# [...carnage in my tank.]



## PiaLouise

We woke up today to check on the mice babies, they're 9 days old. I looked in the nest box and there was no females in there. blood up the walls, and bloody tissue. I then found 3 dead babies and one still alive with half it's face chewed off. I was mortified. Has the mother culled them? I feel deeply saddened by this discovery. I have removed the male and put him on his own. I have moved the mother and babies into a new nest box and the other pregnant female is in the same tank but I have 3 nest boxes in there encase she has to give birth and wants privacy.


----------



## SarahC

the most likely culprit is the pregnant doe.Does sharing litters doesn't always work , ideally they should be due around the same time.The only reason a mother would cull at 9 days would be if she was ill and the buck isn't likely to harm them at 9 days either.


----------



## Frizzle

Also if you ran out of food or water, I had that happen to me once when I first started...


----------



## PiaLouise

They always have more than enough food and a huge variety and the water is changed daily. I have now removed the pregnant doe and put her alone. I have put the male back in his tank with mum and babies. Fingers crossed there's no more brutal deaths. I'm very much upset by it.


----------



## AyJay658

Just a side note, it can be very tough on the females if they are having litters back to back. Leaving the buck with her means that she will already be pregnant again and having another litter when her current litter is not even weaned. I'd suggest removing the buck before she gives birth to the second litter (or even straight away) so she doesn't have to go through the ordeal again with a third litter.


----------



## PiaLouise

I have not had any more problems since removing Crybaby, the pregnant doe. She seems huge right now. I keep thinking it has to be tonight and when I wake up, she still hasn't had them, just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I will be removing the male from Medusa's tank today and put him by himself. Won't he be very lonely?


----------



## AyJay658

No, he will be fine so long as you give him attention and he has lots of things to do (climbing, gnawing, etc.) It's better for all your mice that he is kept separate. Prepare yourself for another litter when Medusa's are 3 weeks old and I would look into heavily culling the new litter so that she doesn't have as much strain put on her little body. Good luck!


----------



## PiaLouise

I separated male and female just like you guys said. Only problem now is I found Medusa dead this evening. The babies have 5 days till they would have been 4 weeks old
WHAT DO I DO? The babies have started eating and drinking, but is that enough? :/


----------



## AyJay658

They should be OK if they are all eating and drinking. You can supplement feeding with kitten milk replacement if you think they were still nursing but they should be fine at three weeks and two days. Good luck and I'm sorry about Medusa


----------



## PiaLouise

Day two without the mum Medusa, babies are still all alert and being playful, hoping they will be okay alone. I had a little funeral for her in my garden, as she gave me my first litter and she was special to me.

I decided to try and see how the dad, Dr.Hannibal Lecter would be with the male babies in his tank as he has never shown any signs of aggression and was very good with them up until a few days ago when I removed him. It was a success, I have been watching them for at least 6 hours now and he is cleaning them, and he letting them sleep all over him and sharing food. He also guides them to the water.

The little females are in their usual tank. I have not seen them drink/eat this afternoon but maybe it's because I spot cleaned and replenished their food/water, so they were all excitable and running around their tubes. They were all drinking from the water bottle last night though. I made them a super cosy nest to sleep in and made sure they had some of their mums smell in there by incorporating the old nest bedding. I have made it fun for them and added more places for them to lay/hide in. In 4 hours, I will buy some kitten milk replacement and offer it to them encase they need it. So far so good. Fingers crossed they make it!  <3 my mice so much!


----------



## mich

I read somewhere that they can kill their young due to thirst. It happens to me on the rare occasion and it's not very pleasant.


----------



## PiaLouise

They are all doing great!  All happy, playful and being little mice. I have some kitten replacement milk and some baby cereal mixed up for them. They have eaten and drunk those and water so I am not worried. Dad is being great with the boys too. All in all a happy ending.


----------



## PiaLouise

They have their water changed every evening and their bottle gets checked every few hours. I can't work so I do literally spend all day with my rodents! I have their tanks on my bed till my bedtime. haha  
I can understand why they say that they can kill due to thirst. Considering they are made of mostly water it's understandable in extreme situations of thirst that they would seek moisture from their own babies. They only do that to survive and make more milk for the rest of the babies. Nature's a strange and wonderful thing.


----------



## Seafolly

Remember to separate the female babies from the boys at 4 weeks - though their brothers are unlikely to be interested, since they're living with their dad he's a bit more aware of how things work. I'd also keep a very close eye on those boys. I wouldn't expect the peace to last too much longer with dad and boys.


----------



## PiaLouise

The males have been very good with each other. No fighting or bickering. Success!


----------

