How Many Babies Do Mice Have: Facts You Must Know
Mice are famous for their fast breeding cycles, which makes them one of the fastest-reproducing mammals. A female mouse can give birth multiple times a year. In an ideal environment, a mouse infestation can exponentially grow.
Whether you have a mouse pet or a mouse that has infested your place, understanding their reproductive behavior will help you deal with them a lot. In this blog, we will take you through how many babies mice can deliver, their mating period, and their rate of growth.
Understanding the Mouse Reproductive System
Mice’ sexual maturity lasts about six weeks and onward. This means they become able to breed very quickly. A female mouse can become pregnant the second it gives birth, making their breeding flow continuous. Their gestation period lasts for about 19-21 days, after which she gives birth to a litter of baby mice.
The litter size can range anywhere from 10-12 pups. Moreover, a female mouse can give birth 15 times within one year. This means one mouse can give birth to hundreds of young ones during her lifetime.
The baby pups are born blind, they depend on their mother’s warmth and their only source of food is their mother’s milk. In about two weeks, they start to look like miniature adults. If they aren’t controlled, they might even begin breeding again.
Factors like age, food sources, light cycles, and stress levels affect mice reproduction system. A lack of shelters, pet food, or nesting materials might also result in eliminated or eaten pups. This is why keeping the mouse population low with effective control measures is important before their population explodes.
How Many Babies Can Mice Produce at a Time?
Baby mice are born in litters of 3 to 14 pups, with an average of 6 to 8. Since they reproduce several times during a year, their numbers can increase exponentially.
If left unchecked, even a few mice can become a full-fledged mouse infestation numbering in the hundreds. It is estimated that about 70 babies a year can be produced by one mouse.
In fact, the baby mice are capable of breeding when they are 6 weeks old. With easy to access food and shelter, the population may increase further, creating a serious mouse population in homes, restaurants, or storage areas.
When Does Mouse Mating Begin?
Mating starts as soon as mice reach sexual maturity, usually about 6 to 8 weeks of age. In some cases, female mice can start mating in 5 weeks. When they encounter a male mouse, they mate almost instantly; approximately 3 weeks later, a new litter occurs.
Mice mating occurs frequently throughout the year, up to every 70 days. Therefore, if the population is left unchecked, there will be an explosive growth of populations. If pet owners want their female mice to stop breeding, they should keep them separate from male mice.
How Often Do Mice Reproduce?
Mice reproduce very rapidly. A female gets pregnant between 5 and 10 times a year, having between 3 and 14 pups on each occasion. That translates to a minimum of 32 to 56 pups for a single mouse each year.
Under ideal conditions, a pair of mice could produce thousands of mice within the first year. The female pups become sexually mature in just six weeks and soon grow into mamas themselves.
This is why, one can see why their population grows at an alarming rate as long as it has food sources, be it boxed food, pet food, or tiny crumbs on the kitchen floor.
What Is the Life-Span of Mice?
Mice are known for a very short life span. However, they can still reproduce at a very alarming level. While wild mice hardly live for one year, household ones with security, food, and warmth can reach two to three years.
That is why, it is not an effective method to get rid of mouse infestation by just waiting for them to die on their own. Wherever they’ve food sources such as an abundance of pet food or stored food items, they will keep breeding all year, posing serious problems to homeowners.
How Fast Can Mice Reproduce?
Every 19 to 21 days, a female mouse gives birth to a litter. Immediately after, she becomes able to be pregnant again within 24 hours. This means you may expect another litter in less than one month. With shelter, warmth, and an ample food source, their numbers multiply easily, bringing more difficulty to control mice without direct intervention.
Simple Ways to Get Rid of Baby Mice
1. Identify Nesting Areas
To control mice, the first step is to find out where they live. Check for shredded materials, mouse droppings, and nests in hidden areas. The most important places to inspect are kitchen appliances, plastic containers and behind furniture.
2. Use Mouse Traps and Baits
Set mouse traps along baseboards, common areas, and food storage spaces. You can also use glue traps, sticky mouse traps, snap traps, poisons and effective baits to eliminate mice. While placing, timing is everything, as mice learn over time to avoid traps.
3. Keep Food in Secure Containers
Store all food items in glass containers or chew-proof plastic containers. Also, cleaning up crumbs while sealing boxed food items can cut off their food sources.
Conclusion
Mice can breed and multiply into millions in your homes and become uncontrollable if not checked. A mouse gives birth to dozens of babies in a year, and just weeks later, these pups start breeding.
Controlling food sources, blocking access, and using traps whenever necessary are the key to preventing a mouse infestation. If you want to get rid of them, you have to act quickly before things start getting out of your hands.
FAQs
1.How many babies a mice can give within a year?
On average, a female mouse can give birth 5-10 times a year. In each litter, there can be 3-14 pups at a time. This means a female mouse can give birth to around 140 babies.
2.How much time does it take for baby mice to become an adult?
It takes two weeks for a newborn pup to grow. In the third week, they become young adults and ready to observe their surroundings.
3.How can I stop mice from breeding in my house?
There are many effective ways. You can seal entry points, store your food in chew-proof containers, and use mouse traps. Also, make sure to keep your house clean because mice hate clean homes to live in.
Want To Get Rid of Baby Mice In Your House?
Those baby mice may look cute to many, but they can multiply into thousands before you notice. If you want to avoid such situations, let our professional pest control services help you get rid of the house safely.