Dear all:
Thanks to my son's newfound interest in the library in his first grade class, I was able to correct a
bit of misinformation I was told from our local pet store about the proper weaning age. I caved in
to his desire to have a pet in our small Manahattan apartment and figured we had graduated from
the fish and ant farm and were ready to move on to a mammal. Having been formula fed and lived
around many an odd pet as a child, I now am quite dismayed by the fact that I am most allergic to
my favorite - cats. I like dogs when you have a backyard, but since we don't and I'm lazy -
walking a dog is beyond my capacity. So, I settled on the smallest mammal I could find and
bought two guaranteed female mice. Yes, they both are females. What the pet store did not tell
me was that the probability of one being pregnant at the tender age of 3 months is about 30%.
So, not surprisingly, within 6 days of their purchase, one of the mice had 8 pups, 1 a stillbirth.
I have discovered that the guy in Petco store shows all the signs of an Ezzo-trainer when it comes
to pets. He said that mice are solitary and I didn't need to buy two. My son's book on mice
fortunately corrected that bit of misinformation - they are social and prefer living with others.
Then, concerned about a population explosion in our newly purchased cage, I asked about nursing
duration and when they are capable of reproducing. He suggested weaning at a week and a half.
I've been looking at these small helpless pink sausages that have no discernable eyes, just now
after four days have finally had their ears emerge as shreklike blobs popping out of their heads,
and can barely wiggle around and wondering how is this possible? Again, my son's book provided
better info. While they can start solids at 17 days, they really shouldn't be weaned before 1 month
of age. At 17 days, their eyes have just opened. He also said to separate the two mice and I've
been watching the two of them together. I swear that the mouse that did not give birth is nursing
them as well! She arches up her back creating a cave underneath, just like the post-partum
mouse. At the very least she is giving them a good washing. So, I read my son's book which says
that typically other mice take care of the washing and grooming of the babies while the mother
nurses and the pups seem to be attaching - not as long as the real mom, but certainly they are
getting some warm cuddle time if not so much milk. For fertility, the Petco guy erred on the
other side of the equations saying three months, when my son's book says 2 months. So,
fortunately, the pet store will take the babies back before they are capable of reproducing and
hopefully most of them won't end up as snake food.
I have to admit, I see a lot of similarities in how the wiggle around, looking relatively helpless, but
still manage to find their way to the teat, in how human infants manage to wiggle their way to
latching onto the breast.
My almost 7 year old is loving this - doing lots of online research with one of his afterschool
teachers about mice and their care.
My dad confessed 37 years after the fact, that our adventures in other rodents and their rapid
reproduction ended up in the 27 baby bunnies that came from our original 3 bunnies actually did
end up being eaten by the person he gave them to!
Any IBCLCs who were vets or have experience in pet mice who provide more info than my son's
brief research and the misinformation at Petco - I'm all ears!
Best, Susan Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC
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