What the??? Odd Mouse Behaviour

[charlotte]

Okay, I have been watching for the last 45 minutes some behaviour from my mother mouse that is somewhat...disturbing.

The litter she had (Jan. 5 so they are 3 weeks, 3 days) has 3 boys in it. Over the last 45 minutes, she has been targeting only the boys and ... well...bluntly....humping them.

What the ??? What gives? Surely this *isn't* normal???

Help? Suggestions??

And...while we're on the subject - how soon should I segregate the 3 boys from the rest of them? Is the weaning done pretty much all at once?

Flabbergasted and confounded,
Charlotte

[Mariah]

theyre old enough to be separated now..... i have never heard of the mother humping her babies... i do know that all 9 of my male mice hump eachother its kind of odd....
r u sure she was actually humping them?

Edit-
forgot to say that im gonna separate my mice later today this'll be interesting since theres only 3 girls out of 10 mice
8 of the mice go to mary on spring vacation so theyre gonna b with me for a while

[DragonTamer]

dominance thing. my females hump each other all the time

[Padfoot]

Besides dominance, the mom could be in heat... Females in heat havethat kinda odd behavior.

[charlotte]

Oh dear. If the mother is in heat - are the 3 boys old enough to productively mate with her? The dominance thing I can totally see - she is very dominant over the entire cage...

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Charlotte

[charlotte]

Well, I've seperated my boys from the rest of the lot. They seem to be doing fine, although I'm too much of a worry-wart. The mother, while it is very obvious she's the Alpha in the bunch, MUST be in heat, because a little while ago while watching them (I love to just sit and watch them) she was doing the exact same thing to a couple of the little girls. It is still just too weird. At any rate, hopefully "nothing" has happened with her, or any of the other girls - I just can't bear to have another set (or more) of babies - it is going to be hard enough giving the ones up that I will be ... !!

Thanks everyone!

Charlotte
(these little guys need to come with an in-depth how to book!)

[Mariah]

Quote: Originally Posted by charlotte Charlotte (these little guys need to come with an in-depth how to book!)

sooooo sooooo true