First try at mice

I thought i would try my hand at breeding mice.
After 2 months a female of mine had about 12+ babies.
Today wake up to a scattered pile of dead babies.
They killed them and took a bite out of two.

Sorta bummed.
Been giving mealworms and fresh foods daily.

I think I will hit up Tractor supply depot and get some Mazuri today.

At least my milksnake has plenty of pinkies now.

Where did you get your mice? Starting with good stock is a key factor in success.
Were they provided with all the necessary food, water, and bedding? Was it a first litter?

To me, 12 is a large litter size for a mouse to handle. I usually cull mine down to 6 maximum. This results in less strain on the mother, and healthier, fatter babies. That might not be the best for a person breeding specifically for feeders, but it's something to think about.

Also, did you separate the male and female after the litter was born? You may want to try that also. The female can be bred immediately after littering, and this causes a lot of stress. The male will chase her around, sometimes while she is delivering, trying to mate. IF the female becomes pregnant, then she is also trying to have her body provide for 2 entire litters at one time, which is typically too much stress on the female, to produce healthy babies.

If the babies are not healthy, the mother would rather kill them off, than strain her own body, and risk her life just to take care of babies that may not make it.

I got my mice from a local breeder.

Yeah, I knew she was going to burst at any moment so yesterday i cleaned all my cages so she would have nice clean bedding for the babies.

She was a first time mom

They have at all times rodent block (store kind) and water.
I give them mealworms, oats and any leftover veggies and such on a daily basis.

I didn't seperate the male :/
I thought about it but wasn't sure if the female would wig out or not.

A few ladies who breed around here leave their males in so i figured if it works for them then why not.

Thanks for the really good info.

I would really like to avoid something like this again

I have 2 1:3 setups

So I think contributing factors were, leaving the male in, being a first time mom, and cleaning the cage. These all probably caused her stress, and when they added up together, either she, or the male, or both, killed off the litter.


Good luck next time man!

u can just leave the male in for 2 weeks that's what i do with my rats and i never clean a tank b4 a birth ill wait till after .. i deal with rats tho so im not so sure on mice but they cant be that far off from each other .. n the fact that she was a 1st time mom is y this could of happened also u said u got 2 1.3 set ups .. where the other females in the tank with her?

Yea steve i have 2 other females with her. Thanks


Thanks a buttload Rhas

So is it a problem to leave the females together? I know people do it but Im just trying to be ready for the next bunch

It can cause a issue I believe especially if they were all just put together my females stay 2 to a tub n have been with each other since pups .. id seperate the other 2 cause chances r there prego also .. so split them up n see what happens

Some females have problems colonizing with other breeding females, others have no problems. Since I breed few litters, with special genetics goals in mind, I always separate my females once they start showing. I leave the male in the cage until the female looks pregnant, then separate them, but usually try to clean the cage 1 week before I think she's gonna pop so it's not a shock.

When I was breeding mice, I found that they needed a lot of security sort of like snakes do. I provided the mice with hides and found that helped nervous mothers a lot. Changing the cage the day before she gave birth sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately it probably added stress. Having a female by herself may help, but good quality feeder breeder mice shouldn't need that sort of coddling. Also, a good feeder breeder mouse momma can raise 12 babies, but the babies will grow noticeably slower than in a smaller litter.

I kept mine in established harems, 1.4, and once I put them together I never switched them around, except if I had a female die or wasn't appearing to ever get pregnant I'd take her out and let one of the females born in that colony grow up without ever removing her from the colony.

I had a lot of trouble getting my mice started, but once I was breeding females I had raised up it was TONS easier. I think maybe they just never feel as secure in a new home as they do in the home they have been raised in. As soon as you get a successful litter, keep back some females and start using them as your breeders. They can be bred pretty much as soon as they are weaned, although it is probably better for them to wait a few weeks.

Whenever I wanted to add some new blood, I always brought in males. I didn't want to deal with females that were nervous and likely to eat their babies.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/24/eqyty6ut.jpg

Cant really get a pic of the other one cause the female buried the entire hide. :rolleyes:

I will get more but I'm nervous to move or touch anything.

Im really looking forward to cleaning these cages.
stinky little guys