Mother mouse and her babies.?

Question

My mouse had 8 babies. I am keeping 6 (the girls) and taking the other 2 (boys) to the pet store in two weeks when they are 6 weeks old. The babies are four weeks old now and I had one of the females out earlier today in a ball that I bought for them. When I took her out I played with her for about fifteen minutes, and then when I put her back in the cage her mother attacked her. I've got her and a sister (I didn't want her to get lonely. She's not used to being alone) in a small cage for now, but it won't be a suitable home because of the size and I cannot afford a new one. The only damage I can see is that her back foot is torn up. How long will it be before I can reintroduce her (and her sister) back into the cage with the mother? How long will the mother attack her babies whenever I handle them?

Answer 1

If you bring mice to a pet store to sell they sell them as feed for snakes not as pets!! If you want to reintroduce her with her sisters and mother completely clean and disinfect the cage put them in the new fresh cage together all of them keep watch let them do a little tussle but wear gloves and separate them if they get really bad, if they do get into a big fight most likely they will never be able to live with each other again. You should also save some of the old savings and rub the two babies that were separated in it to get the mothers scent over them again. The babies at this age should be fine to take out I don't know why she is being mean.  As for the foot just clean it with soapy water DO NOT EMERGE THE WHOLE MOUSE IN WATER EVER just use a Q-tip stick it in the soapy water and rub it against the wound to clean it.

Honestly it is not uncommon for mice not to get alone after being away for even a little bit of time, your scent gets all over them and that makes moms especially unhappy, make sure to handle the mother a bit before putting her back in. Because the mice are young it is very strange that she would feel threatened but these things happen. Good luck.

Answer 2

The mother actually BIT the daughter?  DAMAGED her foot?  That surprises me.  Good job putting her sister in with her so she wouldn't be alone, that was exactly the right thing to do.  Regardless, the longer you separate them the worse you'll make it, though, and now mom will interrogate both of them when you put them back.

If you're hitting this kind of extreme territorial problem, you need to make sure you handle all the girls and mom at the same time--take them all out, play with them, put them all back.  That way they all smell the same.  

To reintroduce them, put them in some neutral territory together--large if you can, some people use a bathtub (empty with the plug in!)-- and see how they get along.  Keep them there together until they're getting along again, clean the cage so it smells different, put treats and food scattered around the cage so no one can monopolize them and chase the others away, and put all the females back in it together.  Hope for the best.  

Then put the two boys in the separate cage you had the two girls in.  Take the two boys out now--they're weaned now at 28 days old, and if you leave them in there two more weeks the boys will get their mom and possibly several of their sisters pregnant.  Some males are fertile at 5 weeks old.  Don't wait.  They can go to the pet store now, actually, and may have a better chance of being adopted the smaller and cuter they are.