My pet mice are having too many babies. How do I stop breeding?

As long as Jacky isn't pregnant again, you can keep her with the babies for another week. At four weeks, you can separate them. Be sure to house the male and female babies separately before eight weeks of age, or else they will mate with each other. I hope this helps!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You are correct in planning for the arrival of the pups. I recommend separating the male as soon as you are sure that the female is pregnant, because females can get pregnant again very shortly after giving birth. It is important to keep the pups quiet and calm, to prevent the mother from eating them when stressed. You should also not touch the pups until they are about 14 days old. There are several types of nesting material available in pet stores, or you could use pieces of paperCut up into small strips. The pups should be separated from their mother when they are about 14 to 21 days old. At this point they should be able to eat normal adult mouse food. I hope this helps and I’m happy to answer any additional questions you may have!

They look to be 3-4 weeks old. At about 4 weeks old, all hamster babies should be split from the mother into two cages—one for males and one for females. If you keep them all together they will start to breed as they become sexually mature at only 4-6 weeks of age. It is very bad for them to breed each other as they are related.

Cocoa does look pregnant. Gestation is about 3 weeks. She built her nest where she feels most comfortable and secure. This is no cause for concern. Try not to disturb it and when the pups (baby mice) come, do not disturb the nest for the first two weeks. You'll need to keep Ghost separate, because Cocoa can mate again within days of delivery. The pups will wean around 3-4 weeks and should be separated into male and female groups shortly after. They can breed as early as 6 weeks of age.

I recommend separating the male and female now before the female gives birth to avoid potential cannibalism of the pups by the male. Other than the female having an obviously distended belly, females have a shorter anogenital distance than males and lack a scrotum. For the pregnant female, I would not try to house her with other females until after the pups are weaned at 3 weeks of age (also to prevent cannibalism). When ready, the split cage method is recommended for introducing males or females that are not from the same litter. It involves keeping the 2 males (or 2 females) separated by a divider (plexiglass with holes drilled placed corner to corner dividing the enclosure into 2 triangles works well) and switching the gerbils 4-5 times a day for at least a week to get them accustomed to each other' ascents. After a week remove the divider only when you are able to carefully monitor them for fighting for 5-6 hours or longer. Generally they cannot be safely left alone together until you see them grooming each other and sleeping next to each other. Even then, if you notice any bite marks/wounds on either gerbil, separate immediately and do not attempt to rehouse together. Best of luck!

Hi there, Those babies are very cute. In the future, I would recommend breeding your female rats at 4-5 months of age when they are a bit older and have matured more to better carry the pregnancy. Good planning can also prevent accidental incestuous breeding. Rodents are prolific breeders and everyone makes mistakes. I wouldn't feel too badly, just learn from it and move forward. Here is a link for more information on rodent breeding: https://www.petcoach.co/article/rat-reproduction-mating-gestation-birthing-and-growth/#:~:text=The%20Rat%20Mating%20Process,the%20female%20is%20in%20heat. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach. Have a good afternoon.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is hard to know if she is fat or pregnant. If she has been in with a male in the past month she very well could be pregnant. The other female mouse might eat the babies, so I would separate the mice if she does have babies. Best of luck with your little ones!