wheel or no wheel?

[Mousey]

I know that people aren't suppose to leave the wheel in a cage that is housing a mouse with a supprise pregnancy. But I brought a young mouse out of pity at a petshop she turned out to be a suprise pregnant mouse. She gained alot of weight plus she was acting strange I took her out of the community cage because she was beating the other girls up real bad. I put ton's of tubes bedding, balls with hemp string nesting material, food and water. Then a day later she started to jump ontop of all of her toys to the water bottle then to the top of the cage where she hit her head and fell. So then I gave her a bowl of water. That didn't work. I decided to give her a wheel to see if it stopped her from jumping and hurting herself. Well it worked but now I am afraid she'll wind up hurting her babies. So I leave the wheel in before I got to sleep and take it out when I wake up for minium amount of running time. She does well but she does seem to run alot though. So what do ya'll think? Wheel or no wheel?

[Sharni]

I leave everything in with my girls...wheels included

[storminstaffs]

i normally take my wheel out for the first 2 weeks when the babies are born then put it back in

[APoetCalledAnya]

When I had mice and my girls were pregnant I had a wheel in their cage. They didn't use it much and soon got bored with it and didn't use it at all. So I took it out to make more room for tunnels.
I think she will be fine with the wheel. She wouldn't purposely do something to hurt her unborn babies. Also, her running all the time is a lot better for her and her babies than her climbing and falling. Mice for some reason just need to be active. If she doesn't have a wheel she will find another way to keep busy, and falling/hitting her head is not good. (That's how my hamster died. She got sick of running in her wheel and took to climbing her water bottle. She fell one day when I was not home and I found her dead. She wasn't curled up, she was all stretched out so I assume she broke her neck.

[Vanilla_Rat]

When I bred mice,I would leave the wheels in the cages with the mothers.They were fine.

Don't worry.The only way I would take the wheel out is if she became really addicted and neglected her babies in order to run on the wheel.So as long as she is still nursing and looking after her babies,the wheel is fine.

[uMgaziRatRescue]

I use to do the same as pretty much everyone has said here. I leave the wheel in till she has her babies then I put it back in once they are weaned or else have their eyes open. Wheels are good for mommies just like with human moms, Walking around it always good. I have never been preg. Before lol (only 18 ) but that’s what I learned from my old vet before I moved.

[Vanilla_Rat]

Quote: Originally Posted by uMgaziRatRescue Wheels are good for mommies just like with human moms, Walking around it always good. I have never been preg. Before lol (only 18 )

I have been pregnant before and man,walking was sometimes a task! I would become short of breath quickly and tired real easily...but the doctor told me to keep walking and make sure I was getting excercise.So excercise is a good thing for pregnant animals too!!