# FM May 2018 Litters



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

This might become a bit of a messy thread, I'm trying something new (one thread for each month of babies born, instead of one thread for each litter). So I apologise in advance!

On May 2nd, my Blue self doe, Darling, had a litter of 7 - she'd been paired to a Black self buck. In the beginning things were great. She's had another litter, so I know she's a good mum. Babies were looking well and healthy. A few days later however, she started losing weight, and she'd culled 4 of her babies. I gave her lots of options for extra nutritious foods and fluids, but it wasn't getting any better. Still, by some miracle she kept those last 3 babies alive. At the same time she was actually pretty active.

On May 6th, my Siamese doe, Henrietta, had a litter of 13 - she'd been paired to a Siamese buck. The day after, I removed 4 of her babies (bucks), and I added Darling's babies to her nest. The crazy thing was, despite 4 days age difference, the babies from the two litters were pretty much exactly the same size... Fortunately, Henrietta accepted the foster babies and has been taking good care of them all.

Darling was put in a different cage with two young, sweet girls. She's doing better, and gradually gaining weight again. Normally I would have chosen to put her to sleep, because she really was looking very bad the day I removed her babies from her. But she was so active and curious that I had to give her a chance, and I'm really glad I did.

So, here's a couple of pictures from yesterday where the Black babies were a week old, and the Siamese babies 3 days old.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

The black mice are already looking so good! Shame about the other four though, always hard when things like that happen. Looking forward to future updates.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Cheshire Gleam said:


> The black mice are already looking so good! Shame about the other four though, always hard when things like that happen. Looking forward to future updates.


Thank you!
I have another pic of these from yesterday, and a picture of a newer litter from today. Will upload next time I'm on my laptop


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Okay! So... I'm really not good at taking and uploading photos of my babies (especially the uploading part lol). But I do enjoy the feedback, so I try.

Darling's babies are now 14 days old, Henrietta's are 10 days old. 
Darling is doing well. Still not in her best condition, but definitely better. So I'm thinking once Henrietta's babies open their eyes and start eating on their own, I'm going to add both litters and Henrietta to the cage Darling is in. I'm assuming her milk production as stopped by now, but she might enjoy some more company than just the two girls she's with right now.

Oh, and I culled 1 of Henrietta's yesterday as it was very runty. It was a Bluepointed doe (also the only Blue in the litter).
The Black doe is also quite small, but I will be fighting a little extra for her, so fingers crossed!

Anyway, pictures!
10 & 6 days old:










13 & 9 days old:


















As mentioned the other day, I also had another litter born on the 10th. Mum is Blue Burmese (Daine) and a Bluepoint Siamese buck (I do name all of my mice, bucks included, just trying to confuse people as little as possible ) - I actually only had Daine around as backup, but since I lost both my SBP does, it turns out that was a good idea, because she was suddenly my best option. Some of you might remember Daine as one of the fat twins from this litter.

She had 10 babies, though one of them was gone by the next day. Checking on them today, I decided to cull 4 bucks as they are all a bit skinny. Plus, I don't need that many bucks anyway. So now there's 2 bucks (1 Blue Burmese, 1 Bluepoint Siamese) and 3 does (1 Blue Burmese, 2 Bluepoint Siamese).

3 days old:


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6 days old:


















I'm more than a little distracted lately (ADD tends to do that), so once again I'm sorry if it's confusing in any way.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

Very nice looking babies! One question, is it better to wait a few days to cull the undesired kits or do you do it that way to identify their variety? With my new litters, I try to cull as soon as possible since I'm not after certain varieties. Just wondering.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Cheshire Gleam said:


> Very nice looking babies! One question, is it better to wait a few days to cull the undesired kits or do you do it that way to identify their variety? With my new litters, I try to cull as soon as possible since I'm not after certain varieties. Just wondering.


When it comes to size then yes, the sooner the better - although depending on the line, the mother and the size of the litter, when you do it in the first week or so doesn't make much difference.

For my Dutch line, I like to wait until I can see markings. It's always a bit of a balance thing with those, because they're already very small compared to any of my other lines, but I'm lucky they usually don't get very big litters.

For pretty much all of my other lines, I cull based on gender which is often withing the first few days. I've just been so stressed lately I actually forgot to sex Daine's litter. But again, with the exception of Daine's litter, my Dutch line is the only one where I actually have to go for variety. The others (Siamese, BP Siamese, Blue Self & Black Self) only give one outcome, so I don't have to wait and see how they'll look.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

That makes sense, thanks!


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Daine's babies are 9 days old today and looking a lot better!
The Blue Burmese girl just would NOT stay still lol! She kept running away. So every picture I took, apart from these two, she's either just a grey blur or not there at all.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

I've been without internet for a handful of days, so haven't been able to post pictures. Making up for that now 

*Darling's and Henrietta's babies*

14 and 18 days old:

















21 and 25 days old (yesterday):

























Sadly, I found Darling dead last week. I thought she was getting better, but I guess I was wrong. :\

*Daine's babies*

14 days old (4 days ago):

















Bonus pictures here and here

Then my Recessive Yellow Dutch girl, Gaia, had her second litter on the 17th. Father of this bunch is Chocolate Dutch. I know from her first litter that Gaia carries Chocolate.

6 days old:

















10 days old (yesterday):

















As you can see, my Dutches are rather a lot skinnier than any of my other babies. It still bothers me, but on the other hand, the adult Dutches are just also quite a bit smaller than the others, though their condition is good. I know it's at least partly because of the Piebald gene.

Lastly, for now anyway, my Lilac Dutch girl, Ida, had a litter on the 24th. I haven't grabbed any pictures of those yet, but there are 8 babies and they are looking good. Father of that litter is also a Chocolate Dutch.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

All looking good! Sorry about Darling.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Against all odds, and a sad start to their lives, Darling's babies are four days old today  Not sure if they're still babies, but kinda. They're looking so good! The doe is still a bit smaller than the bucks, but I'm hoping that doesn't mean anything.


























Aaand, the litter I mentioned the other day... Dutch babies born on the 24th, so 6 days old today.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Daine's litter is 3 weeks old today 


































And Gaia's litter is 2 weeks old today. I decided to cull 3 as they are still pretty small, and don't look like they're going to open their eyes any time soon. Kept a buck and 3 does.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Ida's babies are 9 days old today, and I am so happy with how they're turning out ♥


















Also - FINALLY - got another Black self litter today. She was paired on April 22nd, so I feel like I've been waiting ages. Pics will be in another thread in a few days.


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Henrietta's beautiful babies are now 4 weeks old!  Sorry for the pretty poor pictures, I don't deal with the heat very well, so my patience was low


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Daine's babies were 4 weeks old yesterday, but I didn't take any pictures, as 2 of them had super greasy fur, and I have no idea why?? Haven't seen anything like it before, so if anyone has any suggestions as to what it might be, they are more than welcome. The one that looks the worst is supposed to be going to her new home tomorrow, but I might have to cancel that.

Gaia's babies were 3 weeks old yesterday. Still quite small, but otherwise looking good. Super jumpy, though. I'd made a cardboard box full of snacks for them, but for some reason neither they nor mum could figure that out, so after a few days I had to actually open it for them. Hopefully they'll gain some more size soon.


















Ida's babies were 2 weeks old yesterday (yes, litters were very well lined up in May  ). They look so good! ♥
They have actually opened their eyes, they were just too tired for pictures, I guess? Haha


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Gaia's babies were 4 weeks old on Thursday, so here's the last group pictures of them:


























Ida's babies turned 3 weeks also on Thursday:


















I'm so happy with them all ♥


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## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

Last pictures for this thread  Sorry for the slight case of blurriness. Ida's babies are 4 weeks old today:


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