breeding mice for colors questions

who separates there mice according to colors to keep a stock of pure colors to work with i keep my albinos separated then masked with masked or oranges with oranges this way when lines do start to feign i throw a female of each color in with a male of a different color so once all are done this way it gives it seems a contrast to what was there reinvigorating the stock or so it seems



also how long do you guys use a male as the father for till you replace him i use mine pretty much till they die (no i don't keep the male breeding hard core to the end) but once he don't seem to want to get all his females pregnant in a month i drop the number of females down in his cage to less so as he ages he still gets to breed just not as much as he did in the beginning


also who separates the pregnant females out to a cage for them to have the babies with out being bothered by the male

I used to breed for colors, but it is hard to keep track with doing the snakes too. I just do the albinos and that is it, now there also isn't the "Aw,that one is too cute, I have to keep it".

I don't necessarily breed for specific colors, but I do have fun putting two completely different mice together and seeing what kind of babies they have. If I notice a male getting sickly or slow, he gets fed, and females get fed after I think they've had enough. My males and females stay together all the time, and they're in groups of 1 to 3, or 4. The females can actually become pregnant again almost immediately after giving birth. When I switch out a male or a female for a new one, all of the established adults from that group go in the grow out tub for a day or two, and the young one I'm bringing into that group goes in their dirty cage. That way, he or she already smells like the group, and the group smells like the grow out tub. I've had very minimal to no fighting this way. (There is usually a little fighting when I put the group into the grow out tub, but I try to put them in when their current batch of babies is big enough, so they're still in "mothering mode" and don't seem to mind all the babies) It's always fun to play around with their colors though, even if it does make it harder to feed them off :rolleyes:

I find that albinos make better breeders than most colored mice. Like posted above, you do not really get attached to albinos, and if you do, throw that mouse in with the others, close the tub, and waalaa, you no longer know which mouse you where just holding :P Its better because instead of going with your favorite color, you choose the biggest and the best to keep back as breeders, because thats all you have to go by to choose.

for picking breeders i don't go by which is biggest i go by which show they are the dominant mouse yes it usually ends up being the biggest but not always. i got a male about half the size of my main male and if the 2 even see each other the smaller tries to fight him threw the glass so i keep the Lil mean sucker in a cage higher then the rest so he can't see any of the other mice that aint in his cage. he's very territorial he will even fight with a new female mouse if i put her in with him. (but if i put him in the females cages whole different story)


and there just herp food so to me it makes no difference what color they are. i just keep the color separated so when need new stock can mix babies from different breeder color cages

I separate mine out into patterns, letting the colors mingle. I have solids, patched, and brindles.

I never separate preggo females, dads help raise babies too. Once I notice the males slowing down and getting fat and lazy, I feed them off and add another. Same with the girls.

i separate mine cause it seems my other females get jealous or something and try to kill the babies. but when i separate i noticed if you got let say 5 pregnant females and they are due around the same time put them together and they take care of each others babies from the get go mine will actually start nursing the others babies shortly after they are born but if left in with the males and UN pregnant females they kill the babies or at least they due that to me


also whats a fat mouse i never seen one