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Females are eating the pinkies

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Ok so one of my females had a litter of around 10, it was probably her first and this is in a 10 gallon tank 1.5 ratio. There is another pregnant female that is about to burst. The babies are still pinkies and i've notice that the other mice are eating them. What should i do, can actually watch the other females trying to get to the nest. Will this stop when they becomce fuzzies?

i thought to stop them, and did, but it seems that they only get another pinky, there are 5 left. I was late to feed, this afternoon instead of the morning today.

this totally sucks
 
I think 6 mice makes for a crowded 10 gallon tank, I haven't bred mice for a while but I just set up 1.2 in a 15 gallon. You could try reducing the # of adults or get another male and split them into 2 colonies.
 
deffinattly its crouded in there. I have a cage the size of a 10 gallon and i can max it at 1.3 without mothers killing babies. either buy another tank and another male for those spare females or get a bigger tank...either a 15 long or a 20.
 
what about just removing the pregnant females and putting them in a separate cage for the time to get their babies to hoppers.
all extra females at this point will just be food instead of breeders
 
If you're ever going to intend to reintroduce the birthing females, I would recommend you keep them with the colonies. Separating them even for a few days and reintroducing them can cause loads of social problems within the colony.

Some will eat the babies if they perceive a crowded cage, so try not to keep too many to a cage. Some just eat them because they feel threatened. And some just seem to enjoy the flavour, although this seems to be rare thankfully.

Mice may be cute, but they're ruthless buggers. ;)
 
Well its not the tank all the time. I had once had taken the female out of the normal cage and just put it in a different cage cause i thought that the dad was eating them. TURNED OUT WRONG. She had 14 babies next day i went to fed her and the little ones there was 2 lefted. SHe had eaten 12 of them or just killed them.

Sometimes this is cause by stress. When a female mouse has her babies let them be. Cause if she is bothered than she can go a little nuts.

Hope it helps!
 
Like Misty said. Plus like Misty said "Some will eat the babies if they perceive a crowded cage." this is most often the reason next to mothers just rarely liking the taste of babies.
 
Couldn't it be that it's because she is a first time mom?

I have 2 tanks. One is 1.1..she ate her babies. It's a 10 gal tank.

My other tank is 20 gal, the ratio 1.5. She just ate her babies as well. First time mom's for both.

They aren't stressed as they are in my daughter's room and rarely bothered.

Could it be something they may be lacking in their diet as well?

Kathy
 
Might sound off the wall, but I think I have eatting issues when the temps start to rise as well.. Sucks to be me, because summer has barely started for me and there have been numerous days over 100f already.. Swamp cooler works over time for me at this time of the year.. The winter time, the house is around 60f and our mice seem to produce like crazy ( larger litters etc.. ).. I am at a loss to why my mice would eat the pinkies during the heat of the year more often than the cold, other than it might just be physical stress..

If you find it is the heat Kathy, you might be better off with your colony in the basement. :shrugs:

Regards Tim of T and J
 
Heat, lack of sun, lack of protien. these are some reasons that mice eat babies. Don't worry tim i have the same thing so far.
 
Well in my case I have boiled it down to new mom's. One has had her second litter and she's doing fantastic. Such a fuss pot she is this time. I had another first time mom give birth at the same time, though a seperate colony. Fortunately she knew what to do. Now hopefully all the other mama's can learn from this 'Dula" (sp).

I offer protein peanuts and alternate with bits of dogfood, on top of their regular mouse food. My daughter's room doesn't get too hot with her blinds down, so I doubt it's that.

I assume if they don't eat them within the first 4-5 days, that they won't eat them. Is that right?

Kathy
 
First time mom's sometimes also over clean their babies. And that can result in the loss of the babies. I usually don't plan on the first litter being around. And then there are some spinster mice who won't breed, don't have babies and eat everyone elses. :) I have the most beautiful batch of spotted babies and the babies from the previous litter are already getting pregnant. :) Both of the new moms lost their litters or at least most of the litter on the one. But I'm sure the next litters will be nice.
 
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