Pygmy Mice Breeding & Babies
First let me say that breeding is a big responsibility. One Mouse pair could easily produce 150 pups in their lifetime, if not more. You need
to make sure your area has a good market for Pygmy Mice so that you can find homes for all of them BEFORE making the decision to breed. If you
think there is money to be made in breeding you're wrong. The cost of housing, food and bedding is much more then what any pet store will give you
for pups, if they give you anything. Private sales are few and far between but still do not meet the costs of raising a litter.
Please read To Breed or Not to Breed first, then visit the Rescue pages before
deciding to breed.
There are certain animals that should not be bred. Any blood lines having health issues (neurological, deformities, personality problems)
should be removed from any breeding program. At this time there are no mutations to the wild color. I read on a single website that they had heard
of an albino but they couldn't verify it.
The best breeding environment is a pair or a colony setup where there is only one male. I've found more then one mature male in a breeding
environment leads to dominance fighting, maiming and death. Above 
is a picture of a breeding trio: 1 male (smaller) and 2 females. The video to the right 
is a pair of mice breeding while another male waits his turn.
Pygmies become sexually mature as early as 4 weeks of age. The female comes into heat every 4-6 days for 24 hours.
The gestation (length of pregnancy) is around 20-21 days, most give birth in the night. During the last week of the pregnancy, the female will
develop a "pear" shape to her body (see next picture of male and very pregnant female). If you can see pups moving in the female's
stomach the birth is only days away.
The female will go into heat as soon as she gives birth. She will settle the pups in the nest and then she'll breed with the male.
There needs to be a steady supply of food while the pups are being raised. Extra protein needs to be added for pregnant and nursing females or
they will cannibalize their young. This can be in the form of high quality kitten or puppy food, meal worms or sunflower seeds. It's very
important to use non-chlorinated water as nursing mother's that drink chlorinated water will lose pups. Separate living spaces should also be
provided for each Mouse, male and female, to reduce the risk of fighting. Usually the mom's will share a nursery. It's not advised to do a
complete bedding change while there are nursing pups as this stresses the mother and there may be a loss of pups.
So your Mice have had their first litter! Congratulations! You can expect anything from 2-8 pups in a litter, with 3-4 being the average.
They're born blind, deaf and hairless and totally dependent on their mothers. This is a picture of babies next to a dime (actual size). Picture
courtesy of TCF Exotics.
Around 7 days their eyes will open. At 3 weeks the pups should be weaned from the mom. At 4 weeks the pups need to be separated by sex into
their own tanks until you can find homes for them. Females have a very small space between their genitals where the space on males is bigger and
their 'equipment' should be obvious. This is a mom nursing 7 day old pups. Pictured below 
are 2 females, one very pregnant and one not.
This page was last edited on
October 12, 2011
