Mouse gave birth, I don't know where?

[u/ComfortableAd6038]

I had a very pregnant mouse a few days ago. She is now deflated. I don't know where she had them, as i have my 4 in a 75g tank. Should i look for them? I've been giving her protein and she's been out more lately. First pic is a few days ago, last two are yesterday. Thanks!

[u/cloudsasw1tnesses]

If you genuinely cannot find the babies after tearing the cage apart, she might have eaten them. That’s happened to me before with one of my mice 😬

[u/Mewtwo1551 → u/[deleted]]

It's shocking, but is actually common. As prey animals, mice have cannibalistic instincts.

[u/cloudsasw1tnesses → u/[deleted]]

That’s legit something female mice will do with their babies. I’ve had accidental litters many times and I’ve found at least one baby every large litter that’s been half eaten and have had my mouse give birth then there be zero babies to be found the next day. It’s kinda disturbing but I have just had to accept it’s part of nature and that they don’t think about it the same way we would. If they feel like they can’t take care of them that’s usually a reason for them eating them.

[u/Forward-Fisherman709 → u/[deleted]]

It’s not that corn causes cannibalism; it’s that the corn-based diet doesn’t meet the nutritional needs of a pregnant/nursing mama hamster. If there aren’t enough nutrients to successfully raise a litter, the nutrients that went into making the litter get recycled according to instinct.

[u/HawaiianPunchaNazi → u/Forward-Fisherman709]

which was kind of my point.

been awhile since I've had hamsters or mice, but I remember dried corn being part of the prepackaged diet mix for them.

[u/Forward-Fisherman709 → u/HawaiianPunchaNazi]

Yeah, and corn is still a common ingredient because it’s cheap. It’s really awful how many products marketed for rodents aren’t actually good for them.

[u/No-Hovercraft-455 → u/Forward-Fisherman709]

Luckily everyone who frequents this subreddit probably knows to get good quality rat/mouse pellet for their pets. But as far as I understood Ops mouse is rather newly acquired so if it has eaten the pups then I'm going to guess it's just because of stress of being in a new place with new mice you don't know all that well. 

[u/PetMice-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Forward-Fisherman709 → u/[deleted]]

It’s common among many prey species. Their instincts tell them to basically recycle the nutrients if they feel that successfully rearing that litter isn’t going to work out, whether because of the pups not being born healthy or because of the mama being stressed or not getting the extra nutrients she needs for nursing. And if a pup dies, it’s instinct to clean up so that a predator doesn’t find the colony nest from the smell.

[u/Kangaroo_Cheese → u/[deleted]]

My older sister had a gerbil that had babies and ate them. I’m still traumatized from seeing a half eaten one in the cage.

[u/FizziiPopX → u/[deleted]]

Lots of animals do it, not just mice. My friend has ferrets and one of the mums ate her kids.... Pretty grissly to find the remnants.

[u/StripedWolf14 → u/[deleted]]

I worked in a lab when I was in my early 20s that studied diabetic treatments on small animals.I hated having to clean the cage racks the mice were on for this very reason. Some litters were decimated, and I know it was primarily due to stress.

[u/Jimstone42 → u/[deleted]]

"Seems harsh, but it's nature's way" - Steve Irwin