Auskan
01-14-04, 01:57 PM
In the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday) morning, one of my female mice had her first litter. She had 8 and was apparently so overwhelmed by the whole thing that she started killing them. By the time I woke up, 5 were dead, so I removed the last 3. I fed one to one of my cornsnakes. The other two I put in with my non-eater (corn) to try and tempt him to eat. One died shortly, but the second kept kicking. The non-eater was not tempted, so after a couple of hours I put it in with another juvi corn that was due to eat & has never refused. Well, I guess maybe he's going into a shed cycle or something, because he wasn't interested either. I checked on it several times during the day and it was still alive each time (the warmth of the snake cage was obviously also warm enough for a pinky). By the time I got home from work, I was starting to feel a modicum of respect for this little mite that had survived rejection from its mother and 2 snakes, and gone more than 12 hours without food but was still refusing to die. I separated its mother from her mate and the other pregnant female, and put her and the pinky together and she examined it very carefully, then let it nurse! By this morning it was not only alive, but thriving, and I guess if that continues, since it now has sole access to her milk, will grow pretty fast. I figure it must be a female (I haven't looked yet) to have survived such odds, and I'm kind of hoping it is as I figure it deserves a chance at life (if it is female, I can keep it without too much hassle).