kills them.


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## jessierose2006 (Dec 1, 2010)

:gwavebw :gwavebw :gwavebw

AHHHHHH  :shock: She's having her babies RIGHT NOW!!!  but...... the only reason i know is because i normally come home from work and pick her up (shes usually huddled with her GF in thier nest... and i noticed a few pinks when i picked her up   I know i shouldnt mess with her but i had no idea you dont think she will kill her babies now do you????? i always come home and hold her for about 10-15 mins everyday and i was doing my routine......   she wasnt done yet either she was still lumpy when i picked her up ( i didnt pick her up hard i usually scoop her so i dont hurt her)


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