# Pregnant mouse,parasites and a few questions.



## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

I'm kind of panicking here so please excuse any rambling.

I have a low marked splash mouse who is ready to go any day here.
But I walked in to feed them today after errands and what not and she lpooked wrong.
So I picked her up.
She's cold and her hair is..it looks sparse.
half the time she's haunches up ad the other half shes walking lethargically.
At first I thought it maybe was something to do with the pregnancy like a bleed or a dead fetus causing a infection.
But I look closer and she has little brown rice looking parasites in her fur and on the skin, on the back of her ear near the base of it.
I'm thinking lice?

WHat can I do? 
She was fine last night. 
I've used newspaper up to this point and never had a problem as bedding but I ran out of newspaper and had to use
aspen instead. Could it have come in on that?
I follow quarantine like it's a religion.
Is there any way to save her at this point?
If not, (I know this is a strange question but I have afew reasons for asking) 
has anyone ever attempted a C-section on a mouse shortly after death? And successfully reared young?


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

It sounds like you may have found the parasites too late, but you can treat her with ivermectin. It will not hurt her to have it while pregnant, and though there is a very small chance it will hurt her babies, a live mama can make more babies. No mama, no babies.


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

I -just- changed the cages yesterday. So I think it's safe to assume they all are at risk if not already affected at this point.

Thanks for the tip.

All I have to do now is find where to get it. 
I have a plan!
That's better than nothing.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Poor girl.  I don't know, but regarding the last bit, the earliest success story I personally know of were two day old rat babies. They still got some of the mother's colostrum (the first milk from the mother) though. I'm going to take a guess and assume that wouldn't be an option. : /


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

No but I have a doe who had her babies yesterday that could foster these guys.
She's done it before.

It's almost 1am here.

I have a vet that takes mice but it's closed. I'm not sure if the E-vet takes mice.

So I'm looking online for a source.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I ordered my stuff from here. You could maybe rush ship it?
http://got-it.ozbo.com/search?w=Ivermectin&af=&asug=&view=grid

Otherwise I'd google all the farm type places around you and check their sites to see if they carry it. Vet's would probably carry it or something similar for treating livestock, idk where you go for vet care, but prolly just do a google search for the ones nearest to you, and call them at opening one by one to see if they carry what you need.

Good luck!


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

Thanks 

I finally found a E-vet that takes mice. It's 86$ just to walk in.
So right now I'm keeping a close eye on her if she gets any worse I'll be taking her there.
Our regular vet said if she's still with us in the morning He will open shop a hour early and we can go in (still at the regular rate)

CVS pharmacy usually has it, but they said they JUST discontinued the brand they had last week.

So it's a all nighter tonight. I checked online and overnight shipping is the same as taking her to the E-vet.

I'll let everyone know how it goes.

I ran over all of the others under a well lit magnifying glass and not one of them looks like they have what she does.
It's mind boggling.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

it's likely that the parasites were already present and that something else has caused her to become run down,possibly a pregnancy complication and they have overwhelmed her.It's the same if you find injured swifts or swallows,the ticks that they are host to and to a degree co exist with overwhelm the stricken birds and the birds are literally crawling with them.


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

That makes sense.

I took her to the vet today. (which is why I missed Rodentfest)
He said he didn't see any parasites. So either they spontaneously decided to leave or I was hallucinating.
So next time I see one I'm putting it on some clear tape.

We were getting ready to leave and she dropped the litter while I was doing paperwork.
Ten of them, all sickly little things.
One doesn't have a tail, one is purpleish from bruising and all of them look fetal and underdeveloped with
huge but gaunt heads and tiny hips.
Mom is doing much better as long as the heating pad stays on.
I don't know what to do at this point.
I think the best course would be to cull the whole litter and let mom focus on getting better.
Or I could foster one or two to the other mouse who only had four in her litter.
*rubs head*

'll figure it out.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

There is a type of chicken mite that only comes out at night to feast on their hosts. Idk what type of parasite would mimic it in mice, but what if it's living in the bedding or somewhere else in your house? Try googling about Infested: Bird mites (episode in the infested series), where a nest of birds are evicted and the parasites swarm the house looking for a new place. Maybe move her into a sterile tank with only paper bedding? This eliminates the hiding in bedding because you'd be able to see them. Did they sell you ivermectin anyways?


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