Temp regulation in Mouse tubs

What temp range do you need for mice to breed and how can one regulate the temps in a rubbermaid tub?

I recently moved my 1.2 mice into a tub with similar proportions to a 10gal tank, but with more floor space. The entire center of the lid is window screen and I placed adhesive felt to the outsides of each side and most of the back (ran out). The thermometer in there says 73.

I have these three mice for breeding, and have owned them since late August, but nothing is happening. True, I got them from my feeder supplier as 'adults' where they are separated by size not age, so they were all together in a trough tub with many others. Could they be too old? What would be the best way to get a small breeder group going?

I have my mice in the garage and it is about 60 degrees in there now and I have great production, so temp is not that big of an issue IMO....as long as its 60-80..(room temp)...
Mice are strangely hard to breed...much harder than rats...What I did is I just put 1.2 per tub and left them alone...after almost 2 mos, they were all prego, and now I have consistent litters ever since....
In your case, if nothing happened since August, I would feed the females off and get 2 younger females....

I've always found with the rodents (we do rats, both regular and ASF...I never had a bit of luck with mice) that too hot is way worse than too chilly. Rodents just don't do well in the heat and their tanks/tubs can build up more heat than you're aware of fast. Also ventilation is a must especially with mice.

Cool. Thanks for the input. I guess it's just the reptile 'specialist' in me that freaks out when temps get low...even when dealing with mammals. I know that rodents are really sensitive to heat, because that's how we lost one of our rats this past summer. After that I made sure to have a fan on a timer near their cage. For ventilation, would you recommend melting some holes along the top of the tub sides in addition to the screen in the lid?

I guess the mice I got are too old, or someone is infertile. Figures...:rolleyes: So, what age/size should I get to insure breeding? Would it work to raise weanlings up?

if it were me starting over again, I'd get weenling females, because you know they're 3-4 weeks old. Raise them up until they're 11-12 weeks old, then get a small adult male. My only concern would be that female mice who have been together for a while have been known to kill any incoming strangers, which might present a problem for you.

Personally, I just seperated all the females from my first litter this past weekend into their own tub. I've got 6 in there right now, and will have 4 left after this weekend. When they're old enough I'm gonna put a new male in there and see what happens...

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For ventilation, would you recommend melting some holes along the top of the tub sides in addition to the screen in the lid?

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I would not recommend it, this could become the starting point for your mice to chew their way out.

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So, what age/size should I get to insure breeding? Would it work to raise weanlings up?

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I would wait until they reach about 8 weeks to start breeding them.

I had a hard time starting up with mice but now with proper housing my colony is thriving and I have no issue of cannibalism which is often a problem with mice (I average 12 to 17 babies per litters)

Hmm, what type of housing do you use? I want them to breed in a comfortable enclosure, but it can't take up TOO much space.

Also, I've heard that moving established females into a new enclosure with the new male will cut down on chances of loss of the male. Following this, if I got two weanling females and raised them up, then got a male and put everyone in a new tub it should work. What does everyone here think of that? :)

[QUOTE=Argentra;661969]Hmm, what type of housing do you use? I want them to breed in a comfortable enclosure, but it can't take up TOO much space.[QUOTE]
From what I have experienced it seems like the key with mice is security this is why I use this rack http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/MiceRack.jpg You can find the DIY here http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=50518

I house 2 females per tubs, and have 2 males that rotate between 3 tubs each, spending 2 weeks at the time in each tub.

It work great and I have never loss a or a female this way and I also never had any cannibalism issue.

Cool rack. I wish I had the money to make something like that... but I just spent ALL my extra on the new RBI cage for my BP.

What size tubs are those? I'll be going out to Lowes to look for cheap tubs soon. :) Hmm, security... maybe my mice feel too exposed since I had them in a 10gal at first, then moved them to a clear rubbermaid tub. I guess I'll try the opaque ones and pick up some younger mice. Thanks!

I'm currently using 35qt sterilite tubs with a hole cut in the top (most of the top is missing) covered with 1/4" hardware cloth, held in place by zip ties. My groups are harem bred, 1.3 per tub, and soon to be 1.4, possibly 1.5...