How do I tell if My Mouse is Pregnant?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Supposedly Brown Mouse and Grey Mouse are boys. They live together in reasonable harmony. Brown Mouse has always been a rotund sort of a fellow but lately he’s expanded in the gut region. He looks pregnant. They were sold to us as male.

I’m not pleased. I do not want a gravid female in my life. Any ideas on how to tell? Should I segregate them? Will Grey Mouse eat the offspring? Should I care or would it just simplify my life if I allowed it to happen? Would it devastate my son beyond belief?

2

i had a hamster that ate one of its offspring. but i also had a male hamster, and you could see that one’s testicles when he wasn’t facing you, so there must be some differences between mice and hamsters.

3
  1. Excessive mood swings.
  2. It has strange cravings for ice cream and pickles.
  3. It redecorates the cage walls in floral patterns.
    [sup]or…Was that how to tell if your mouse was gay… I forget now…[/sup] :smiley:

Sorry - I can’t help you with your question- but I hope you got a smile.

4

yeah we’re fairly clear on the differences between the hamster and the mice ;). Unless Starsaver crept upstairs and impregnated the mice? Hmmm bit of a size differential there.

I can’t see any little mousie balls on either of the little micies.

No redecoration so far… they shoved their tubes around but they do that anyway…

5

[obscure Amiga reference]
If it came with an Amiga 3000, it’s a pregnant mouse
[/obscure Amiga reference]

6

It wasn’t me!!! I swear it! I was wearing a condom!

7

If they’re getting along, chances are at least one is female - males will tear each other to bits.
Males have big ol dangly balls, but they can be retracted into the body when scared. Females have 2 rows of nipples on their bellies. If you got it within the past 3 weeks and it was housed with males, it is most likely pregnant.

There’s really no way to tell that they’re pregnant other then their belly swelling up. They become pear shaped and eventually look like they have swallowed a golf ball. She may start building a nest, too, but by that time she’ll probably be so big you’ll know anyway. It only takes 21 days so you’ll know soon enough.

http://www.horns.freeserve.co.uk/mouse.htm - really good care guide with a section on raising babies.

Also, I hope you’re keeping them on a bedding other than cedar or pine (causes resp. infections, liver disease, allergic reactions, and cancer) and feeding them “lab blocks” instead of seed mix (they pick out the fatty stuff in the seed mixes and don’t get a balanced diet).

If you have any other rodent related questions and nobody here knows too much, you can email or IM me and I’ll help (I don’t come here a lot).

good luck