Pregnant Mice

The gestation period of a mouse is about three weeks. However, most often she is not visibly pregnant until the last week or so. The personality of a female mouse may dramatically change throughout the pregnancy. A normally calm mouse may become skittish, and a hostile mouse may suddenly become tolerant of handling. However good or bad these changes in personality may be, they are only temporary.

It is important to provide pregnant mice with a few extra amenities. Throughout the pregnancy many of the nutrients she consumes will go straight to her babies. You should feed her with a higher fat diet with more sunflower seeds, peanuts, and millet. You should also provide her with plenty of nesting materials. Paper towels, pieces of fabric, cardboard, and special materials bought from a pet store will all suffice. She will chew everything into small pieces, making sure it creates a suitable bed for her young.

During the last week of pregnancy, a female mouse’s lower abdomen will begin to swell. Depending on how many babies she is carrying, a female mouse can grow amazingly large during the last couple of days during her pregnancy.

Female mice usually give birth between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am. Privacy is extremely important, so make sure she is not disturbed.

As a word of warning, It is very common for a mother mouse to eat some or all of her first litter. First time mothers are sometimes confused and overwhelmed, feeling they are unable to take on the responsibility. Mothers will also eat the pups if they are disturbed soon after they give birth, don’t have enough food, or feel threatened in any sort of way. In such a situation, a mouse will instinctively eat some or all the babies so she can regain the vital nutrients she has lost. Reducing the number of pups in a litter can increase the chance of survival for the remaining young. One must understand that this is an act of nature, and the mice are just responding to their instincts. It is possible to remove babies from a confused or threatened mother and introduce them to another lactating mouse. You can read more about this on the Orphan Mice page.

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