Pregnant woodmouse

[Amylou]

Has anyone got any information on the behaviour of female woodmice giving birth?
Long shot i know but we caught a mouse today that was acting very strange. It was one we had caught before. Female 25g, which is quite heavy for a female so we presumed she was pregnant.

[Bub-les]

If you are catching pregnant mammals I would ask if you could postpone your trapping till a later time as it could be too stressful for them. I appreciate that they can breed at any time of the year but about now is most likely.
Barbara

[Amylou]

We only have one week of trapping left. I was told that you can tell if they are pregnant if they have obvous nipples. She didnt. So im asking what sort of behaviour they may exhibit.
I appreciate trapping can be stressful but we are very careful and check them a lot.

[eeyore]

i dont know ,myself but you may find some useful info here - mammal society factsheet on Wood Mice Activities: The Mammal Society - it might also be worth contacting them direct and asking for more info.

also look out for the john flowerdew book "mice and voles" which has lots of useful info

[Meles meles]

Originally Posted by Amylou

We only have one week of trapping left. I was told that you can tell if they are pregnant if they have obvous nipples. She didnt. So im asking what sort of behaviour they may exhibit.
I appreciate trapping can be stressful but we are very careful and check them a lot.

Apart from obvios nesting etc As far as i am aware there are few ways of detecting if she is pregnant or not. Could you feel any swelling around her nipples? even if they arent red and sore. Apologies not very helpful but i would agree with eeyore (try not to, too often lol) anyway if you only have a little time left to trap then would be worth making a direct call to someone.

[Dogghound]

I think i may have covered this on your other woodmouse thread. First look at the Reproductive tract, it should be well developed, pinkish and possibly moist. This tells you shes in season or not. She as the others say will have swollen mammae or slightly enlarged nipples if gravid. Regarding weight an adult female can weigh upto around 24/25g max without being pregnant, over 30g if heavily pregnant. Weight at birth is 1-2g.