What exactly will I need?

[PurplePython]

I am going to start breeding my own mice sometime within the next 3-4 weeks. Before I get ahead of myself, I want to know exactly everything that I will need for the breeding. How many tanks? How many females/males? What age should they be? After they have babies, can I leave them all in the same tank? Anything else I need to know would be great also.

Thanks guys. Any websites that would help explain the process would be great also. I cant seam to find any good ones that are easy to follow or understand.

[Jay_Bunny]

How many you need depends on how many mice you want to produce. Other than that you can keep males in with females, so you will need an enclosure for each group. A 10g tank can hold one male and 3 females. You will want enclosures to hold the feeders you produce. I personally like to separate male and female feeders so I use two 20g long tanks. If you plan to rotate males, you will need extra enclosures for the males. I breed in groups so I do not move the male around. In each enclosure I use pine pellet bedding. Very cheap and keeps the smell down. I get 40lbs for $7. I use a layer of aspen shavings over that and change the bedding about once a week. I provide toilet paper rolls for them to hide in and chew. I also give them small boxes and other things to chew on. I feed Mazuri 6f as a staple diet and supplement with fresh fruits and veggies.

I like breeding females to be about 8-10 weeks. I used to wait until 12 weeks old, but many of my females have been big enough by 8-10 weeks to begin breeding. Males can start breeding as soon as their testicles drop.

[PurplePython]

How many you need depends on how many mice you want to produce. Other than that you can keep males in with females, so you will need an enclosure for each group. A 10g tank can hold one male and 3 females. You will want enclosures to hold the feeders you produce. I personally like to separate male and female feeders so I use two 20g long tanks. If you plan to rotate males, you will need extra enclosures for the males. I breed in groups so I do not move the male around. In each enclosure I use pine pellet bedding. Very cheap and keeps the smell down. I get 40lbs for $7. I use a layer of aspen shavings over that and change the bedding about once a week. I provide toilet paper rolls for them to hide in and chew. I also give them small boxes and other things to chew on. I feed Mazuri 6f as a staple diet and supplement with fresh fruits and veggies.

I like breeding females to be about 8-10 weeks. I used to wait until 12 weeks old, but many of my females have been big enough by 8-10 weeks to begin breeding. Males can start breeding as soon as their testicles drop.

Okay tell me if I got this right, lol.

Alls I basically need is 2 tanks. 1 tank holding 1 male and 3 females, and the other tank holding all of the offspring correct?

How long should I keep the babies in the tank with the 3 females and 1 male? Or do I need to remove the 1 male and 2 other females away from the 1 pregnant female?

[tomfromtheshade]

I learned long ago that even if you are breeding a small number of rodents you are always better off building a rack system.

You can keep the male and the females together all the time. They will breed continuously.

You will want to pull the babies at 21 days old and separate them by sex by 28 days old.

[PurplePython]

I learned long ago that even if you are breeding a small number of rodents you are always better off building a rack system.

You can keep the male and the females together all the time. They will breed continuously.

You will want to pull the babies at 21 days old and separate them by sex by 28 days old.

what kind of rack/tubs do you use for your mice? Would a simple cheap rack with tubs from the dollar store or walmart work fine for breading mice?

[Jay_Bunny]

You could do that, though I prefer to separate the feeders by sex. Breeding a small number of rodents like a 1.3 group won't require a rack though tanks are bulky and IMO hard to clean. They also do not provide good ventilation. You could make one of the rodent tubs in the DIY section. Those would be cheap to make and work great for rodents.

And tomfromtheshade is right. Wean the babies at 3-3.5 weeks old and separate them by sex by 4 weeks old.

[PurplePython]

You could do that, though I prefer to separate the feeders by sex. Breeding a small number of rodents like a 1.3 group won't require a rack though tanks are bulky and IMO hard to clean. They also do not provide good ventilation. You could make one of the rodent tubs in the DIY section. Those would be cheap to make and work great for rodents.

And tomfromtheshade is right. Wean the babies at 3-3.5 weeks old and separate them by sex by 4 weeks old.

okay thanks a lot for the help. Thats going to be my next project. Setting up a rodent tub and getting the whole breeding process rolling before I start adding to my collection of BPs

[Jay_Bunny]

The rodent tubs a TON easier to clean and lift than tanks. You can also provide them with ventilation on the side which helps keep the rodents healthy and comfortable and keeps the smell down too. Keep us updated on what you put together and post some pictures of new mice when you get them.

[PurplePython]

The rodent tubs a TON easier to clean and lift than tanks. You can also provide them with ventilation on the side which helps keep the rodents healthy and comfortable and keeps the smell down too. Keep us updated on what you put together and post some pictures of new mice when you get them.

Oh you can count on pictures man. In the next 3-4 weeks I plan on having my whole mouse breeding operation done and all set up nice and rolling....

Plus a couple weeks after that I plan on getting a snake rack (but I am still unsure on where to get one that would fit what I am looking for).

I will make sure to take lots of pictures of my breeding setup and my new rack if I get it.

[RichsBallPythons]

I am going to start breeding my own mice sometime within the next 3-4 weeks. Before I get ahead of myself, I want to know exactly everything that I will need for the breeding. How many tanks? How many females/males? What age should they be? After they have babies, can I leave them all in the same tank? Anything else I need to know would be great also.

Thanks guys. Any websites that would help explain the process would be great also. I cant seam to find any good ones that are easy to follow or understand.

If breeding mice you will want a rack type setup with good ventilation. Tanks make Mice stink way faster.

I currently breed 20 groups of 3.6 and i never take out the males ever. This produces me 500 or so mice monthly. Be sure if you over produce you have a steady buyer for the extras.

Females usually dont get pregnant till thier 6-8 weeks old, but males will start mating at 4 weeks old if they were ready.