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Giving
Birth |
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So, your mouse resembles a
fuzzy tennis ball with legs, and she's going to give birth any day! What can
you expect? Well the first thing you
can NOT expect, is to see the birth. Usually a mouse will create a secretive
little nest and from within the confines of the nest the mouse will have the
babies. All you will know is that she is due soon, then you will see her,
looking slender, and hear little tiny squeaks coming from the nest. What happened in that nest
that you aren't seeing is detailed here: |
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When the time comes the
mouse will want to clean her genitals, in fact she'll have an irresistible
urge to pay a lot of attention to that part of herself. She will look almost
ridiculous in her spinning attempts to reach a part of herself that seems
inaccessible due to the bulk of babies she is carrying. |
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During one of her many turns and attempts to reach
herself, her back will arch and she'll push with her hind legs against the
floor of the nest, pushing out the first baby! |
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She will immediately set
to work to disconnect the umbilical cord and clean all the birthing fluids
off the baby. This is the step that is often the source of mistakes for a
first time mother, whose instinct is to eat the after birth and clean the
baby. She might eat the baby still thinking she's in the "eat the
afterbirth" stage. |
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After the baby has been thoroughly cleaned off, the
mother mouse will pass the afterbirth, a small pea-sized lump of reddish
material. She will eat this. This may sound fairly disgusting, but this small
packet she is eating has nourished the baby through her pregnancy, and is now
giving her needed nourishments and hormones to stimulate the production of
milk. |
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Once she has consumed the
afterbirth, and her baby is all cleaned up, she will start to get restless
again. She might stop to clean her face, but eventually the circling and
pushing behaviour will commence again. She might lavish a lot of attention on
her first born pup until finally she gives birth to the second. From this point
on she will follow the steps of the first baby. Clean the baby off, eat the
afterbirth, lavish attention on the pups, take a break, prepare for the next
baby. |
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Occasionally one baby will be born that is white,
completely unlike the previous babies that have been born. This is a
stillbirth. Among mice they do happen. It is sad, but it is a fact of life in
the mouse universe. The mother will most likely consume this stillborn baby.
If she does, she might focus her attention on the head and the insides of the
baby, leaving an empty shell. This again sounds just as gross and disgusting
as the consuming of the afterbirth. What must be kept firmly in mind is that
she has poured three weeks of her life and nutrients into the creation of
this baby. This was for the purpose of having a live baby. If the baby isn't
alive, then she needs to reclaim those nutrients so that she can better serve
those pups that are alive. Nature asks that the mouse recycle its resources. |
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Eventually she will finish
the process of giving birth. She will settle down with all of the babies
nursing and getting their first meal. You will know that they have eaten when
you see little white "milk tummies". This is a great sign, and shows
that everything is going according to plan. 
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