# 19 days old to young?



## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

is three weeks old to young to go to a new home?.... just got a new doe. and she is 19 days old.. was wondering what i could do to help her?.. or is she okay to eat by herself? shes on soilds and shes with my doe honey who is keeping her company and grooming her.


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

Aww she is still so tiny! I am no expert but I would have thought she would be OK if she is eating solid foods (she should have teeth by now). I would have thought she would make up for any energy she would have got from mum by eating and drinking more.. Honey will help a lot. Mice should not be weaned before 4 weeks but I reckon she should be alright. You can feed kitten milk replacement to mice to supplement if she needs it.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

It's much too young. Mice shouldn't move on to new homes until one month _at least_, preferably 6 weeks. It's not just the physical requirements, but the mental ones. Young mice need the security of their mother and littermates for a little while after weaning, as well as the social skills they learn through playing with their families. Children of 10 years old are capable of eating on their own and washing themselves, but we don't push them out the door that young!

There's nothing you can do for her unfortunately except feed her some baby food, scrambled eggs, bread soaked in milk, etc, to build her up and hope that the older doe does a good job as a replacement mother figure.

How did you come to get a mouse so young?


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

well my friend breeds them.. and he had them all with the siblings eating solids. and asked if i just wanted her for free.. so i got her  lucky for the little one. my mouse honey should be pregnant. and that means their is milk for her hopefully.. but honey has been making a nest and mothering the baby as if it was her own


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Why then couldn't she have stayed with her family for another couple of weeks?


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

he said she was ready :/ but im careing for her in the best way i can


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## AyJay658 (Jan 15, 2012)

You ought to set him right. And tell him not to breed without doing his research first! Look after her well =)


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

Ripley...you have been attempting to breed your own mice, but you didn't know that 19 days was too young? That is kinda scary. You should really not be breeding anything until you know the whole process completely. You obviously didn't bother to quaratine either. So now you may have introduced illness into your house...and put her in with a possibly gravid mother who is having a stressful enough time! This is another example of poor husbandry. 
You should really slow down and enjoy a few pets and become more educated about these animals.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

hey candy  
i did know that 19 days was young. but i wanted advise from you guys. thats why the site was made right?
as well as i did quaratine. i had the poorly mouse put in to a different room and i cleaned the cage.. befour and after. 
i do enjoy my mice. the mice i have are like my babies. even my mum said i love my mice to much!
and yes i have abit of a bad breeder. but i wont be getting more from him again. i am just gonna look after the ones i have  i have been on the internet about baby mouse for 3 hours reading and reading. and i think ill be fine


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

Quarantine usually means to keep the mouse in a seperate room/airspace for 3-6 weeks. You did not quarantine.


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## candycorn (Oct 31, 2011)

ripleysmice said:


> hey candy
> i did know that 19 weeks was young. but i wanted advise from you guys. thats why the site was made right?


Wrong and lies. If you knew...then you would not have taken the mouse and you would have not had to ask here. I don't believe you that you did know. And since you have a possibly gravid mouse, it's horrific to think that you knew so little about when a mouse should be weaned.



> as well as i did quaratine. i had the poorly mouse put in to a different room and i cleaned the cage.. befour and after.


The poorly mouse? The one that might be bred? Or the new baby? Cleaning the cage is not quarantine. You need to keep the mouse completely separate from yours for 3 weeks and wash hands thoroughly. That is not even CLOSE to quarantine!



> i have been on the internet about baby mouse for 3 hours reading and reading. and i think ill be fine


And myself and many people here researched for MONTHS or YEARS before breeding. How old are you?


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

candycorn said:


> Wrong and lies. If you knew...then you would not have taken the mouse and you would have not had to ask here. I don't believe you that you did know. And since you have a possibly gravid mouse, it's horrific to think that you knew so little about when a mouse should be weaned


Candycorn, feel free to offer positive advice of a helpful nature if you think you are able to help but please respect that inflammatory comments are not welcome on this forum. Thanks


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

okay guys and girls!.. with all your.. nice comments.. i would like to say that..
1. the poorly mouse died the same day i got it!.. and i looked after that thing so much it never left my sight
2. im 15 nearly 16
3. the baby mouse is my mouses sister. and they where together for a week befour they got brought back home as i went on hoilday. and candy feel free to say im lieing. but to be honest you dont know me in real life. you dont know half the stuff i do for my mice. i take good care of them. and asking for help as made me feel the need to quit this site. 
and yes i did know. i may have put it all in the wrong context. i wanted to know how to help it! not be told that i am a bad owner. 
i have got puppy/kitten milk and added what i needed as it said on the internet and been feeding her every 3/4 hours. and she is healthy and doing fine. i know what im doing. and yeah the pregnant one is fine to. if she wasnt then she would of died by now, she is also healthy.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

and just to add candy. even if i didnt know that it was to young. you should be happy i came here to ask for help. and you cant allways belive the internet. thats why i asked real people who have mice!


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

I think we all need to remember that our younger members do not always express themselves as clearly as we would like, and, when faced by a situation such as this; being told by the breeder that a mouse is old enough to rehome, do not have the confidence to contradict them.

Ripley - may I say well done for having the sense to ask others if you were right, and for checking on the correct way to care for a yery young mouse. (Would I be right in thinking that you were referring to the sick mouse when talking about quarantine?). Keep asking, and good luck with your baby.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

thanks gill.. and yeah.. at first i thought they where on about the old mouse i had "star" that died the same day.. but then noticed over a few comments they where on about the new baby mouse. and i didnt see a reason to quarantine if they where together for a week anyway  
and yeah the baby is eating. as well as i gave her some scrabbled egg which she loved!


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

> i didnt see a reason to quarantine if they where together for a week anyway





> as well as i did quaratine. i had the poorly mouse put in to a different room and i cleaned the cage.. befour and after.


You are contradicting yourself here, all in the same thread. You might not understand what quarantine really is and there's no shame in that, but you can do a search for threads about it and learn. Basically, any new mice brought in HAVE to be kept seperate from your current mice, just in case the new mice have a disease. Also, while I don't agree that you need to be attacked or are a liar, you shouldn't have brought the baby mouse home if you knew for sure it was too young.


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

... i separated my boys from their mum at 3 weeks and they're fine... in books it says 3 weeks to avoid unwanted pregnancys...


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

mousery_girl said:


> ... i separated my boys from their mum at 3 weeks and they're fine... in books it says 3 weeks to avoid unwanted pregnancys...


eh.... idk which book you're referencing, but as pretty much everyone will tell you, 3 weeks is too young. Besides weaning itself, the mice need to learn social mouse things from their mom. And in this scenario, it wasn't just the separation, but the displacement to a different home/area entirely. Many people leave their female mice in with the mom's even longer, as has been pointed out.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

I've never read anything that said 3 weeks was fine. On the contrary, every single thing I have ready has said that the last week is really important.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Four weeks is a great time to separate males from their mums, in order to both avoid pregnancies and allow the mice to develop properly. What's more, a new home will have different bacteria, and a mouse of 4+ weeks will have a better immune response to the new place. I also appreciate you coming here to check your info against the experiences of real breeders. There are no stupid questions, so long as the questions are asked as soon as possible, and the advice is listened to.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

I have seen places say 3 weeks (at least 21 days) is when to remove babies...but the vast majority of those sources relate to feeder breeders who don't care for their animals properly anyway. It is MUCH MUCH MUCH better for the animals to stay with their mothers and litters to 4 weeks.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

heey guys.. well ive had her three days nearly. and shes doing great. honey is being a mother to her!.. they never leave each others sides. always sleeping together playing and grooming each other.. its funny as if honey goes to eat the baby (poppy) will run up jump on the food bowl and grab what ever is in honeys mouth and eat it ^^ 
i just took some pics. so here is one of her all settled in to the ripley household!


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)




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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)




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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

awww how cute! This time I will keep the babies with the mum for 4 weeks


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

when i breed my honey (the female in the pic)
i will not let the males go untill they hit 4 weeks depending on size and the way their getting on. im keeping the females. and already have homes lined up for the males. and i ask abou them untill they are ready to leave. as i want to make sure i do this right


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## Viry (Oct 31, 2011)

I suggest separating the males from the mother and the females at 4 weeks but waiting a week, preferably two or more before you give/sell them to their future homes. That way, they can get used to not living with their mother and you will be able to check that they're all eating and drinking without trouble.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

thanks viry.. when it comes to selling the males. would they be able to go together?


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## Viry (Oct 31, 2011)

Able, yes. However it's likely they'd have to be separated from each other at one point or another. :/


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9204&hilit=males+together
http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9184&hilit=males+together

These two threads are recent regarding the topic. The over all consensus is that it is not advised.


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## Viry (Oct 31, 2011)

That does not, however, mean you cannot sell them to the same person.


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## ripleysmice (Nov 5, 2011)

welll guys.. a updated video of the baby now named poppy


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