What is a female mouse called? | Reference.com What is a female mouse called? A: Quick Answer A female mouse is called a doe. Buck refers to a male mouse, and a baby mouse is called a pinky or kitten. A doe can become pregnant at six to eight weeks old. Full Answer The female mouse produces five to 10 kittens in one litter. It gives birth after three weeks of pregnancy. The kittens are usually born with their eyes closed and hairless. A doe can produce more than 100 babies every year. A mouse, which has a normal lifespan of one to two years, is between 15 to 20 centimeters in length with a weight of 30 to 60 grams. Belonging to the Muridae family, a mouse can run at 12 kilometers per hour. A male mouse is called a buck. A female mouse is called a doe. A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten. Mice are fond of hard bread. Mice are. - ppt download Download Presentation is loading. Please wait. A male mouse is called a buck. A female mouse is called a doe. A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten.

Mice are fond of hard bread. Mice are. Published by Ava Conley Modified over 3 years ago Embed Similar presentations More Presentation on theme: "A male mouse is called a buck. A female mouse is called a doe. A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten. Mice are fond of hard bread. Mice are."— Presentation transcript: 1 2 3 4 A male mouse is called a buck. A female mouse is called a doe. A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten. Mice are fond of hard bread. Mice are constant eaters - and will eat almost anything. Mice are prolific breeders, producing six to ten litters continuously throughout the year Mice will nurse babies that are not their own. Baby mice curl up when they are being carried. You can keep mice on a table without a cage because mice are afraid to jump off high vertical drops. 5 To this day some people believe that fried mice or mouse pie is a cure for bed wetting. The greatest loss from mice is not due to how much they eat, but what must be thrown out because of damage or contamination.

Each year, rodents cause more than one billion dollars in damage in the US alone. Mice have tails that are as long as their bodies. You should never pick a mouse up by its tail.The tip of the tail may come off. Mouse tails have scales that help with climbing. Some mice don't have any hair at all. Mice have been domesticated for hundreds of years. The National Mouse Club of Britain was formed in Mice are able to see some colors; however, they do lack the pigment that allows them to see red. They see shades of black and white and may be able to distinguish blues. Though generally classified as herbivores and eat a regular diet of grains and fruit, mice will eat almost anything they encounter 6 Rat and mouse bones have been found in caves where cavemen lived. Mice can make their own vitamin C. People worshipped mice in temples. (You can see this in India) The Hindu god Ganesha rides a mouse 7 A mouse can jump down 12 feet without injury. Mice are nocturnal creatures. The name mouse comes from "mus", a Sanskrit word that means thief. Mouse urine has a fluorescent glow. Mice see best in dim light.

Mice travel the same path time and time again, leaving a smudge mark - a buildup of dirt and oil from their fur - along walls, pipes and holes. Mice can chew through anything that is softer than their teeth. Mice can transmit salmonellosis (bacterial food poisoning) when food is contaminated with infected mouse feces 8 9 Mice Mouse pleural (mice) is a rodent The best known species is the house mouse (mus musculus) Live up 2 years In wild life 5 months due to heavy predation by dogs, cats, birds,snakes, Breathing dust from feces dangerous The original motivation for cat to be domesticated is mice 10 11 Genetics Outbred stocks Inbred stocks Athymic nude mice and (SCID) mice F1 hybrid Transgenic mice 12 14 15 Ecology Germ free or axenic Specific germ free Gnotobiotics conventional 16 Uses Make good pet Proficient breeder Musty odor More mice used in research Genetics.virology.ter atogenecity.

17 Behavior They are social animals Curioius but not aggressive Female mice rarely fight Dominant hierarchy They are nocturnal and diurnal 18 Anatomic and physiologic features Dental formula 2(1/1 incisors, 0/0 canine, 0/0 premolar. 3/3 molar) The incisors are open rooted Divided stomach The lung has one large left lobe and four small large lobe.

Brown fat is present Mice have 5 pairs of mammary gland 19 Biologic and reproductive data Adult body weight Male 20-40gr Female 25-40gr Body temperature c Life span y Respiratory rate Heart beat Estrus cycle 4-5 d Breeding onset 50d Gestation period 21d Postpartum estrus fertile Litter size 6-12 Weaning age Breeding duration 7-9 mo Chromosome 40 20 Breeding and reproduction Polygamous and monogamous Bred 7 to 8 weeks Phremones is important Whitens Bruce affect Mating can be confirmed by plug Gestation period days In lactating mice is prolonged by days Altricial Called pinkies By day 10 their body has hair ears open and the eyes open by 12 They eat solid food at 14 21 Husbandary Housing in a shoe box cages made of plastic or polycarbonate.minimal space required 97cm2 Pine or cedar chips should not be used Temprature 18-26c Humidity 30%-70% change air in hour hours light The frequency of cage cleaning 22

 Feeding and watering Mice usually consume 3-5g of solid food 16%protein, 4% fat Adult mice drink 6-7 ml of water Mice are coprophage 23 Identification Ear punching, ear tagging, microchip, dyes 24 Handling and restraint To transfer mouse from cage to cage hold the animal from base of the tail 25 restraint Restraint of the mouse using one grip handfor intraperitoneal injection 26 Blood collection Retroorbital sinus Lateral veins on the tail Cardiac puncture 27 Hematology Total blood ml Single sample ml Exanguination 1-1.5ml 28 Drug administration Medication is frequently administered orally Small gauge needle 23 and 25 is used Subcutaneously 2-3ml Im 0.2ml Intraperitoneal 2-3 ml 29 Anesthesia Dilution of all injectable anesthesia is recommended The combination of ketamine and xylazine Isoflurane, halothane, methoxyflorane 30 Bacterial disease Pneumonia and respiratory disease Mycoplasma pulmonis,Klebsiela pneumoniae, corynebacterium k

utscheri, Clinical signs, labored respiration, weght loss, conjunctivitis Ampicilline, oxytetracycline, chloramphenicole,sulfamerazine 31 Helicobacter infection Mice rat guinea pig rabbit ferret dog Causes chronic active hepatitis A/jcr are susceptible to tumor H.hepaticus cause inflammatory bowl disease H.bilis, h.muridarum, h.rappini Gross lesion foci of necrosis in liver, Treatment amoxicillin, tetracycline 32 Tyzzers disease Mice, rat, hamster, guinea pig, rabbits, dog, cat.

Caused by Clostridium piliforme Immunosuppressive animals or newly weaned Clinical signs include diarrhea, dehydration and anorexia 33 Colonic hyperplasia disease Citrobacter freundii biotype 4280 Entrocolith, diarrhea, Thichening of the colon Mucosal hyperplasia Treatment neomycin Tetracyclin sulfamethazine 34 Coryneform hyperkeratosis Corynebacterium psuedodipheriticum Hyperkeratosis in nude mice and high mortality in suckling Dry white flaky skin, priritis Affected animals should be euthenized 35 Staphylococcus aureus Abscess Conjunctivitis Superficial pyoderma Furunculosis is a problem in nude mice 36 Streptococcus spp Drmatitis, cervical lymphadenitis, bacteremia 37 Pseudomonas aeroginosa Water born infection Mice that immunologically weak Listlessness, anorexia and death 38 Viral diseases Sendai virus Mouse hepatitis virus Epizootic diarrhea of infant mice Murine retroviral infection lymphocytic choriomeningitis Ectromelia 39 Sendai virus Is

 a parainfluenza I virus Fatal in weanling cerbation of pnumono Supress the normal antibacterial of lung Exacerbation of pnumonia Hunchrd poture, ruffled feather, dyspnea, and teeth chattering 40 Mouse hepatitis virus It has two forms of enteric and respiratory pattern Clinical sign in suckling, diarrhea,encephalitis, tremor,empty stomach 41 Epizootic diarrhea of infant mice Less than two weeks 42 Murine retroviral infection All mice harbor both endogenous murine leukemia virus and endogenous murine mammary tumor virus 43 Parasitic diseases Mites Myobia musculi Rodfordes affini Mycoptes musculinus Psoregatus simplex 44 Pinworm Syphacia obvelata, Aspicularis tetraptera cause anal pruritis and diarrhea,rectal prolapse 45 Tapworm Hymenolepsis nana Hymenolepsis diminuta 46 Flagellates Spirunucleus muris Giardia muris 47 Miscellaneous conditions Bite wound Dehydration Hair loss malocculation 48 Hamster Family Cricetidiae.

ther are over 50 species, subspecies and varieties.

They are found in any significant number It weighs 120 grams 49 Syrian or golden (Mesocricetus auratus) 50 51 Russian hamster !.

Campbell dwarf, brownish white in color belly, dorsal stripe 52 Siberian or roborovski Grey in color white in winter 53 Chinese (Cricetulus griceus) Mouse like hamster smaller, 30gr 54 Uses They are popular as pets Research animal, because they have small size, ease of taming, low care requirments and few diseases Syrian hamster is used in infectious diseases, cancer, immunology, hypothermia, dental caries, reproductive, physiology,cardiomyopathy Chinese is used in diabetes, and cytogenetic studies Both are used in rodiobiology 55 Behavior Solitary animals Group housing is stressful Aggressive especially to unfamiliar of either sex The females are more aggressive They make tunnel They are sound sleeper They walk long distance Hibernate 2 to 3 days 56 Anatomic and physiologic features Short legs, bright beady black eyes Large amount of skin Cheek pouches Dental formula 2( 1/1 incisors, 0/0 canine, 0/0 premolars, 3/3 molars) The stomach has 2 parts long duedenum and jejunum Brown adipose tissue Two gland in the flanks

 Differention of sexes Female has 5 to 6 pairs of mammary glands 57 Biological data Male gr Female gr Life span month Body temprature c Heart rat Respiratory rate Food consumption 8-12gr/100/d Water consumption 8-10ml Breeding onset Male 10-14wk Female 6-10wk Estrus cycle length 4d Gestation period 15d Litter size 5-9 Weaning age 21d Breeding duration 10-14months Chromosomes 44 58 Breeding and reproduction Bred for the first time 6 and 8 weeks when they are 80 t0 100 g.

Polyestrus except for winter Ovulation is spontaneous after 8 hours There is discharge The female usually attack the new male Signs of pregnancy Gestation is very short Litter size 5 to nine The ears open 4 to 5 days, eyes 14 to 16 days, eat food 7 to 10 days Cannibalism of young is common 59 Husbandary Housing, 123 cm2 and the cage hight 15cm Caging material should be carefully sellected Temperature c Humidity 30-70% 10 to 15 air change per hour Fastidious 60 Feeding and wATERING 16 % PROTEIN 4-5% FAT 6 to 10 g /100 and 9 to 10 ml of water Slot width 11mm They are coprophage 61 Adult blood volumes Total blood 6.8 to 12 Single sample Exanguination 3-5 62 Blood collection Retroorbital bleeding Limbed vein or clipped toenail Cardiac puncture 63 Drug administration Small scales are useful 5 ml of sugar or syrup can be added Subcutaneous 3-4ml

 Intraperitoneal 3-4 ml Im 0.1 ml Interavenou is made to cephalic vein, jugular vein, 64 husbandary Prefers solid bottom- bottom cages Floor area of 123 cm with hight of 15cm Caging material should be carefully selected Temperature c Humidity 30 to 70% 14 hours light 10 to 15 changes per hour Feed should contain 16% protein 4 to 5% fat They are coprophagic 65 Breeding and reproduction First time 6 and 8 weeks of age( ) gr Female is contineously polystrus Cycling every 4 days White discharge 2 nd day The female can be successfully mated On the 3 rd days Ears open 4-5days Eyes 14 to 15 Eat food 7-10 Fertile 2-18d after weaning cannibalism 66 Baybys 4 weeks 68 Baybys 12 days eyes are not open 69 Babys 17 eyes are open 70 10 days eyes not open 71 Young 72 young 7

3 Antibiotic Associated Entrocolitis Lincomycin, clindamycin,ampicillin, vancomycin, erythromycin, cephalosprins, gentamycin, Clost.difficile Cecal mucosa edematous and hemorrhagic Diarrhea, dehydration, anorexia, ruffled fur 74 Proliferative ileitis, or wet tail Most common spontaneous disease of hamster caused by Desulfovibrio sp.

Confined to young of 3 to 8 weeks Mortality is often high and is caused by stress Unkempt hair coat, anorexia,moistened perineal area. Necropsy, gas and yellow diarrhea, ileum thickened and edematous 75 Lymphocytic choriomeningitis 76 Rabies Rabies is a virus that can cause a wide variety of symptoms in hamsters. Once bitten by a rabid animal, hamsters will develop a nasty and irritable temperament within days and usually die with in a week of the first signs. As the virus progresses, the hamster will eventually experience paralysis of their lungs and throat causing the animal to suffocate and die. Rabies is a virus that can be prevented through vaccination every three years. As rabies is common in both domestic and wild animals, most states in the US require pets to have rabies shots. 77 Tapeworms Hamsters can become infected with tapeworms if they inadvertently eat contaminated food that contains tapeworm eggs. The tapeworm lives in the hamsters intestines and competes with the hamster for nutrients and water. Generally hamsters will experience weight loss when carrying a tape worm.

78 Pinworm Pinworms are a much less common parasite that resides in the large intestine of the hamster. Hamsters typically do not experience adverse side effects from carrying the parasite, although in some cases the parasite can cause extreme itching around the anus 79 Demodex Demodex criceti Demodex aurati 80 Hamster care Abscess Allergy Bladder, kidney infection Broken limb Constipation Dehydration Eye problem Fur loss Heat stroke Hibernation Impacted cheeks Overgrown nails Old age Rectal prolaps infection shock How to Tell if a Mouse Is Male or Female: 7 Steps (with Pictures) How to Tell if a Mouse Is Male or Female Two Methods: Looking at Anatomical Distance Using the Nipple Method Community Q&A Sexing mice is important especially if you're a breeder, keeping a large number of mice, or just curious about the sex of your little furry friend. There are two main methods of telling apart male mice (bucks) from female mice (does) that require a keen eye and gentle handling of mice. You can sex a mice by looking at anogenital distance or the distance between the mouse's genital area and anus. Or observing whether or not your mouse has nipples.

It's always best to know the sex of your mice so you can separate the males from the females and prevent unwanted pregnancies. Steps Looking at Anatomical Distance 1 Pick up the mouse gently from its cage. The best way to do this is to softly pinch the base of its tail to lift up the mouse enough to slide your hand underneath its body. Keep holding the tail while you lift the mouse out of the cage. Remember you are much bigger than the mouse and an untrained mouse will be frightened of you. Never try to scoop it up from the cage or squeeze the mouse. It might jump out of your hand and hurt itself. Alternatively, you can train your mouse to crawl into you hand. The easiest way to do this is to put your mouse's favourite treats in your hand to entice them to enter your hand. However, if this is your first time, it may take a while before your mouse trusts you enough to eat off of your hand. 2 Position the mouse to view its genital area. Take the mouse by the scruff of its neck, and turn the mouse on its back. If it's not comfortable with that position, hold the animal in your hand with its rear end facing you.

Then, holding onto the base of its tail, lift it so that the genitals are in clear view. It's important to lift the mouse at the base of its tail and never to have all of its feet in the air. Have at least the mouse's two front legs touching a surface. If you hold the mouse by its tail and let it hang, you risk the chance of breaking its tail or even snapping its back. You don't want to harm the mouse or cause it any pain. [1] Pinkies, or newborn mice, can get cold very fast. So only handle them for brief periods of time. They are also extremely fragile so avoid lifting them by the tail. 3 Look at the distances between the anus and the genitalia. The anus is the opening directly under the tail. Depending on the age of the mouse, it can be quite obvious or too difficult to sex. Young mice are very difficult to sex and the anogenital distances between sexes can almost look the same, so don't feel silly if you sex them incorrectly. It would be helpful to compare multiple mice side-by-side until you are able to see a difference in distances.

In some cases, you may not have more than one mouse or all the anogenital distances look quite similar. Consult a book on mice or search the internet for pictures or diagrams demonstrating the sex differences between mice. Many sources provide visuals of mice's sex differences in every stage of growth. 4 Determine a mouse as female. A female mouse has a genital area that is much closer to the anus. The urethra is usually within about 1⁄4 inch (0.6 cm) on an adult mouse. Females will have a vaginal orifice behind the urethra which may appear to look like a bump. 5 Determine a mouse as male. A male mouse has a genital area much farther away from the anus than in females. You may also see its testicles if they are dropped. A good way to tell the difference between testicles and a female's urethra, is if there is a vaginal orifice or opening behind the bump. You can also try to look for the presence of testicles. Adult male mice will have dropped testicles and can be quite obvious to spot. However, you may have to be patient, because a male mouse can withdraw his testicles into his body.

One way to get a good look is to wait for the mouse to eat while 'standing' on the rim of its food bowl. Most of the time his testicles will descend during this position. [2] However, the absence of testicles does not necessarily mean a mouse is female. Other methods may need to used to confirm the sex of the mouse. Method Using the Nipple Method 1 Position the mouse to view its stomach. Take the mouse by the scruff of its neck, and turn the mouse on its back in your hand. However, nipples may be obscured by fur on the mouse's stomach. Try to part the fur or feel the belly to see if you can spot the nipples. It can be difficult to spot nipples on pinkies but with good lighting and an observant eye, you can spot nipples as early as three days after birth. 2 Look for nipples to determine a mouse as female. Male mice do not have nipples. While female mice have 10 nipples and should look like little indentations. The most prominent nipples are the two by the genitalia. Pregnancy is usually an easy visual determination of sex, as the doe's nipples will swell and drop, forming "saddlebags" around the hip area.

However, not all mice will be as obvious, and for some, obese males may look just like pregnant females. Try gently palpating the "saddlebags". You might be able to feel distinct nodes, which are likely the pups. Community Q&A Where do I buy mice? wikiHow Contributor The best way to acquire a mouse is through a reputable small scale breeder, rescue or animal shelter. Mice acquired from pet shops are often bred in large quantities, under socialized and over not very healthy. How do rats have babies? wikiHow Contributor The same way people do. In order for a rat to have babies, she must be bred to a male rat. Gestation (the time between conception and birth) is normally 19-21 days but can be as long as 28 days. The rat will then deliver the babies, one by one, usually at night time. She will clean each one and stimulate the baby to breath by doing so. She will then eat the afterbirth and begin nursing her pups. How do I tell if my mouse is pregnant? wikiHow Contributor There is no sure way to tell, but you may notice her building an nest, eating more than usual, and having an enlarged stomach area.

What does it mean if my gray mouse is bleeding from the vaginal area? wikiHow Contributor It could mean she is pregnant and going into labor. If your mouse is not pregnant, then any bleeding from the vaginal area is abnormal and could signal a dangerous health problem. Severe bleeding from a pregnant mouse could be a sign of complications from the birth. Mice do not have periods the way humans do, so any bleeding that cannot be explained by the normal birthing process should be considered a life threatening problem and the mouse should be seen by a vet as soon as possible. Can a mouse's gender be ascertained by its color? wikiHow Contributor No, a mouse of either gender can display an array of different colors, patterns and fur types. You can have a male and female that look identical by color alone. Can you tell a baby rat's sex by the color of its eyes? wikiHow Contributor If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Tips Separate your mice by sex as soon as possible. If there are mice you are uncertain of their sex, put them in a third separate category to be sexed later on. Don't breed female mice older than 8 months.

They are considered elderly at this point and in most cases, death will be the result after or during pregnancy. [3] Warnings Do not pick up mice by the tail. Hold them gently in your hand and handle them delicately. Never breed a doe more than 3 times in their lifetime. If you do not separate your mice by sex, unwanted pregnancies can happen quite quickly and as early as 4 weeks after birth. Having babies can be quite hard for mice and some females can die during childbirth. Mouse Facts: Habits, Habitat & Types of Mice Mouse Facts: Habits, Habitat & Types of Mice By Alina Bradford, Live Science Contributor | June 26, 2014 03:34pm ET MORE A mouse with a window surgically implanted in its belly. Though the tiny window, scientists could watch cancer cells grow and spread in real-time. Credit: Laila Ritsma and Dr. Jacco van Rheenen. A mouse is a small rodent with a pointed nose, furry round body, large ears and a long, often hairless, tail. There are hundreds of types of mice, divided into subfamilies of either Old World or New World species.

Common varieties include deer mouse, house mouse, field mouse, wood mouse, dormouse, spiny mouse and zebra mouse. Though some people talk about mice and rats as if they were the same thing, they are actually different types of animals in the rodent family. Rats generally are larger than mice, and they can be bald, scaly and cylinder-shaped. People can become infected with hantavirus by exposure to rodent droppings, particularly those of the deer mouse. Credit: Steven Russell Smith Photos ShutterStock Size Mice come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Some common mice colors are white, brown and grey. Some are very tiny and others are around the size of a baked potato. Mice typically grow from 1 to 7 inches (2.54 to 18 centimeters) in length and weigh between 0.5 and 1 ounce (.23 to .028 kilograms). The African pygmy is the smallest known mouse on the planet. It measures 1.2 - 3.1 inches (3.04 to 7.874 cm) and can weigh less than .35 ounces (.01 kg). These measurements do not include tail length.

Some mice have tails that are as long as their bodies. Where do mice live? Mice are hardy creatures that are found in nearly every country and type of terrain. They can live in forests, grasslands and manmade structures easily. Mice typically make a burrow underground if they live out in the wild. Their burrow helps protect them from predators. Their natural predators are cats, birds, wild dogs and foxes. Mice are nocturnal, meaning they like to sleep during the day. This is why pet mice or house mice can be heard playing or foraging during the night. Most wild mice are timid toward humans and other animals, but they are very social with other mice. Domestic mice are very friendly toward humans and can make good pets for older children and adults. According to the RSPCA , mice are very territorial. Even domestic mice like to have a large area that they can claim as their own. What do mice eat? If you believe what you see in cartoons, you would think that mice eat cheese. Actually, they like to eat fruits, seeds and grains. They are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and meat, and the common house mice will eat just about anything it can find.

In fact, if food is scarce, mice will even eat each other. Mice have voracious appetites. They eat around 15 to 20 times per day, so they build their homes nearby places that have readily accessible food sources. Baby mice When homes are infested with mice, humans will often find chewed up wires, books, papers and insulation around their home. Mice aren't eating these items, they are chewing them into pieces that they can use to make their nests. This is because mice nests are made from whatever the female mouse can find. At around 4 to seven weeks old, a female mouse will mate and have young. She will carry her young for 19 to 21 days and give birth to four to a dozen babies, according to the University of Florida . Mice can have a new litter of babies every three weeks. Mice have unusual names. Females are does, males are bucks and babies are called pinkies because of their bright pink color. Baby mice are also called pups. Pet mice can live up to six years, while wild mice usually only live around 1 to 2.5 years.

Classification/taxonomy According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the taxonomy of mice is: Kingdom: Animalia Family: Muridae Subfamilies: Murinae (Old World rats and mice), Sigmodontinae (New World rats and mice) Genera & species: Hundreds, including Mus musculus (house mouse), Apodemus flavicollis (yellow-necked field mouse), Apodemus sylvaticus (wood mouse), Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse), Micromys minutus (Eurasian harvest mouse) and Muscardinus avellanarius (hazel dormouse) Conservation status: Mice trained to fear a specific scent pass on that knowledge to their babies and grandbabies through changes to their DNA. Credit: Floris Slooff , Shutterstock Most mice have healthy populations, though there are a few species that are endangered, such as the Alabama beach mouse. Massive hurricanes in past years have nearly wiped out their natural habitat. New Mexico's jumping mouse is also endangered due to wildfires, drought and other threats. Other facts Mice are much like humans in how their bodies and minds work.

This is why laboratories use mice as test subjects for medicines and other items that may be used on humans. Nearly all modern medicine is tested on mice before they go to human medical trials. Mice are tough little creatures when they have their minds set on a crunchy scorpion snack. They can withstand multiple scorpion bites . Mice can feel temperature changes and alterations in ground terrain through their whiskers. While communicating with each other, mice make ultrasonic as well as regular sounds. Most mice are very good jumpers. They can jump nearly 18 inches (46 cm) in the air. They also are talented climbers and swimmers. A mouse's heart can beat 632 beats per minute . A human heart only beats 60 to 100 beats per minute. A wood mouse will shed its tail if the tail is caught by a predator. Nina Sen contributed to this article. Other resources: What is a female mouse called? - TVDM - The Hindu What is a female mouse called? What is a female mouse called?

September 09, 2008 00:00 IST Updated: October 10, 2016 05:59 IST Share Article September 09, 2008 00:00 IST Updated: October 10, 2016 05:59 IST (T. Anand, Madurai) Do you remember the opening lines of the song ‘Doe a deer’ from the movie ‘Sound of Music’? It goes ‘Doe a deer, a female deer’. Believe it or not, you can also sing the song by replacing the word ‘deer’ with ‘mouse’, and you would not be wrong: ‘Doe a mouse, a female mouse.’ A female mouse, I understand, is called a ‘doe’ and the male is called a ‘buck’. A baby mouse can be called a ‘kitten’ (sounds odd, doesn’t it?), ‘pinkie’ or ‘pup’! S. UPENDRAN UPENDRANKYE@GMAIL.COM Breeding and Maintaining Mice Breeding and Maintaining Mice General Resources How do I handle mice?

Most strains of mice are quite docile, and will not bite unless provoked. If the mice become upset, do something else and return to them after they have calmed down. Transferring mice from cage to cage. Gently pick up the mouse by the tail with a gloved hand. Grasping the mouse by the base of the tail will give you greater control. Tailless mice may be grasped by the scruff of the neck. Relax and handle the mice gently. In most circumstances, if you are relaxed, if the mouse makes an attempt to bite you, it will be a gentle exploratory nibble that will not hurt. A few strains, particularly wild-derived strains, are very active and can pose problems for handling. Long forceps (Fisher 10-316C) are helpful with these strains. Forceps should not be used unless necessary for the protection of the handler. Checking plugs, inspecting mice. For checking plugs, and some other observations, a little more control of the mouse is required. Transfer the mouse to the top of the cage with the bars of the cage running left-right.

Grasp the mouse by the base of the tail between thumb and forefinger and place the rest of your fingers of the grasping hand on the sacrum and lumbar region of the mouse. When you grasp the mouse, it will pull away from you with its front legs on the bar of the cage, enabling you to inspect its nether regions. Handling mice for marking, injections and gavage. Complete control of the mouse is required for marking, injections and gavage. The following instructions will result in a mouse immobilized in your left hand, with the right hand free. Place the mouse on top of the cage bars, with the bars running left-right. Grasp the tail with your right hand and then scruff the mouse with your left hand. Scruffing the mouse properly is the key to success. You want to immobilize the head of the mouse, and to accomplish this, all loose skin around the back of the neck must be scruffed. To get all this skin in your grip, start your scruffing motion low on the shoulders of the mouse, thumb on one side, and index finger on the other. The skin on the back of the mouse can be trapped between the remaining fingers and palm.

For gavage and injection, the body of the mouse needs to be immobilized as well: stretch the body of the mouse by gently pulling the tail with your right hand and hook the little finger of your left hand over the tail. A more extensive, detailed description of how to perform gavage is given here . If you are not constrained to work on the mice at a particular time of day, you may find it easier to work on the mice in the morning to early afternoon. Mice are at their most active just before the lights go out, and are often more difficult to handle late in the day. How do I tell males from females? The distance between the external genitalia and the anus is greater in males than in females at all postnatal stages. After about two weeks of age, the nipples of females are typically visible, whereas the nipples of males are not. In adults, the scrotum of the male (and testes, if they are everted) is an obvious marker. For pre-adults, orient the cage so that the bars run left-right and put the mouse on the wire rack of the cage.

Grasp the tail of the mouse between the thumb and forefinger, and place the other fingers on the back of the mouse and bend the butt end of the mouse up to you. The mouse will try to pull away from you using the bars of the cage. It is easiest to sex newborn mice if the genital region of the mouse is fully extended: pick the mice up and gently bend the lower back slightly to stretch the genital region. In pigmented strains, male newborn mice have a spot of pigment over the scrotum. At about two weeks of age, the nipples of female mice are more prominent than those of males. Embryos and fetuses can be typed by PCR with the primers SMCX-1 5'CCGCTGCCAAATTCTTTGG3' and SMC4-1 5'TGAAGCTTTTGGCTTTGAG3'. Females give a single band and males give two bands because of an intron difference between the X and Y genes (Agulnik et al. 1997 Mamm.

Genome 8, 134-138.) Alternatively, Jarid 1c F CTGAAGCTTTTGGCTTTGAG & Jarid 1 c R CCACTGCCAAATTCTTTGG primers amplify a band of 331 bp in females but two bands of 302 and 331 bp in males: Clapcote SJ, and Roder JC. Biotechniques 2005 38(5): 702. Simplex PCR assay for sex determination in mice. PMID: 15945368 . How do I mate mice? If you are not in a rush to produce a lot of offspring, house a male mouse with one or two female mice. The mice can be left together until the pups are ready to be weaned if the cage doesn't get too crowded. If you need mice of predominantly of one sex, you can remove the unwanted sex a few days after birth (don't disturb the moms during the first 24 hours after birth). The remaining pups will grow faster.

However, you should be aware that females are better mothers if they have at least 3 pups to care for, so don't cull too severely. If you need to expand a strain quickly, you can mate females in estrus with the males every day and check plugs the next morning. House females of similar plug dates together through to weaning of the pups. For many strains, two pregnant females and their litters can be housed together until weaning, although you may find that particularly fecund strains like CD1 require that the cage be split to avoid overcrowding. The IACUC guidelines for mice with litters limit the number of mice to 2 adults and no more than 20 pups. How long is gestation? Gestation is 18 to 20 days, depending on the strain. How can I prevent mothers from cannibalizing their litters? Mice are social and care better for their young when they are housed with friends. House females continuously with the sire, or house pregnant females together, or house a pregnant female with a non-pregnant female. However, do not add mice to a cage just a few days before birth, as this will disturb them.

First time mothers and very young females are less likely to raise a litter successfully than experienced mothers and more mature females. Mothers and their litters should not be disturbed the first day after birth. By the second day, mothers should have acquired full maternal behavior and will tolerate disruptions better. Adverse environmental conditions such as sudden loud noises and inadequate ventilation can also have a detrimental effect. Some strains are more maternal than others (see Jax' listing of strain characteristics ). In difficult situations, you can foster the pups to a more maternal strain or cohouse a pregnant mouse of a maternal strain at the same or more advanced stage of pregnancy (with a different coat color) together with your problematic mom. You can keep one or several cages of outbred mating pairs (for example, CD1 mice from Charles River ) on hand for fostering pups. A detailed description of how to foster mice provided by the Jackson Laboratory is available here . In addition, see the section below on increasing reproductive performance. When should mice be weaned? Mice should be weaned at 3 to 4 weeks after birth. Pups must be weaned if the same mom gives birth to a second litter.

The pups should be robust, active, have open eyes, teeth and adult fur rather than the sparser fur of babies. They need to be able to jump up to the top of the cage to feed and drink. If they are too immature, let them go longer with their mom. In many strains, pups ready to wean will "popcorn" when the cage lid is opened. If you are uncertain about their ability to well on their own, you can leave a little water-softened food in the bottom of the cage to help them through the first day or two. When do mice become sexually mature? Female mice become sexually mature at 6 weeks after birth and males at 8 weeks. What are the acceptable methods of euthanasia? Mice are narcotized by CO2 inhalation and then euthanized by cervical dislocation. Although CO2 alone can euthanize the animals, it must be ascertained if the animals have died (see the NIH guidelines on the use of CO2 alone ), thus cervical dislocation is recommended after the use of CO2. CO2 must be delivered from a tank, not from dry ice. The ARC provides tanks and chambers.

Let the gas flow for 1 minute to fill the chamber and leave the chamber closed for 5 minutes. The narcotization of mice is rapid, so do not leave the chamber unattended. Death should be ensured by cervical dislocation. In the different facilities at CWRU, mice can be left on the racks in a designated room to be euthanized by ARC staff. The mice must not be overcrowded, and must have sufficient food and water to last through working hours of the next working day. If unweaned pups are left without their mother, the ARC must be notified immediately so that euthanasia may be performed without delay. CO2 for euthanasia is cheap, convenient, effective and poses little risk for staff and investigators, but the humaneness of its use is increasingly debated. An alternative method of euthanasia is to anesthetize the mice with isoflurane before cervical dislocation. In a chemical fume hood (i.e. an explosion-proof hood vented to the outside), put a cap-full of isoflurane on tissues in the bottom of a small chamber (an empty plastic pipet tip box for euthanizing single mice), place the mouse inside and close the chamber.

When the mouse is immobile, open the chamber and perform cervical dislocation. Be aware that isoflurane is a health hazard, and exposure to personnel should be avoided by confining use to chemical fume hoods and anesthesia apparatus and by proper storage. Mice may be euthanized by cervical dislocation without anesthesia by experienced, competent individuals, if scientifically justified. The IACUC may require demonstration of proficiency in cervical dislocation. Cervical dislocation is performed by picking up the mouse by the base of the tail. The mouse is allowed to grip the bars of a transversely oriented cage top and while pulling gently backwards by the tail, the base of the skull is firmly gripped between thumb and index finger. To ensure humane euthanasia, cervical dislocation should be learned under supervision of a qualified individual. What are the acceptable methods of euthanasia for fetal and newborn mice? Newborn mice can be narcotized in a small plastic bag with CO2 from a gas cylinder, the bag is sealed, then the mice are euthanized by placing in a freezer.

Complete CWRU IACUC regulations and recommendations on acceptable methods of euthanasia of fetal mice (over 14 days of gestation), newborn mice and young mice are available here . What are the acceptable effective ways to mark mice? The IACUC regulates the marking of mice. Ear punching (Ear punchers: Fisher 01-337B, or Kent Scientific INS301202) can be done without anesthesia. The external ears are large enough to ear punch after 2 weeks of age. However, ear punches can become difficult to read after several weeks because of healing. For more permanent marking, removing the last joint of a toe without anesthesia during the first week after birth is acceptable. Only one toe can be clipped per limb. Anesthesia must be used for toe-clipping of mice older than one week. A scientific justification must be provided for the use of toe-clipping instead of other methods of identification. The complete CWRU IACUC policy on toe-clipping is here . Tattooing is an acceptable alternative, although it is less commonly used. India ink in a 1 ml syringe with a 30 gauge needle can be used to mark paws in different combinations.

Alternatively, commercial tattoo inks and tattooing devices are available ( ). In some instances, genotypes are needed at birth: tattooing with India ink of newborn paws with tail clipping works well in practice. Mice, including newborns, can be marked for a few hours with an indelible markerhowever, the ink is quickly removed by the moms or by grooming making remarking necessary. Implanted ID transponder chips are an alternative, if cost and labor are no obstacle. How are mice genotyped? An efficient way to manage your mice is to wean, ear punch, and genotype at the same time. Genotyping by PCR is the most efficient. Ideally, the PCR primers are specific to the mutation, rather than a generic set like primers to neo R or lacZ. Extensive information on developing and validating assays for genotyping mice is available here . A simple and reliable protocol for PCR from ear punches is provided here . Alternatively, Southern blots can be performed on toe DNA prepared by the method outlined here . How are males and females housed? Don't the males fight? Females can be housed five to a cage, and can be mixed with unfamiliar females without problems.

Special attention must be paid to the housing of males because of their propensity for fighting. Males will generally not fight if they are housed together from before sexual maturity through to old age. After sexual maturity, males will fight when introduced to a new male. For example, males that have been housed alone will fight with any introduced male. Therefore, stock males from the same litter should be housed together from a young age to conserve space. Males that are used as stud males are housed one per cage, and are never placed into a cage with other males. Signs of fighting between males manifest as bite wounds and can result in death. Females housed together will sometimes not get along and this can manifest as whiskers trimmed to the root, other sharply demarcated areas of hair loss without skin lesions (barbering), or bites on the back and hindquarters. Most often this behavior can be eliminated by housing the females in question at a lower density or by removing the dominant female (the one that still has her whiskers and has no bites). Mild to moderate barbering may not require separation, but merits closer observation in case aggression escalates. What is a plug? Plugs are useful for obtaining timed matings.

A plug is hardened semen blocking the vagina, and remain in place for about 12 hours after mating. Plugs are detected by visual inspection or by probing gently with a sterile toothpick or blunt probe (Fisher seeker 08-995) on a female immobilized as described above. Mating is assumed to occur at the midpoint of the dark cycle (midnight under a 12 hour on/off cycle starting at 6), and thus noon of the next day is 0.5 days of gestation. For a complete description of the stages of mouse embryogenesis and fetal development, see Hogan, B. L. M., Beddington, R., Costantini, F. and Lacy, E. (1994). "Manipulating the Mouse Embryo. A Laboratory Manual." Cold Spring Harbor Press. How do I tell if a mouse is in estrus? Female mice in estrus will be receptive to mating. By picking females in estrus, you can maximize the breeding of your mice, or obtain multiple females mated at the same time. You should expect two-thirds to three-quarters of mice in estrus to mate, on average.

Females in estrus have swelling of the lip of the vulva closest to the anus. Pick up the female by the tail in the proximal third, and with thumb and index finger holding the tail, let the mouse grasp the cage bar with forepaws and gently press down with the other fingers on the lower back and sacrum to tilt the genital-anal region up (a lordotic position). In estrus, the vulva is swollen, but the vagina does not gape open. The estrus cycle is 4 to 6 days, so about 1 in 5 females on average should be in estrus at any time if the females are cycling randomly. However, females housed continuously together can cycle together, or can exit the estrus cycle. Young females (6 to 8 weeks) are less likely to have stopped cycling. Exposure to male pheromones will restart the cycle, as can changing social groupings among females. Transfer of bedding from a sexually mature male's cage can be used to stimulate cycling. My mice are not breeding. What can be done to promote reproduction? Mice breed best if they are less than eight months old, so keep track of the age of your mice.

Strains with reduced fertility breed best when they are young, but even the most robust strains don't breed well after they are a year old. Know what to expect from your strain: the Jax listing of strain characteristics is useful in this regard. The amount of fat in the diet can have a significant effect on female fecundity (more fat, more fecund), but increased fat can have a detrimental effect on stud performance. The ARC can provide your mice with an alternate chow with a higher fat content (standard diet is Purina 5010, a low fat chow; Purina 5021 is a high fat chow). Sudden noises can have a detrimental effect on breeding, as can poor air quality. Privacy provided by "love shacks" (K.L.A.S.S. 4960 Almaden Expressway, Suite 233, San Jose, CA 95118, USA. Tel: (408) 266-1235 mouse nesting boxes MB-01) or nestlets (VWR 10279-140) can help shy strains. The light-dark cycle has significant effects on mouse reproduction.

Ensure that your mice are on the appropriate cycle (12 hours light, 12 hours dark). In some cases, extending the light period (14 hours light and 10 hours dark) can improve reproductive success. My mouse has closed or enlarged eyes, tumors, alopecia, or seizures: what is wrong? Mice can suffer from a variety of illnesses. The spectrum of diseases is dependent on strain, housing conditions and a wide variety of other conditions, but the short list above gives many of the common ailments of mice. However, discuss the health of your mice with the veterinarian often. The ARC Morbidity and Mortality Report (MMR) card may be used by research staff to label the cage of an ill mouse to obtain examination of the animal by an ARC veterinarian. Place the back hard copy with the ARC logo on the animal's cage and deliver the top two copies to the veterinary technician office, EB12A. Useful resources on mouse health include The Jackson Laboratorys list of inbred strains of mice, which gives the susceptibility of different strains of mice to disease. The American Committee on Laboratory Animal Disease (ACLAD) web site . Should I be concerned about the genetic background of my mutant mice?

Genetic background can have a significant effect on mutant phenotype. For many mutants, you will want to have your mutation on a well characterized, robust, common inbred strain like C57Bl/6. A mutation typically is crossed onto the C57Bl/6 background for 10 generations, at which point it is considered congenic since the genome is expected to be 99.8% C57Bl/6. (Detailed information on the expected content of the genome at each backcross generation is available in Lee Silver's book, Mouse Genetics available online at The Jackson Laboratory). The mutation can be continued to be crossed to the inbred strain after this point. Mutants maintained by breeding among themselves can result in the fixation of new mutations within the strain, and so should be avoided. Throughout the breeding, knockout or transgenic strains genotyped by PCR should occasionally be verified by Southern blotting, since the vagaries of PCR have caused more than one lab to lose a mutant. Transgenic strains often lose expression of the transgene irreversibly through methylation of the insertion site, so it is wise to check transgenic lines for expression at each generation.

Cryopreserve your strain, if it is not one of the common, commercially available strains. Cryopreservation is available from local ( Case Transgenic and Targeting Facility and commercial services ( Jax ; Charles River ). In some instances, the greater robustness and reproduction of an outbred strain like CD1 (from Charles River ) is a sufficient advantage to offset the heterogeneity of the background, say, for example, in studies of embryogenesis. A number of the strains commonly used for making transgenic mice either are blind (FVB/NJ), or segregate a gene for blindness (B6SJLF1/J and B6CBAF1/J). The blindness in these strains is caused by recessive retinal degeneration by weaning due to the Pde6brd1 mutation. A listing of the affected strains, and a discussion of how to cope with this problem is here . Many inbred strains (including C57BL/6J) have the age-related hearing loss 1 (Ahl1) mutation, which causes degeneration of hearing starting at about 10 months of age, depending on genetic background (Johnson et al., (2000) Genomics 70:171).

How large a colony of mice should I maintain? The size of your mouse colony depends upon your needs. Given the costs of keeping mice, you should keep your colony as small as is practical. For strains that you are not currently using, a small breeding colony of several cages is sufficient (letting it get down to one cage is living on the edge--don't do it). Mice that don't breed are a dead end, so make sure that if you have reduced your holdings of a strain to a minimum, that the mice are fertile and young. Schedule breeding of replacement breeders so that breeders may be replaced when they are 6 to 8 months of age. Cryopreservation of mutants and strains is highly recommended for insurance against accidental loss. The structure of a breeding colony will depend on your needs. For those who need timed matings, a set of stud males individually housed and cages of non-pregnant females housed five to a cage are essential. For maintaining stocks by breeding, breeding pairs (male and female and litter) are typically part of the colony as well. A nice discussion of efficient breeding strategies to meet your needs is given by the UC Irvine Transgenic Core. How extensive should my breeding records be? What should I track?

Your particular needs will determine the level of detail that you will need in your breeding records. With large colonies, detailed record keeping can consume significant resources. However, detailed records are essential to solving problems when they arise. Records can be kept in a combination of lab notebooks and cage cards, in user-built databases, in commercial purpose-built databases ( Bigbench Mouse , Progeny's pedigree software ) or in free databases ( Laboratory Animal Management System (LAMS) ) or in a FileMaker database, using templates provided by others Caleb Davis' MouSeek , various FileMaker Database Templates constructed by different labs.) How do I ship/receive mice? All mice to be received at CWRU from institutions other than approved commercial vendors must be approved for receipt by the ARC. The Nonstandard Vendor Form (which can be downloaded as a pdf file here must be completed, a health report on the mice must be submitted, and a CWRU ARC veterinarian must approve shipment. Shipment must be directed to the receiving department at the Health Sciences Animal Facility. Once you are approved for shipment by the veterinarian, they will give you the address for receiving. Under no circumstances are mice to be received without prior approval.

Depending on the pathogen status of the mice, they may be approved for receipt into the clean or dirty quarantine. A major source of mouse pathogens is mice received from investigators at other institutions. The methods used for infectious agent monitoring are relatively insensitive, and exposure of mice to pathogens can occur during shipping. The best way to ensure that pathogens are not introduced is to rederive the incoming strain. The health status of all incoming mice not from commercial vendors are reviewed by the ARC, and they will make the decision whether rederivation or treatment is required before release from quarantine. Rederivation of mice can be performed by the Case Transgenic and Targeting Facility . The most expeditious way to ship and rederive is to ship frozen embryos or sperm, or live preimplantation embryos. Preimplantation embryos can be shipped, either cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen, or as blastocysts at room temperature by overnight delivery. Contact a transgenic service about cryopreservation and shipping frozen or room temperature embryos. Alternatively, live mice can be shipped. Shipping containers for mice can be purchased from Taconic and Zivic Miller . Food and water can be provided with "Napa Nectar" packets, available from Lenderking .

You should be aware that shipment of females in the first third of pregnancy usually results in the resorption of the embryos. Keep the weather forecast in mind when shipping: you don't want to ship in extreme cold or heat. When you are shipping mice to other institutions, they will want to know the health status of your mice and will probably want to contact the ARC veterinary staff. The ARC can assist with shipping mice to other institutions ( Nonstandard Vendor Export form ). (Some institutions will accept health info only from the animal facility, not from the sending PI.) How do I keep mice free from pathogens? There are a number of different levels of pathogen control. These levels run from commercial operations providing for axenic (sterile) and gnotobiotic (defined flora) housing, to the athymic and ultrabarrier facilities at CWRU, the ventilated rack systems of the Health Sciences Animal Facility and the Wolstein Mouse Facility, Static Microisolators to conventional caging. The majority of mice at CWRU are Specific Pathogen-Free. The procedures that you need to follow are set by the ARC and will depend upon the type of housing. However, a few general rules may be observed in all instances.

You should be consider that mouse pathogens will be most prevalent in mice, and therefore contact with mice which are potential pathogen carriers should be avoided: no pet rodents at home; escaped and wild mice in colonies should be trapped immediately; avoid contact with mice known to carry pathogens. Where to get more help. The Mouse as a Model System , information compiled by us about the genetics and biology of the mouse. The CWRU ARC provides hands on training in microisolator technique and mouse handling. Useful information on the background and practical side of mouse genetics can be found in Lee Silver's Mouse Genetics , now published online by The Jackson Laboratory. Hogan, B. L. M., Beddington, R., Costantini, F. and Lacy, E. (1994). "Manipulating the Mouse Embryo. A Laboratory Manual." Cold Spring Harbor Press Hetherington, M., Doe, B. and Hay, D. (2000). Mouse care and husbandry. In: "Mouse Genetics and Transgenics: A Practical Approach." Jackson, I. J. and Abbott, C. M. editors. Oxford University Press.

Question: What is a female mouse called?
Answer: Doe