After my pet had a long, drawn-out battle with cancer, I realized that I needed to do a better job with understanding my pet's needs. I wanted to be there for them no matter what, so I started focusing on my other animals. They needed more love, attention, and medical care, so I focused on those things. I started taking them in for regular checkups and working on their physical appearance. I was able to spot a few other potentially catastrophic health conditions with my animals because of my actions. This blog is all about understanding your pet's needs.
Understanding Your Pet's Needs
3 Reasons Why You May Need To Cull Your Pet Mice
Gisele Pereira
Are you about to breed your mice? Before you take that step, you might want to think about the possibility of culling. Culling occurs when a mother mouse has too many baby mice. In the wild, a mouse will have a multitude of offspring because few will survive. Domesticated mice still have these large litters, which often leads to a situation in which a pet owner needs to take some of the smaller baby mice to a small animal clinic to be euthanized. Here are a few of the reasons why this has to be done.
1. If You Don't Do It, She Will
Most mice when confronted with too many babies will simply begin eating them all. Some of them will just push them out of the nest or start ignoring them and refuse to feed them. The reason most breeders cull is because it is going to happen anyway -- and euthanasia is the most humane option. Mice are very sensitive and will eat their young any time they are stressed. Sometimes they will do it even if they aren't stressed.
2. The Mother May Become Fatigued
Even mother mice who don't eat their young will end up in a bad situation. A mother mouse only has so many nipples on which to feed her young. If she has more young than nipples, she will separate them into two or three groups and run between the groups to feed them all. This hectic schedule isn't good for the mice -- who may grow up small and sickly -- or the mother. In fact, the mother could potentially fall sick or die because she won't have time to eat or sleep.
3. Only So Much Milk Can Be Produced
Even if a mother mouse manages to navigate her scheduling conflicts and feed all of her babies, she can only produce a certain amount of milk. The more mouths she has to feed, the less milk each individual mouse will get. Thus, all of the mice will be weaker when there are more of them competing for food.
No breeder enjoys the process of culling, but it's important for you to know about it if you intend to breed your mice because not culling could cause significant issues for both the baby mice and their mother. If you want to know more about this process, you can consult with your veterinarian -- though only one who specializes in small animals and small animal surgery may be able to go into detail.
Share