The day Pat left for Hawaii I told the girls we could go to the pet store and bring a third mouse home.
Maile got a white mouse for her birthday that she very appropriately named “white eye” and Laina got a black mouse a week later to keep White Eye company and after naming him “Apple” was soon convinced to change it to “Black Eye”.
The girls had REALLY been wanting to add a brown mouse that they could name “brown eye” into the mix and I aim to please so that’s just what we did. I made sure to purchase another female because I’ve been warned by some of you mouse lovers that a male and female together could be disastrous as mice would eventually take over our home.
I don’t know what I was thinking with this third mouse.
That I could just go pick up a baby mouse and throw it in a cage with two other mice and they’d all be best friends? Yes. Why yes that’s exactly what I thought. I thought Black Eye and White Eye would be thanking me for mixing things up a bit and adding a new family member to their tribe.
Well that’s not what happened.
Black Eye was plenty pleased with the new addition, but White Eye was on the attack. I performed my own research and Discovery Channel experiment by cleaning out the cage in an attempt to wipe all scents that Black Eye and White Eye might have been accustomed to.
I read that if you dab Vanilla on each of them they will start to identify each other with the new smell and may be more likely to accept their new friend. At first it seemed to work, but when White Eye started bullying baby Brown Eye I had no choice, but to separate them within the cage. I took turns rotating them so that they would get used to the others scent and eventually learn to love one another.
And it worked! Two days later they were besties, all three mice snuggled together and I deemed myself Mouse Whisperer of the year. Everyone was happy.
Fast forward nine days to this past Wednesday.
The cage reeked and I could no longer put off the task of cleaning it (a fairly simple job). The kids love watching this process so with a crowd of daycare children planted around me I began the task of cleaning the mouse cage.
The first thing I did was grab the cute little strawberry house the mice like to sleep in and started shaking out the shavings and tissue paper that had been wadded inside. Heavier than usual, I shook with a little more vigor to rattle out whatever bits of cardboard they might have packed into that thing.
And then I started screaming. And jumping. And running. And screaming. And jumping again. And swatting imaginary parasites from my arms and legs and pulling my hair and screaming and jumping and crying.
And the daycare kids stood. And stared. Awe struck. What had happened to Miss Kathy?
I’ll tell you what happened to Miss Kathy…you know in case you can’t read between the lines. When Miss Kathy went to dump the shavings out of the strawberry house, Miss Kathy very unexpectedly flopped out 9 naked squirmy tiny gooey parasites. And Miss Kathy freaked the freak out.
Only they weren’t parasites at all. They were BABY MICE!
Ew is RIGHT! Just imagine how *I* felt!
So after my screaming charade I wiped my tears, composed myself, smiled politely at the children, pointed to the cage and said, “there are babies in that cage children…let’s take a peek.”
White Eye had already gotten to work pulling her little babies back into a pile and covering them up with wood chips. Amazing to see the motherly instinct take over even in creatures as simple mice. I scooped the mice into a holding area with a giant spoon while I finished scrubbing the cage , I scooped them all back into their strawberry home, and then I called the pet store to inform them that at least one of the three female mice they gave us was not female.
They said they would take the male back, but I could NOT figure out which one of the mice had planted the seed.
That said, I’ve always been concerned about Black Eye’s butt. It’s huge compared to the other mice and on several occasions I have wondered aloud, why it is that Black Eye has such huge balls. I’m sorry. It’s vulgar, but it’s true.
I brought both Black Eye and Brown Eye in to the pet store for examination and the two workers their determined that Brown Eye was the baby daddy. Neither of the mice had the distinct “dropped” privates like a male mouse has and it was true…suddenly Black Eye’s balls that I THOUGHT she had were nowhere to be found.
They decided the male was Brown Eye because Black Eye and White Eye have coexisted for three months without having babies…and with that Brown Eye was tossed back into a tank filled with his male buddies and I headed home with Black Eye and a warning that she too might be pregnant.
Only when I got home I SWEAR Black Eye had balls again. I showed Pat…I observed with my assistant…I took pictures.
Pat thought maybe she was going into labor and that’s why her anus seemed to be falling out of her insides…but I got to thinking…because I’m super bright…
If Brown Eye was the dad…..how was it possible for him to mate with White Eye (who did not like him those first few days), get her pregnant, AND have the babies born all within a span of 11 days??
Newsflash boys and girls…that’s actually NOT possible. Which can only mean that Black Eye’s giant anus is not a sign of oncoming labor, it’s her with balls…because she is not a she, she’s a HE!
And as it turns out, after giving birth to a litter of mice, White Eye can become fertile and get pregnant again within TEN HOURS!
Which as it turns out means we are totally and utterly screwed.
And which also means that poor Brown Eye is being gang raped by a colony of male mice as we speak.
Know what else I learned during my crash course in Mousey biology via the internet? That you should NEVER EVER EVER disturb brand new baby mice and their mother. If you stress the mother out by being loud, exposing her babies, moving them, and continuously changing the lighting…you may soon be dealing with a litter of half eaten mice.
WHAT!!?! I know it’s gross, I’m just relaying the facts here.
So the whole shaking the babies from the strawberry house and screaming and jumping and slapping thing…and then the whole “LOOK IN THAT CAGE!!!” yelling thing with the kids screaming and jumping and slapping too, and then the keeping of the mice out all day so that we could all observe them????
Yeaaaaah…that was all very bad.
As far as I know the babies are all alive and well. They are hidden in their strawberry house and I can sometimes catch a glimpse or hear a squeak, but I have yet to find a dead mouse in that cage. Thank goodness.
{ 148 comments… read them below or add one }
I brought home two white mice from my highschool science class. They had babies and got out of their cage. Needless to say my parents were not happy. Neither was my girlfriend who slept over and woke up screaming with a mouse in her hair.
Oh my goodness, this is just so funny and terrible at the same time! It’s so hilarious the way you reacted, you must really have freaked that mouse out. I think you’re right about those balls though – those people at the petshop have no idea! This just confirms my idea that pets are a bad idea, I’m going to allow one cat only!
Jade
This is hilarious! I think I would have screamed too, they’re babies yes but wow they look gross.
Umm so perhaps I should have told you I used to raise domesticated mice MUCH MUCH sooner. IF they got along THAT famously at teh beginning I could have told you that one was a male. 2 males will not live together that happily, period. Well not without one becoming the biotch of the more dominant male mouse and ending up being a representative for Rogaine for mice.When I ceased being a mouse breeder we went to the pet store with almost 300 mice counting pinkies ( that is what the babies are called). Oh yeah you could have looked at the pinkies you had and known which one was daddy. The black fur gave it away on the 2 of them lol.
I’m not sure how wise it is to call a pet “brown eye” … I’m just sayin’.
–>This post Freaked Me Out. I hate rodents – - them having babies, etc. No Way! Bless your heart though!
Oh you poor thing. Better you than me. I refuse to have any sort of pet like that. Just because of all the things that can go wrong.
What a fun day at day care! I bet all the kids love you-you’re so funny! I never liked mice; maybe that’s why I liked snakes, because they eat those critters. What an interesting mice post–I learned quite a bit here. Thanks for the laugh and the biology lesson!
Wow. Just, wow. I cracked up at the pictures, girl. But kinda feeling sorry for you with the whole scooping out the dead babies thing. OMG. How do you explain cannibal mice moms to daycare kids?
I am sitting here with my mouth open…so freaked out. I probably would have went running out of the house leaving all children behind! I actually did do this once to my own 1 year old…I found a bird flying around our house and go so freaked out that I went running out the front door. My little four year old at the time, said, “Mom, we have to go back in and get Madie!”
Hilarious story!!! When I was in junior high my neighbor got hamsters and the same thing happened. They had 3 and were told that all were males, so no big deal….till one morning when 10 babies were discovered much the same way you found yours, while cleaning the cage. Since they got disturbed the mom ate the babies, about 4 of them and ate the legs off the others….I know super gross, but true!
Needless to say, I’ve never had small creatures like that for pets! Just fish, dogs and cats for me!!! Although I’ve seen fish have lots of babies in a tank before and generally the mother lets them grow up and guards them from the other larger fish!
Ewwww!!!! That’s my worst nightmare…I do NOT want to find mouse extremities in that cage!
sorry, but i can’t sympathize with you in this situation. mice are disgusting creatures. we had a few invade our house years ago, including a mother and her babies in my husband’s shorts drawer. he promptly removed the mother and babies out to the driveway, and while i continued my nervous breakdown on top of the counter in the kitchen, he then took an old pan and flatened mama and baby mice to pancakes. we took care of the class guinea pigs for a few weeks this summer. never again. the mess and the smells and the midnight chatter were enough to make me grab a pan. we did have pet rabbits many, many years ago, but they were trained like cats and became house pets. eventually, they all died of old age, but i didn’t want that responsibility anymore. my son wants a rat from PetSmart. i told him no. no rodents as pets. i hope your mice behave themselves and you no longer have to deal with mouse balls or pink parasites.
Hahaha…I would have gladly joined you on your counter. That is so gross!
oh my gosh…..loved this post…..but YIKES….mice!!!!!! oh how they make me crazy!!!! i have to say the baby picture freaked me out a little!!!
have a great weekend!!!
I don’t know if I should be laughing with you or not! I would have FREAKED OUT!!!!!!!!
Oh, my friend, I have so been there! Except did you also know that baby mice can squeeze through the bars on hamster cages? I didn’t know that. I had separated THREE pregnant MALE mice from the pack and came home to discover them and their babies had disappeared into the walls of the highrise apartment I was living in.
I moved REALLY quickly!
Oh my gosh I am SO not prepared for this! I did hear that they could squeeze through the bars and I am NOT excited. Maybe we can move too?
When we had two pet mice, I guess the pet store folks were able to determine that they were going to be fine little roomies. No babies – but I still paid the neighbor kid $1 to hold the little suckers every time I had to clean the cage when the kids were visiting dad.
If I had used a spoon to scoop up the babies, like you did – I’d throw that sucker out! Ewww!
I did throw it out…but when then I dug it back out of the garbage because if those mice are pregnant right now I’m going to need a weapon…errr…I mean a tool to pick them up with. ;)
OMMMMMGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!
I’m so sorry that I am laughing hysterically AT YOU RIGHT.NOW! You are an amazing Animal Detective Mama KAT!
I was in the pet store the other day and wouldn’t even LOOK at the mice. FREAK.ME.OUT!
Good Luck with Black Balls….uh Eye.
Oh. My. Gosh. I was halfway through reading your story at work, was abolutely horrified and forgot my name when I answered the phone. I was too busy looking at you scooping at mice parts. That is the grossest thing I have seen in a pretty long time. I am so sorry you had to go through that, you are a better woman than I. I would still be crying.
Hahahahaa….no no those were not mice parts…they’re all still alive. It makes it a little better doesn’t it? I mean they’re still hideous, but very much alive.
I feel like you have the worst luck with animals! But really…why no babies in 3 months? Odd.
I’m a new follower and this is my first time commenting.
I am laughing so hard at the line “And which also means that poor Brown Eye is being gang raped by a colony of male mice as we speak.” Of course the entire post was hilarious.
Make sure to update us on the mouse situation!
Oh yes there will be more updates for sure! Right now I can tell you that the pet store “experts” think Black Eye is pregnant. So there goes my theory. Now I just wait to see if he/she has babies. Brother.
Thanks for coming out of the closet and leaving a comment! :)
Congrats on the new editions to the family!! :) I was totally busting laughing through this… your facial expressions say it all!!!
yikes!
So what is your master plan here with the remaining babies? Or did Mama eat all of them? I had gerbils when I was a kid, and we had a whole mess of babies all the time. It’s the Daddy that eats the babies though, totally gross animal world experiments trying to figure out who is eating the babies…
I always thought they were cute… but maybe that was just when I was a kid, it’s been awhile…
Do they peep like gerbil babies do? That used to make our cat INSANE!! But don’t feel too bad for her she ate half the darn things anyway, she was a kitty Houdini. Geez, now that I think about it maybe my gerbil experience was completely freaky and now I have another thing to thank my Mom for!!! : P
Hahaha…oh my gosh your gerbil experience sounds like hell! All the babies are still alive, maybe because I didn’t actually touch any of them. Here’s hoping for NO MORE!!
Oh MY GAWD! Friggin scary! Seriously. Brrr. Chills.
Poor Brown Eye. :( Poor baby mice. Poor Mama Kat!
OH my!!! You have quite a bit on your hands! Or maybe “had” is the better word…
Okay #1, I nearly puked about 3 times. Really. I was laughing, too, but just the mere THOUGHT of disgusting mice make me gag.
#2, what’s wrong with pretty fish? What possessed you to get mice??
#3, I am cracking up at your notes written on the pictures, lol!!
#4, they would have carried me out on a stretcher if I’d discovered baby mice. Gag.
#1 I puked too…minus the laughing…just puking.
#2 Fish sound like a brilliant idea…it’s not too late is it?
#3 The notes are totally necessary….just in case someone missed that I was taking a picture of mouse balls, I felt it needed to be pointed out.
#4 I wish they would carry the mice out on a stretcher and just leave me and my house in peace.
And sadly, I laughed my ass off at brown eye getting gang banged. LOL.
Oh sick. Very very sick. I’m sorry!
I also laughed my head off at the gang-bang… Is that wrong?
Now when my 9-year old asks me for the eleventy-billionth time to get her a hamster or a pet mouse, I will be forced to have her read this post as my reason for saying “HELL TO THE NO!”
Or just buy one! :) Hey I have one for you!! Just email me your address mkay?
HELL NO! I’m sorry but this is the most disgusting post you have ever written. (Hilarious but disgusting) The comments were even worse and yes, I read them all. I hate mice, hate mice, hate, hate, hate mice! Did I mention I hate mice? I am sorry that all happened to you. You’ve been having some bad luck with pets lately, huh? Right now I’m feeling very thankful for my sweet my German Shorthaired Pointer whose worst issues are his highly toxic “audible toots.”
Have a good weekend if you can get over your skeeved out feeling and repeat after me, no more mouse posts… no more mouse posts…
I’m laughing out loud…I got this same exact comment in the form of an email from my little sister. She is so thoroughly disgusted with me right now. Hahahaha…it really is the sickest post I’ve ever written!
yuck! yuck! yuck!
oh. what a roller coaster of a story!
first, happiness – yeaaa a new friend!
then anger – hey white eye, be nice biatch!.
then happiness again – yeaaa, we’re all friends!
and then fear – ew! nasty parasites! WTF!! get ‘em off me! get ‘em off me!
then joy – ohhh…somone’s a mommy. cute babies!
then a mystery – hmmmm…who yo baby daddy???
then the ah-ha moment – ah-ha! it’s brown eye.
then mistken identity and trickery – wait a minute. black eye is a male in female clothing!
and for the finale sadness – dead rat (mice) babies. so sad.
what a story.
I ended that post badly…no the babies are definitely still alive. I’ve just been warned that they COULD be killed especially considering the trauma I put them all through with my screaming.
I do appreciate your outline though.
I’d like to add:
confusion – pet store will not take Black Eye back
intrigue – pet store still think Black Eye is a girl…balls and all
shock – pet store thinks Black Eye is pregnant.
And now we wait. :)
I just started following your blog. And I must say, this post is quite a welcome!
While I do think that babies of (nearly) all animals are just darling, actually having them in my house is a different matter. And I’m completely hung up about the litter of half-eaten mice. Seriously? I was laughing and slightly vomiting in the back of my throat at the same time.
This is why a single gold fish is plenty for us right now.
Okay so the mice have NOT been eaten. They’re still very much alive, but if disturbed too much COULD be eaten. I’m hoping that after the terror of finding those hideous creatures in that cage, I will at least get some pictures of them looking cute before any of them get eaten.
And thanks for following! :)
I hope you threw that spoon away or bleach….yeah, throw it away! There is no way I will ever let mice in my house invited. They’d better be the wild kind and ready to be killed if they step foot in my home. Gross!
EW! I would of used salad tongs.. ;) And I would be BEYOND pissed off if all of a sudden I had to house 10 new mice. pshhh! free loaders.
Why does that lady from the pet store look like Ursela from Little Mermaid!?
Oh. My. God. What the heck are you going to do with all those mice??? And, no. I’m not adopting any. But what are YOU gonna do?
LMAO @ gang bang!
Happy Birthday LIVIE!!!!! It’s coming up you know…
Just putting my 2 cents out there…. those baby mice looked like a baby boy’s penis. I mean, that was just my first thought.
Laina just asked me why I started cracking up out of nowhere. Good Lord that was hysterical….and such a great observation. Sicko. ;)
Okay, I am DEFINATELY not a 14-year-old school girl but….O M G….!!! What else can you say to a post like that??!! I have to say that the picture of the pet store “geniuses” was priceless….they look completely and utterly clueless…and what is with the mice thing…holy crap…that is a LOT of babies…well…not so many anymore…ew…well, I just have to say, I don’t know how you delt with it all…I am SUPER IMPRESSED!!
OMG, I nearly pissed myself reading this, Kat!!!!! I mean, REALLY! So, now Brown Eye is in the pet shop and you’ve still got Big Balls… errrr… Black Eye at home? And has White Eye eaten the babies????
I for one think the little babies are adorable, but what the hell are you going to do with all of them???? OMG, I’m still laughing! Loved the pictures too.
Justine :o )
Black Eye is home and today when we tried to take him back they STILL sent him home and believe he is a SHE and that SHE is pregnant TOO!
Here’s hoping they’re wrong…their track record speaks for itself.
How would I have done it? Ummm…NOT AT ALL. LOL You are a better provider/mommy than me…I have two boys and my rule is still no creatures/rodents/reptiles allowed! *shuder*
How would I have done it? Ummm…NOT AT ALL. LOL You are a better provider/mommy than me…I have two boys and my rule is still no creatures/rodents/reptiles allowed! *shudder*
Oh I am soooo sorry! Are you or the kidlets going to be scarred for life? Is the female preggers again? I guess if the cage gets really stinky again you might know why.
That was thoroughly entertaining. It probably wasn’t so great to go through it! And to think it would have worked out perfectly if they had simply all just been girls!
that was seriously the funniest thing I have read in months. love the pictures with the captions. wtf?
we are about to get hamsters. we have three kids. the three kids hamsters will live separately. my worries of pet stores not knowing what the freak they are doing have just been reaffirmed. so thank you lol.
OMG!!! Kathy, this is INSANE!!!
Gross and more gross.
Go back to the dogs… =)
Ok, first, you had me at “Brown Eye”. (Giggling)
Secondly, I hope you BURNED that spoon you were scooping up the corpses with!
Mouth hanging open at those little pink things, I mean literally hanging open although they are sort of cute and your caption was brilliant!!
You are such a sweet and daring mother. My girls have been asking for a little pet guinea pig and I keep saying no because I am selfish and I hear they don’t sleep at night and they will smell up my house. You are much nicer than me.
Sadie at heymamas
Holy Hell Kathy, I am gonna pee my pants. This is the funniest blog post I’ve read in a long time. Gotta tell ya…you and animals just don’t mix well! But it makes for damn funny blog material so don’t stop. The line about brown eye getting gang raped by a bunch of white mice is the best part. This should teach Pat never to go to Hawaii without you again.
Oh … mice and other rodents make me want to scream bloody murder. I hate to say this, but better you than me. Thanks for making me laugh this morning!!
Pretty sure this is only something that could happen to you!
AHHHH!!! I screamed for you when I saw the picture!!!
I don’t think I would have minded too much…more food for my snakes! I know, that sounds really demented, but do you really want 9 baby mice to play with? Either that or one of my cats would have gotten to them.
Well the kids are learning all types of things at Ms. Kathy’s Love Sex and Death Day Care.
Actually, I had a similar experience in college when — apparently desperate for love and affection of any type — I adopted two rats from my brother (who swore up and down they were both females) and I too ended up becoming a rat mama. Getting rid of them all was a nightmare. I did things I’m not proud of today … that may or may not have involved letting a friend release some rats into a field.
Stay away from rodents of all types as pets.
But you know that now.
I’m seriously thinking about changing my daycare name now Jenners, thanks for that!
And thankfully the pet store said they’d take all the mice back in 6 weeks. If I bring them in and they refuse them I will let them all go on the store floor.:)
Oh gosh, that is seriously the grossest story ever. But you look good in the pictures. A hell of a lot better than I would if I took care of kids all day long.
How much do I owe you for paying me compliments on my blog again? I forget what we agreed upon…
Something similar to this happened once when I was a kid and both me and my brother had “female” hamsters. Turns out mine was a dude and got his knocked up. In the end, the mother got sick and ate her babies (gross, I know) and we ended up with just one hamster. Probably for the best.
Scared to ask, but if you had two adults and the mother ate the babies, that should leave two adults … so when you said you ended up with one … what happened to the other adult? Did the mother eat the father too? Did the mother explode and die from eating the babies? Did you kill one? Just curious, and I’ll lie awake wondering if I don’t find out.
The Mom got sick and not long after eating her babies, she died too. My Mom wasn’t willing to pay several hundred dollars to take a $10 hamster to the vet for some reason? Nothing cool happened like an exploding hamster. :)
Oh my good gracious! Ugh. I’m sorry. I’ve been there. I’ve SO been there. THREE unwanted mouse litters in this house. No joke, I had like 21 of those suckers at one time.
NEVER AGAIN.
Next time you need a rodent, get a rat. They’re easier to uh, determine gender with and they’re friendlier.
P.S. Those are DEFINITELY balls.
P.P.S. Those baby mice will be sexually active in about 3-4 weeks. Watch out!
The pet store guy said they will not breed before they turn six weeks old!
AND he said that those are NOT balls on Black Eye, but that he thinks Black Eye is in labor! Seriously?? Now I have to wait it out…I think he’s just fat.
Ok, um, ew. Those baby mice look like little fingers without a hand. I really don’t know what else to say…except thank you. Thank you for sharing this story ensuring that my children will never be allowed to have mice as pets. :D Did you keep all the babies?
They said we could bring the babies back in 6 weeks. So we just have to hang on to them for awhile. You know people warned me about this and I STILL got the mice. I’m such an idiot!! Hahaha.
Oh wait–were all the babies eaten? Or just half of them?
No none of the babies were eaten…yet! We were just WARNED that she could eat them. Gross.
OMFG that is hilarious not for you I know but for us it is.
This is gonna make some awesome blogging material!
Having had Guinea pigs in the past I know all to well how scary it can be to walk in and see these little yucky things in a cage. although once they get all their hair OMG they are SO freaking cute. yep I say keep them separated from here on out! because Kat those are BALLS! that is my semiprofessional opinion.
LMAO, I know I shouldn’t it’s not nice, but I can’t help it. I have been there, mice multiply like wildfire.a
Ok, this is an extremely funny story, and normally I would be cracking up . . . but I’m worried that I will never be able to shake the image of the freaky baby mice out of my mind. GAHH.
Aren’t they awful!! Hahaha…I grossed so many people out with those, but you had to feel my pain!!
LMAO, I know I shouldn’t it’s not nice, but I can’t help it. I have been there, mice multiply like wildfire.
Oh, that’s really disgusting!
Gross. Gross. Gross.
O.M.G.
I’m mean seriously.
That is the most incredible, hilarious, and disturbing story I have quite possibly ever heard!
Remind me never to buy rodents for my children!
She ate them?! Whaaaat?! That’s so sad for them!! Rats are good pets, you can try that next. Haha.
No no no…she didn’t eat them yet! At least I don’t think so. I can still hear them squeaking in their little home and I haven’t seen any little bodies yet!
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
I’m pretty sure I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Now as a spectator I can not stop laughing. That was a riot…maybe only because of your story telling abilities. We had a similar experience with hamsters, not fun and not quite as well told as your little tidbit here, but I swore no more caged animals. And other than the bearded dragon and the guinea pig I have stuck to that whole heartedly! ;)
Ah the tales (or tails) of mice and Kat…
Not to get you too disturbed, but the only time our family ever had mice was to feed them to my sister’s pet snake. The only problem was that the snake was not accustomed to killing it’s own prey, so we had to do it ourselves. Fortunately my sister seemed to have lost the snake when she took it down to college (but, I realize that that is a whole other story I should save for my own post)– so you can’t give us your extra mice, sorry.
Not to laugh at your trauma, but I am laughing OUT LOUD at your trauma. SO sorry. {wiping away tears}
If this isn’t proof that truth is funnier than fiction, I don’t know what it.
Christy
You know you are actually JUST the person Pat would like to send the mice to. :) No snakes here thankyouverymuch!!
Poor old Brown Eye really got the short end of the stick on this one. And how could the pet store clerks have missed the GIANT UNMISTAKABLE BALL SACKS???
This story made me laugh out loud, with the exception of the ending.
They’re huge right!?! Well he had retracted them in the store…there was literally NO sign of balls when we were in there. And here’s an awesome twist for you…they won’t take him because they think he’s a GIRL still and that those aren’t balls retracting…she laboring!! I don’t think I can handle this…I suppose we’ll know in a week or? Pray for me. ;)
THAT is why I hate mice!! Totally traumatized from CRAZY mice experiences when I was 8. Wont touch ‘em. Nothing cute about ‘em. And the half-eaten babies… YEAH… TRAUMATIZING!
You’re more of a super woman than already thought. Way to deal.
Most disturbing post I’ve read in a long time. Thanks for that. :p
Oh my gosh, I’m dying to know what your traumatizing story is! My little sister wrote me an email this morning letting me know just how disgusted she was with this post today. hahaha…she hates them too! I don’t hate them…but I certainly don’t want ten of them and they certainly are NOT cute newborns. BLECH!
I still can’t get over the fact that you actually have mice for pets. You have much bigger balls than I do and so does your mouse.
OMG I have tears and now I really have to go pee. That is a hilarious story. I would not have handled it nearly as well as you did for sure. I’m very impressed by your bravery. Have a great weekend!
All I can do is laugh. And make a not to myself to never, ever buy mice.
Stupid pet shop.. you would think they would know what they are doing. And I can’t even imagine the half-eaten mice mess. yuck!
So far the white mouse seems to be a good little mom to them so please God no baby body parts in that cage!
OMG how funny I had to shared your post with my hubby. Too funny
That’s why we have guinea pigs. They come out fully “baked”, looking cute and sweet just like grown up piggies…. we too however had the misfortune of being sold mis-sexed piggies. We were told both were female, happily named them Minnie and Daisy. Only, Daisy, was really Mickey! We realized the Minnie was getting quite plump. The gestation period of GPs is about 72 days, and not too long after, it was quite apparent that Mickey was a male. His male parts were quite prominent. Minnie was an over achiever and produced 4 healthy baby piggies! We had a great time with them, but could not keep them all when we moved, so we now just have Oliver.
Oh my gosh!! That is too funny!! I once got 6 FEMALE mice for a science experiment in junior high…(Really…I just wanted mice so i made up a “feed 3 mice this…and 3 mice this” experiment to see if it made them different. I’m not a Mousologist…how in the world would I know if they were “different”…oh well…my mom bought my story and bought me the mice)….SIX FEMALE mice….one of them came home from the pet store already pregnant…DAMMIT…I had a wire cage…little tiny white mice…can get through those bars!! We had white mice in our house for about 6 months before we eventually got rid of them all!! UGH!!! Good luck! And…keep the babies away from other mice (besides the mom)…I had a couple of half eaten ones to deal with!
I want an award for reading that whole post.
Then I want another BIGGER award for not THROWING UP after reading it.
Its blogging magic like this that keeps me coming back for more.
Its so real it seems fake. Only it is real. Which well as you already know..
MAKES IT COMEDY.
I can not stand pet mice, hamsters, etc. My sister had a mouse when we were little, she loved it. I would have gagged if it had babies. I can’t believe they can pregnant 10 hours later. That’s crazy! That’s a lot of mice! Good luck!
Seeing those pictures gave me goose bumps. Gross! You are already a super mom for allowing your kids to have pet mice in the first place (Yuck!), but being surprised by those baby mice earns you mom of the year!
FYI: Your blog takes a long time for me to load too.
I can’t stand mice, I don’t understand why anyone would want them as pets. They’re varmints. YUCK!
I have no words.
That was hilarious!! So glad I dont hav emice!
You handled that better than I probably would have!
Oh and pet store staff… yeah not always to sure about how much they know. A few years ago, my mom had a pair of cockatiels at home but the male wanted nothing to do w/ the female. So she went out and bought another male. Imagine her surprise when my little sister (about 5 at the time) saw the older male “rubbing” himself on top of the younger one!! A few weeks later there were a lot of little baby cockatiels from the cockatiel formerly known as Pete!!
Brown eye reminded me of my moms original female cockatiel – their the ones who really got screwed!! lol
I manage a large mouse breeding colony. Like as a job, full time. If you have any questions – send them my way! Im an actual expert :D
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Better you than me!!!!
Sorry.
:)
It is my first time visiting, and it took me a minute to compose myself… I am laughing so hard… poor brown eye… poor you…
Reminds me of the year we got our daughter a hamster for Christmas… an hour after she met her new pat we asked her what she wanted to name her and she said “Pinky” we asked why and she said “because she keeps pooping little pink poops..” Yep, you guessed it….we now had 10 hamsters…Pinky and her brood of 9!
Oh. My. God!
Crying over here– so hysterical! My favorite line is “poor Brown Eye is being gang raped by a colony of male mice as we speak.”
My daughter is calling me from her bed right now, asking if I’m ok, I’m laughing so hard!
Ugh… half eaten mice… that makes me shudder to think about!
On the other hand, if you leave the parents undisturbed for a while, maybe you will get more baby mice. Baby mice who will NOT be consumed, and who will grow cute and furry.
That could be fun.
Depending, of course, on your definition of “fun.”
OH MY GOSH!! This is my fave story of the MONTH!! I was reading with my mouth hanging open, I LOVED it!! LOL!
OH.MY.GOSHHHH. EWWWW!!! I dont know how you could deal with this. My reaction would have been exactly the same, except I don’t think I would have had the courage to actually move the babies…or touch the mouse.
GRRRROSS!!! Actually I dont even know how you have mice in the first place, haha. They kind of make me skin crawl :) You’re a brave soul
Seriously laughed my a** off at the gang raped part. Not ’cause gang rape is traditionally funny, but because this time it really was. Thinking you may want to go ahead and NOT get any more pets. Like ever.
This is all very gross and fascinating.
yuck. I hate mice…but then if you had one sneak into your bed at night when you were 12 (or 13..or maybe 14) and crawl up your back while you were sleeping. Only to be awoken by something tickling your the back of your neck…then look to see a mouse go scurrying away under your covers. Yep. You’d hate mice, too! Damn mice. ewh. Why did I read that story? I’m going to dream of mice tonight. crap.
I work with mice. Have you seen one with two vaginae?!?! Yeah, I was pretty surprised too. Hopefully, after this comment you won’t be receiving any more rodent surprises.
EW GROSS! I just called juju (my 3yo) over to the computer and he goes “um what the heck?!” You have officially grossed me out today LMAO!
Dude. The pictures are priceless. I am just picturing you photographing the employees checking out the mice butts. I think Black Eye needs to have a little unsupervised playdate with a mouse. And hey, if White Eye eats the babies, well that’s less work for you, right?
Appreciate the informative post–we are brand new hamster owners. ONE hamster.
Did I say playdate with a mouse? I meant a cat.
I have a confession to make. I’ve never told anyone. I COULD send it to PostSecret, but not once I’ve told you.
I’m a hamster murderer.
I unknowingly brought home a pregnant hamster as a kid. She was sweet at first and then turned mean as HELL. Once I realized she had not only turned mean as hell, but also turned herself into SEVEN hamsters, I screeeeeeeamed much like I imagine you did. Granted, I didn’t have an audience of children (great way to keep it together, btw) but YES…..
She ate them all. A grisly scene. The pet store took their cannibal back.
10 hours? Ew. Well, look at pimping out Little Brown Eye this way: raising pet store revenue? More mice to sell.
They should thank you.
You had me laughing out loud – crazy… One time my husband wanted to surprise my girls with a puppy – we decided only a girl puppy. so he comes home with this cute little thing we are playing with her and she rolls over and she’s a he…. next day went to the person who sold him to us and she’s oh no, that’s not a penis…. her wee wee is just high… yes, she said those exact words.. Having dogs all my life – I knew it was boy – got my money back and two weeks later she called me to tell me I was right…. crazy..
Oh my gosh Kat! This is why I love reading your blog. You have all these great adventures with your pets. Mine just sleep on everything and throw up the occasional hairball.
HOw long is the gestation?
YOu are screwed.
We used to have rabbits.
That’s all I’m saying.
OMG I totally had to read this to my hubby so he knew what I was cracking up about! Love the Petco picture hahaha. So does each day care kid get a free mouse ;o)
How long is a mouse’s pregnancy? Wow…yea, I think you’re screwed. Pretty soon you can run a child daycare as well as a mouse one. Or um, the nice side of me says I hope for no more baby mice for you! ;)
you make me laugh so much! Good luck with all your babies…
oh.my.god.
First bravo to you for getting mice in the first place. I cannot bring myself to do it. My brother had gerbils when we were little and I’m still scarred. I can’t wait to find out the final numbers on all the mice in your house.
Kath haven’t I told you not to have mice in the house? I’m sure I did somewhere along the way. Mice are just little rabbits and you know about rabbits. I’m just sayin’. You could have 200 mice in a month. blessings, marlene
LMAO I am crying here that is so funny!!
I had the same experience with rats…started out with two adorable hooded “female” rats…and ended up with 23!!!!!!!!!!
Good thing the pet store bought every last one of them!
That is one disgusting experience. Although I don’t think mice would even make it into our home. I do like the photos with your commentary. Well done, Kat – just keep those baby mice at your house.
Seriously Kathy, I laughed out loud so hard, so many times. I must say that the picture of the little boy on the counter and your comment towards him almost made me let a little go. Man, you so keep me laughing. .This was the best thing I ever Read
I forgot to mention that the brown eye name, also made me laugh more than I had ever laughed before. I am working at my friends shop right now, and I am sure the whole place heard me laughing
Congratulations to your mice! I probably would have reacted the same way. I’m glad to hear that all the babies are just fine.
I owned 6 mice 2 years ago when i was 13 over time they gradually gave birth to many litters of baby mice. The most consisting of 15 babies. I tried to find a pet shop to sell the babies to when they were 6 weeks old but everywhere i tried could not take them and seeing though i do not believe in killing animals i just simply had to keep them. As months went by they kept on having more babies and i ended up with 165 mice. Eventually pet shops started taking them and i now have 3 rats which one had 12 babies but died 9 weeks later, i still have one of the boys aswell as a girl and the babies father. I also have 4 Guinea pigs 2 male and 2 female and hope to soon have little Guinea pigs and Baby rats running around the place because i just loooove them.. They are GAWUZ!!!
Great post! I never thought I’d be so entertained by a mouse story!
Too funny!! We were thinking about getting our 2 boys some hamsters but after reading this I think we’ll stick to lizards. LOL
I absolutely love mice. I stared out with three and ended up with 24. I would still have them now if most hadn’t died while I was away.
Haha that’s a cute story- love your face when showing the babies!
I just happened to stumble upon this while searching for people who have made their own mouse cages. Why you may ask that? WELL it shouldn’t be hard to guess that I too had a surprise litter. Thankfully the people at the pet store at least knew how to choose the right genders (both my mice being girls) BUT despite their attempt to get me ones as young as possible for me to take home, they were BOTH pregnant. (And by the timing of their birth, they must have gotten pregnant the day or the day before I bought them- how nice.)
When they started getting fat I was real confused- were they pregnant, or were they just fat? I’ve owned many rodents before, mainly hamsters, but never mice- so I thought ‘maybe unlike hamsters who just eat everything and store it away, they just eat and eat and EAT!’ SO I gave them less food. Low and behold, about a week later when I went to compare a picture of a pregnant mouse with my mice, I opened my loft (which is the same product as yours) and discovered both my mice were now lean, and I had a pile of pink fleshy things. Before the birth I didn’t want them to be pregnant, but now I’m glad- it’s been really fun. I have 15 pups- 16, but one died. 3 from my black and white mama (two turning out grey and white with red eyes instead of black and white with black eyes like their sister since they’re albino-I thought that was pretty cool) and 12 from my tan and white mama.
The point of the cage? Oh, I’m building a custom cage so I can have a cage for the males and a cage for the females- and esp. for the males, have 8 seperate floors for each with the ramp to each acting as a door so I can seperate them if they ever fight. (American male mice are MEAN to each other in most cases, mine should be better off since they’ve known each other their whole lives, but sometimes even those ‘clans’ fall apart and may fight to the death.)
Oh, and just to say it because it bugs me (lol)- mice DO NOT eat their pups if you disturb them- the only reason why they may ever eat their pups is if they don’t have enough food to produce enough milk for their pups. People tend to think the whole eating their young is for all rodents, but that’s not true- that’s what the hamster is known for. I’ve been holding my pups since day 3 twice a day. Now that they’re supposed to be in the ‘flea stage’ when their eyes open (Due to being afraid of even you because they can now see you and you’re big and scary) they aren’t afraid of me because they’re familiar with my scent since I’ve been handling them for that long. I’d say if you ever have any more pups (Though I’m sure you’re probably going to try to avoid that now haha), hold them from an early time- it makes them more domesticated and better pets. Mice from petstores are… Okay, but it takes longer to domesticate them since they haven’t been held and given attention during any time of their lives. Most are just feeder mice(AKA: snake food) , that’s what mine are and that’s why I won’t return them to the store once they’re old enough just because I’m attached to them all now and would have a bad concious knowing what their fate would be. But yeah there are ways to tell between genders early on- I knew before 2 weeks how many boys and how many girls I had. Petstore people are honestly usually very poor at their jobs when it comes to rodents unless they themselves specifically have experience with that creature.
Keep in mind that young mice can jump…really far. and run…really fast. Be careful opening that cage when they get bigger. LOL
And I would send the babies back to the pet shop if I were you when they get big enough.
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