I want to breed mice and or rats.

I just dont have the room or the tolerance for the smell of rats because lets be hoenst..they stink lol. I have had mice before for 2 weeks in the same tank and nothing so i fed them off like a dummy. I want to breed my own mice though.. So this will be my second attempt. What should i do and how do you get optimal breeding for mice? ( ill try rats when i move out and get a bigger place ) last week i spent 30 bucks on feeders. I cant do this every week. So can everyone that breeds their own mice tell me what to do? I have an empty 20 long with a stainless steal heavy top. how many mice should i by..what sex..how to take care of them and breed them? any help will be VERY loved.. please D::please: when i get them from the pet store they are pretty small.i saw give or take 4-5 inches including tails. i pay a buck fifty for each one.
:please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please:

I think I can help you here, ive had hundreds if not a thousand mice bred in my home. I agree with you about rats, mice stink, but rat stink STICKS to you and I cant go in my snake/rodent room for five minutes without coming out smelling like a rat... Anyways. With a twenty gallon tank, get 7 females and 2 males. Depending on where you buy your mice, most are under breeding age and will take a few more weeks after you get them to start breeding, so make sure you give them Plently of time. When I first started it was two months before I had a steady colony going.

Anyways, with those two males, if they start fighting keep the winning one. If not, try to see which one is more interested in the ladys. If you still cant catch them in the act( Maybe I just have to much free time to figure this stuff out...), keep the one with bigger balls. Its all about the male. Period. If you have a mighty mouse stud you will not have to worry about the females not getting prego.

Sounds like you only need 15 mice a week, if you get over crouded with mice do what I do and freeze all the extras just in case they take a breeding break or you do not have enough for the week.

Make sure you have a tank for the weaned mice too once the mom has a new litter ( That is when I remove the pervious litter)

Hope this helps! - Matt

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

I think I can help you here, ive had hundreds if not a thousand mice bred in my home. I agree with you about rats, mice stink, but rat stink STICKS to you and I cant go in my snake/rodent room for five minutes without coming out smelling like a rat... Anyways. With a twenty gallon tank, get 7 females and 2 males. Depending on where you buy your mice, most are under breeding age and will take a few more weeks after you get them to start breeding, so make sure you give them Plently of time. When I first started it was two months before I had a steady colony going.

Anyways, with those two males, if they start fighting keep the winning one. If not, try to see which one is more interested in the ladys. If you still cant catch them in the act( Maybe I just have to much free time to figure this stuff out...), keep the one with bigger balls. Its all about the male. Period. If you have a mighty mouse stud you will not have to worry about the females not getting prego.

Sounds like you only need 15 mice a week, if you get over crouded with mice do what I do and freeze all the extras just in case they take a breeding break or you do not have enough for the week.

Make sure you have a tank for the weaned mice too once the mom has a new litter ( That is when I remove the pervious litter)

Hope this helps! - Matt

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Thanks matt. I dont have the time..or even know where they would sell good grade rat and mice food, so what do u think i should feed them? i brought a mix of bird, gerbil, and hamster food that the pet store sells will that be ok? it has random seeds, things that look like little colorful cookies lol, and some other things but when i had the mice they seemed to enjoy it. i always mixed in a piece of broccoli or cherrios as a treat. Will they be fine with that?.. So when a notice a female is getting nice and plump..i take her out and do what with her? and if i get over run cant i just take the male out for a while?.. i dont know how to wean mice or really what it is all i understand its when they stop depending on mama for food. Anymore help you can give me bro? How many hides should i have for them and is it ok if the gnaw the hell out of them like my last two did? .. please tell me if you have any info left u can give me

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Originally Posted by xXxFluffyEmoxXx

Thanks matt. I dont have the time..or even know where they would sell good grade rat and mice food, so what do u think i should feed them? i brought a mix of bird, gerbil, and hamster food that the pet store sells will that be ok? it has random seeds, things that look like little colorful cookies lol, and some other things but when i had the mice they seemed to enjoy it. i always mixed in a piece of broccoli or cherrios as a treat. Will they be fine with that?.. So when a notice a female is getting nice and plump..i take her out and do what with her? and if i get over run cant i just take the male out for a while?.. i dont know how to wean mice or really what it is all i understand its when they stop depending on mama for food. Anymore help you can give me bro? How many hides should i have for them and is it ok if the gnaw the hell out of them like my last two did? .. please tell me if you have any info left u can give me

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Petstore mice food is Crap, and cost way to much. I feed a certain kind of dog food, I cant remember the name right off the top of my head but I have been for about a year without any problems. I keep all my females together when they are pregnant with the non pregos.

You can take the male out if you would like, but be careful when reintroducing him.

What happens if i take him out and what happens if i dont?

do you have a TSC close? you could find hog food there for cheap

i breed rats not mice but what i do when i introduce a new rat into a bin (group) i clean the cage. there seems to be less fighting that way

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Originally Posted by matt71915

do you have a TSC close? you could find hog food there for cheap

i breed rats not mice but what i do when i introduce a new rat into a bin (group) i clean the cage. there seems to be less fighting that way

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Whats a tsc? if its some sort of farm the nearest is 4 hours from me

TSC
tractor supply co

i have no idea where i would find one of those lol.. can i feed them pedagree dog food?

if you want to go the dog food route you would need a good quality senior dog food
most regular dog food has 30% protein which is about double what you want