Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Taking a little break from my 'Flower and Blossom' series......
First time mouse moms do not always know what is happening and by the time Tess realized that these were not particularly yummy meal worms, only one was left :( Her nurturing instincts have finally kicked in and she is being an excellent, if still slightly clumsy, mom. Tess is such a wonderful mouse, I really want this baby. Hopefully in the confusion he/she was not hurt and will thrive from now on.
A bit of a rocky start to my mouse breeding venture though :P
Background Info:
A few months ago I bought three little boys: Bruno, Milo and little Francis. Sadly it became clear that there were a lot of things wrong with Francis, starting with a deformed rear end that would make neutering impossible. In the few months that he was with me, his quality of life became increasingly poor and I had to make the tough decision to have his life ended, there just was no point going on.
I decided to make his last few days as wonderful as possible and since he was so desperate to get to the other mice, I put him in with a few of the females. I did not think anything would happen, the girls did not seem very keen on him, plus he was obsessively running in circles (one of his many health issues).
But did he ever prove me wrong, for the first time ever baby mice have been born at CreekValleyCritters :)
I had been reluctant to breed my mice because mice have WAY too many babies. You cannot keep them all and finding good homes for them is almost impossible, especially for the little boys.
People who breed mice almost always have to put down some of the babies. It just costs too much in time and money to keep them all, especially the little boys who need either to be neutered or each housed separately in their own cage. This is why I have always rescued my mice and not bred them.
I was not sure about posting videos of my first venture into mouse breeding because of this, but this experience is proving just so amazing, I have decided that I just have to share it, both the good and the bad. So brace yourself for the most amazing story, with all its beauty, cuteness, but also some inevitable sadness.
Taking a little break from my 'Flower and Blossom' series......
First time mouse moms do not always know what is happening and by the time Tess realized that these were not particularly yummy meal worms, only one was left :( Her nurturing instincts have finally kicked in and she is being an excellent, if still slightly clumsy, mom. Tess is such a wonderful mouse, I really want this baby. Hopefully in the confusion he/she was not hurt and will thrive from now on.
A bit of a rocky start to my mouse breeding venture though :P
Background Info:
A few months ago I bought three little boys: Bruno, Milo and little Francis. Sadly it became clear that there were a lot of things wrong with Francis, starting with a deformed rear end that would make neutering impossible. In the few months that he was with me, his quality of life became increasingly poor and I had to make the tough decision to have his life ended, there just was no point going on.
I decided to make his last few days as wonderful as possible and since he was so desperate to get to the other mice, I put him in with a few of the females. I did not think anything would happen, the girls did not seem very keen on him, plus he was obsessively running in circles (one of his many health issues).
But did he ever prove me wrong, for the first time ever baby mice have been born at CreekValleyCritters :)
I had been reluctant to breed my mice because mice have WAY too many babies. You cannot keep them all and finding good homes for them is almost impossible, especially for the little boys.
People who breed mice almost always have to put down some of the babies. It just costs too much in time and money to keep them all, especially the little boys who need either to be neutered or each housed separately in their own cage. This is why I have always rescued my mice and not bred them.
I was not sure about posting videos of my first venture into mouse breeding because of this, but this experience is proving just so amazing, I have decided that I just have to share it, both the good and the bad. So brace yourself for the most amazing story, with all its beauty, cuteness, but also some inevitable sadness.
