Your Reptile and Amphibian Resource and Information Site

Back to Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum

Jynxer50   Greatballzofire   EvilTrailMix   Greatballzofire   EvilTrailMix   Jynxer50   EvilTrailMix   Greatballzofire  
 Member  Message

 #2015993


Jynxer50
View Profile

 Surpise litter

Well I went down to the basement to move Bee into her mom tank, but I noticed she had already had her babies. Her and her mate are doing a good job. I was surprised because I don’t count days to move her into her own tank, I just go by her visual appearance, and she wasn’t very big at all. But she had a healthy 8 or 9 of the little things! Just thought I’d share.

Jake
06/03/09  09:40pm

 #2016162


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Jynxer50   In reference to Message Id: 2015993


 Surpise litter

That’s a pleasant discovery.
I had a weird thing happen with a pair of seasoned sisters recently. They had produced several big litters so I transferred their mate to another tub so as to prevent further pregnancies, and give the ladies a rest. They had the two litters they had been pregnant with before the male’s removal, but then a few weeks later one had another litter!
06/04/09  08:09am

 #2016344


EvilTrailMix
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2016162


 Surpise litter

Nice, Jynxer!

Not to hack your post... but, Greatballzofire, it’s funny you should mention that. My girls were separated from their mate several days before they had their babies, but now they both look like they are pregnant again, one especially. I’m worried that maybe they didn’t have all of their babies and now they’re going to die from retained ones? It’s been 12 days since the first mama had hers, and 9 since the other did.

??
06/04/09  02:50pm

 #2016518


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: EvilTrailMix   In reference to Message Id: 2016344


 Surpise litter

Sorry to highjack Jynxer50’s thread!
But this business of having babies without a male is very odd. I am thinking it is not retained fetuses but is stored sperm. If the mamas had retained babies old enough to have been born, they would look sick. The sister who had babies without being bred again had 12 healthy babies, and is herself fine.
06/04/09  08:25pm

 #2016537


EvilTrailMix
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2016518


 Surpise litter

That’s just crazy, though. I didn’t think that was possible in mammals? I know tarantulas and spiders can do it, but mice? Crazy stuff. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

And once again, sorry Jynx! Congrats on your babies, and good luck with them!
06/04/09  09:00pm

 #2016546


Jynxer50
View Profile



   Message To: EvilTrailMix   In reference to Message Id: 2016537


 Surpise litter

Haha it’s fine. Interesting about the retained sperm. That hasn’t happened to me yet but I have read about it in snakes. That’s cool that it can happen in mammals too!

Jake
06/04/09  09:14pm

 #2016604


EvilTrailMix
View Profile



   Message To: Jynxer50   In reference to Message Id: 2016546


 Surpise litter

I did some looking, and this is the best article I could come up with:

Link

Mice aren’t mentioned directly, but mammals and rodents are. It still doesn’t explain an apparently unfertilized litter right after another one, as this is talking about delaying litters. Still, it’s pretty amazing. Nature, huh?
06/04/09  11:01pm

 #2016959


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: EvilTrailMix   In reference to Message Id: 2016604


 Surpise litter

I should have kept all the babies from the mystery litter instead of feeding them out to my snakes. If they were all female they would have been produced by parthenogenesis. Scientists have created fatherless mice in the lab, but I doubt this could just spontaneously occur in my mouse barn. Fertilized ovum retained until a later date seems more likely.
06/05/09  07:54pm


Back to Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area