I'm a mouse breeding failure

I recently established a 1.2 mice colony and both girls are now nursing their first litters.

I am by no means an expert, but I did use a 10 gallon tank with sides darkened ( used to be my BP's tank til I moved him to a large tub ), aspen substrate, ample food ( used Diamond dog food which I feed my show dogs ) and water changed every 3 days. I also kept them in a small room with the temp @ constant 70. The male mice does give off a smell, but I change my substrate every 5 days so the smell isn't so bad.

If you are going to try to establish a new colony - start with 1.2 and make sure you sex the rodents yourself. Pick them up. Stay away from the nippy ones as they are more suited as feeders than breeders. Males do pull their balls up inside if nervous, but once they relax it'll come down. Girls also have nipples. It's fairly easy to sex mice or rats - you just have to get your hands on them. I found my mice from a local breeder via CL. And as always, be patient and let nature take its course.

Breeding mice is rewarding for me as I love the genetics that go behind it. The variations of colors and the rate of reproduction mice provide is indeed fascinating. But most importantly, they are a food source for my precious BPs and as a must, given proper care as well.

Don't be discouraged! :)

Breeding mice stinks! Literally. They smell worse than rats. I wouldn't do it simply because of the smell.

As for frozen rodents, I use Loxahatchee and really like them because their rodents are vacuum sealed and good quality. It may not be the best option for you because you are on the west coast and shipping may be more expensive. I've read that Big Cheese vacuum seals their rodents, so that could be another option. The reason I like vacuum sealed rodents is because they can last for up to a year without freezer burn. The bigger quantities you can buy at a time, the more you can save on shipping costs. Good luck!

I use rodent pro.

I've got 4 sisters and 1 male. Three of the girls just had their first litter, with #4 about to pop. Make sure they always have plenty of food or they will slaughter each other. They can be vicious, smelly creatures. I will be glad when I can do frozen only.

i thought about doing this... just because..

i got 3 snakes. 2 one months. but my norm.. where im at they only have 1 size. and they are $3.50 each and about 13g. and my male norm is roughly 225g.

it would imo save money in the long or switch to ordering f/t.

i just dont want the house to stink. and alot of mice be running around lol..

What about rats?

I picked up three females from the same store (assuming they're all sisters) and last night, I found one of the females with its head chewed off. There were plenty of food and the water bottle is 3/4 full.

I think maybe she was sick or already dead when they bit her. I have three males in another rack and they seem to be fine.

Any ideas?

BTW, I used to have pet rats and never had any problems.

I think a lot of what Alicia said is unnecesary work. Lol With a lot of mice, you just don't want to spend that much time every day. But if it works, it works.

I have a mouse rack. I use kiln-dried pine and feed hog feed. Mice are clean animals, unless they are sick. I think their health reflects their enviroment. You shouldn't put in or take out any mice once a colony is established. (except the feeders) Not even to let the females nurse. Tanks suck, they make the smell a lot worse. I have a 6-tub rack, and a single 10-gallon smells worse than the whole rack. I clean there tubs out sundays and wednesdays. Constantly messing with them will stress them out. 1 male per cage, I wouldn't put more than 4 females. (I use 3)

Honestly, when I first started out, I threw 3 mice together and I learned from that... I had 1 infertile in that group, but the other female has mothered (and grandmothered) over 300 mice. Not to mention the other colonies I have started.

P.S. Don't give up if the mom eats her babies, sometimes they'll do that the first few litters before they get a hang of it.

I have used RodentPro for a long time now. I live local so I pick them up instead of having them shipped. I picked up an order two weeks ago and I was very impressed. They were packed neater and were much cleaner than they were before. I think they must have cleaned up their act since all that stuff happened with them this summer. I'm going to stick with them.

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Originally Posted by Andrew21

I think a lot of what Alicia said is unnecesary work. Lol With a lot of mice, you just don't want to spend that much time every day. But if it works, it works.

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LOL Point :oops:
Numbers definitely have something to do with it . . . And I suppose I should admit that my breeders double as real pets :)

Breeding mice can be tricky, yes. it can also be a LOT of fun, smell or no.

Your best option, should you care to try again is to buy at least three females, preferably young females, which are already housed together. A dominant female can and will kill strange females and even males. I learned that the hard way. I try to get my males from a separate source. That's just me being weird. Watch them the first day or two. There will always be some squabbling, but there shouldn't be bloodshed.

Lack of water is one of the primary causes of cannibalism after stress. It is completely unnecessary to clean every day. I use rubbermaid tubs and shavings and I only clean once a week.

New groups almost always appreciate the addition of cardboard tubes and a small cardboard box. Toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes are always kept for my mice. I use poptart boxes, soda 12 packs cut in half, cracker boxes cut in half, stuff like that. This gives the mouse being bullied a place to run while the aggressor cools off, and it gives them something to vent energy on other than each other. Usually you will loose most if not all of the first litter or two. This is normal in a young, new group. If babies disappear after the second litter, it's time to monitor the group and eliminate the culprit.

I've been successfully breeding my mice for about 2 years now. I average 18 groups of 3 or 4 to 1. I rarely have problems with cannibalism except occasionally in brand new groups or in my oldest groups if one gets sick before I feed it off. It can take a few tries before you hit on a good group, but once you get one going, adding more becomes easier because you know what to do and what to look for to indicate trouble.

Gale

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Originally Posted by digizure

What about rats?

I picked up three females from the same store (assuming they're all sisters) and last night, I found one of the females with its head chewed off. There were plenty of food and the water bottle is 3/4 full.

I think maybe she was sick or already dead when they bit her. I have three males in another rack and they seem to be fine.

Any ideas?

BTW, I used to have pet rats and never had any problems.

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"Our Pets' HEADS are fallin' off!"

After reading all of these.....I shall be clearing some space in my freezer :)