mouse almost ready to deliver (+questions)

[ADEE]

Thats right... both of my females look nice and pregnant. one in particular looks like she could deliver today (will add photos) now my question is.. i would like the mommy to have her litter and be alone to care for them (inside our home in another cage, the other ones are outside in a bin the one i made and posted) This way I know it wont get too warm out there for her and her litter.. i thought it would also be nice to not have to compete for food and i know no other mouse (The male or other female) will kill her babies on me. My question is, when shes done delivering and a couple weeks go by do you think i will be able to put the mouse and her babies back in the bin outside or will the male kill them all off on me? Should I just let the preggy mommy stay outside with the other two mice?

What do YOU do?
I wouldnt want to breed her back to back because (a) i think she deserves a rest for awhile and (b) we would have *too* many mice with two females delivering almost at the same time.. I plan to make another bin soon to keep the babies as they grow up seperate from my breeding pair i guess.. suggestions?

[ADEE]

Mouse #1

photo was taken very quickly, she wasnt in this position but for a moment to take the photo, i wouldve held her under her arms like we do our pet rats but im dont want the mouse to bite me and considering we leave them alone and have never held them its a possibilitu


cowmouse (what the girl at the petstore named her)

same thing as before.. just goes to show, i didnt even wait for her to stop moving before i snapped the photo.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What do YOU do?

I have 2.12

I keep them in tubs, 2 females per tubs. The 2 males rotate between 3 tubs each spending 2 weeks in each tubs.

By the time the babies are weaned the male is back and breeding the female.

I retire the breeders after 5 litters

I keep all the offsprings in other bigger tubs, separated by gender.

I tried to have a harem but I was not successful, I ended up losing all the pinkies.

I think the most important is to find what works for you and keep in mind that the offspring are sexually mature as early as 5 weeks old.

[Reediculous]

Sorry i don't know anything about breeding rats.........but wow! Yes is really pregnant ....whose the daddy?........ ShaQ!

[ADEE]

ill have to get a pic of him.. again i dont typically touch these mice. im so scared of getting bitten lol (so silly i swear) im sure their nice animals i just dont trust them at all. (and they are so friendly looking lol) hes white/blk too. im not sure why we got such patterned breeder mice, guess i wanted to see the different variations they can have. but ill get my butt to it soon.

I think the second mouse is pregger too, shes just not as big as the first one.

[Reediculous]

ill have to get a pic of him.. again i dont typically touch these mice. im so scared of getting bitten lol (so silly i swear) im sure their nice animals i just dont trust them at all. (and they are so friendly looking lol) hes white/blk too. im not sure why we got such patterned breeder mice, guess i wanted to see the different variations they can have. but ill get my butt to it soon.

I think the second mouse is pregger too, shes just not as big as the first one.

Real cute......put your hand in there! "BAM"

[ADEE]

Real cute......put your hand in there! "BAM"

ah yeah.. thats why i have yet to do it lol!!

[Argentra]

Well, I only recently started my breeding, but I have 19 (it was 20) fuzzies and older pinks all together in the house with all three adults caring for them. My girls had their litters two days apart, and I left them totally alone for at least one day after delivering. It worked, and now they are being good little mousy parents.

As for picking them up... they can vary just as much as rats, but generally are just as nice. The only big difference is that you can't just hold them on your arm as easily as rats and should keep hold of the tail as you hold them. After a while, they'll get to know you and will just run around on you without trying to jump.

I personally wouldn't separate the mice, because you would be hard pressed to reintroduce them unless you put everyone into a whole new (read thoroughly clean) enclosure. For me, it's just easier to leave them all together and separate the babies by sex once they're weaned. I don't worry as much about back to back pregnancies either with the way my girls chase off the male when he tries anything with them.

[ADEE]

mouse #1 had her babies!!!

I just sneaked a peak and saw lots of babies with nice milk bands.. im going to wait till tomorrow to take a quick pic of them woo hoo!