Marking mice

Do any of you mark your mice lets say the male so when you open the cage i know theres one male in there and three females instead of picking up every mouse and checking.

The only way I ever found of permanently marking rodents was ear notching. I'm sure there's tiny ear tags, but I don't have access to those. I used to ear notch "keepers" that I was growing up, because I would keep females from good producing moms to be replacement breeders.

Never marked the males, usually the males have such large testicles that it wasn't a difficult task. Once I did have all the males of one color! Just only kept all black males for breeding. That didn't last long though, no reason, I just wanted different colors.

I don't mark my rodents so I know which sex is which (pretty easy to tell once they get big enough..), but I do mark my animals so I know which came from what breeding group. I tattoo tails with a code specific to each breeding group. This way, I minimize my inbreeding.

A bit much for rodents some say, but I like the system.

i think we need pics of these mouse tail tattoos lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BAMReptiles

i think we need pics of these mouse tail tattoos lol

---

+1...wtf there a 6 character minimum now... i can't just type "+1"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BAMReptiles

i think we need pics of these mouse tail tattoos lol

---

Yes, I have to say I am a bit interested in that too. I have never seen that done before, at least not on rodents.

I was looking for a way to permanently mark my soft furs to keep from inbreeding as much as I can. New blood isn't exactly easy to come by here in WV. I came across some information on labs tattooing animals and it went from there. It wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but I purchased a tattoo system from a company that specializes in that lab work and took their training classes.

It's quick, it's easy, and it's permanent. The ink I use is non-toxic and made for food animals. I don't get crazy with anchor or Love Mom tatts, but I just use a serious of dots and dashes.

I'll try to get some pictures next time I tattoo a batch of weans.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shadera

I was looking for a way to permanently mark my soft furs to keep from inbreeding as much as I can. New blood isn't exactly easy to come by here in WV. I came across some information on labs tattooing animals and it went from there. It wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but I purchased a tattoo system from a company that specializes in that lab work and took their training classes.

It's quick, it's easy, and it's permanent. The ink I use is non-toxic and made for food animals. I don't get crazy with anchor or Love Mom tatts, but I just use a serious of dots and dashes.

I'll try to get some pictures next time I tattoo a batch of weans.

---

Oh, no, if that were me I would be going to town. I would make their tails looks like snakes or something, ha ha.