First Time Mother?
If you are experiencing mouse pregnancy and birth for the first time, I’m glad you’ve chosen to learn as much as you can through pages like this one. Although it is true that a mouse (and other animals) need no physical help to give birth or nurse their young, there is a lot to learn about how you can help to make it easier (or stop making it more difficult!).
Foster siblings with new litter
Hopefully your mouse has been bred (or will be bred) on purpose and in good conditions and circumstances. For those of you who have purchased a pregnant mouse (*naughty pet shop*) or have a mouse who has accidentally become pregnant, you really should read up as much as you can about mice and their offspring to make sure that everything goes smoothly and according to plan. Mice do not need help during birth and should not be disturbed at this time, but there are things you can do to help.
During the female’s pregnancy she should be fed a fattier mix of foods than normal, which can include scrambled egg, eggflake, sunflower seeds, millet, nuts etc. as well as the normal ingredients. This will help her to feed her babies both before and after birth. The fattier mix should continue to be given until after the babies are weaned, and then to the babies when they start to eat solid food.
Mum (Cadbury) being mobbed by some of her 13 three-week-old pups for milk
You should also provide the mother with plenty of nesting material, which she will then use to build herself and her babies a nest. If you know when the doe is going to give birth, you should give the cage a thorough clean a couple of days before she is due, since you should leave her in peace for a while after the birth without upsetting her nest or cleaning the cage. Make sure that there is plenty of food and water available at all times within easy reach and remove any toys that could cause injury or miscarriage through over-exertion.
You should also make sure that the environment will be safe for the babies when they are born: that they will not be able to hurt themselves, get stuck anywhere or escape. Make sure the cage is in a warm (but not too warm) room out of direct sunlight and heat. If your mother has a companion (female only) already in with her, you can leave them together as the other female will help to look after the babies and act as a nanny. You should, however, remove the male to avoid a second litter. This is because the female can be impregnated again almost immediately after giving birth on her post-partum oestrus which would put strain on mum and both litters and is not recommended.
Litter of very young pinkies
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