# Rescued mouse - pregnant?



## theratstash (May 20, 2014)

I took in a rescue male mouse from my vet and had him neutered about a month ago in the hopes of getting him a female companion. This weekend I saw a single, female "feeder" mouse on craigslist and drove 4 hours to go pick her up. She has lice or mites, is very sneezy and, I was told, had been housed with a male companion a few weeks ago. Since this was a teenager I picked her up from, who "didn't think she would be pregnant", I can't say with any certainty if he was telling me the complete truth about the timeframe since she had been with a male. She also did not present a single poop in the first 8 hours of me having her, but after giving her yogurt, coconut oil and some fruit she had begun to poop by the morning, and those hard, black poops were more of a normal brown by the next night.

So I already have to wonder about her general health care and diet, and I don't know if she's just eating a lot due to a lack of good food or because she is, indeed, pregnant.

I have been weighing her since she came home and am curious if this is indicative of pregnancy in a mouse:
Sunday night: 35-36 grams
Monday morning: 38 grams
Monday night: 40 grams
Tuesday morning: 40 grams

Also, a bunch of photos in different positions to give you an idea of her current figure. These were taken Sunday night:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scarletnotion/sets/72157644325194157/

From what I saw on craigslist, this teenager had one single male mouse listed for sale on May 4th, and that ad was never reposted. And he has an ad for a female "feeder" mouse that seemed to be posted on May 7th and repeat posted on the 8th and 14th - if somehow that information sheds any light on her situation.

I can take more photos of her if needed. Ideally, I would prefer to e-spay if it's not too late, as this is simply not a rodent friendly area and most looking for rats and mice are not looking for pets. I wont be able to keep the babies and will end up having to drive them to a rescue in another state if it's too late for an e-spay.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

In most of the pictures she does not look pregnant but in a couple she looks to have a bit of a paunch. Jury's out at the moment.....
You won't have to wait long to find out. Once they begin to show it's not much longer than a week to go till babies arrive. I doubt you could rely too much on the increase in weight as a clue either, since you may have improved her diet. All I can say is if she is pregnant, she will most likely balloon very quickly and it will become obvious very soon.

The mites are a concern, do you have that in hand?


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## theratstash (May 20, 2014)

Well we only have one vet in the area experienced in mice spays/neuters, and they are only in on Thursdays and Fridays. I've left a message with the receptionist explaining the situation and that ideally I'd prefer to e-spay, as the shelters in California said they really are not having good luck adopting out mice right now. I was planning to have my car in for bodywork Thursday but cancelled on the off-chance that the vet might be able to squeeze us in for even an evaluation to see if she's possibly still early enough along where e-spay might be considered. I'm told the vet is completely booked Thursday and even Friday morning looks tight, and they wont be able to tell me until the speak to her Thursday whether there is time or not. So now, we wait and weigh.

I did begin her on ammox. for the sneezes, since it was deemed to be the safest for use in pregnant mice (if someone knows that to be untrue, please let me know). I definitely don't want to make a wrong call medication wise in case we can't e-spay in time. I also gave her a tiny dose of revolution for the scabs and itchiness. Beyond that, I've just been giving her a cozy 10 gallon tank, a flying saucer wheel, HT lab blocks and fresh fruit/veggies/grains/nuts.

She does look tubby to me when she sits certain ways, not so much when she walks around. Her belly *might* feel hard to me, but I haven't attempted to poke it just in case, I've can simply feel it a bit when she walks over my hands.


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## theratstash (May 20, 2014)

Still not sure what to expect from possibly pregnant mouse. The teenager I got her from stated that she had been removed from the male April 4th, which would have meant we were in the clear. However, we're still gaining:

35 grams Sunday night
38 grams Monday morning
40 grams Monday night
40 grams Tuesday morning
38 grams Tueday night
40 grams Wednesday morning
39 grams Wednesday night
42 grams this morning

I do not have a vet in the area who is comfortable performing an e-spay, just a rescue a state away willing to take in the babies, so now I suppose it's just wait and weigh.


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## Miceandmore64 (Jul 16, 2013)

Sounds possible to me although I have never weighed my pregnant mice


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