Breeding question

Last week I purchased some white mice. I set them up in two groups. One group has 1.1 and the other group has 1.2 mice.

Today I found two females that are white and blue. I liked how they looked so I bought them. I set them up in a separate tub so that I can watch them for a while.

Is there a way that I can safely introduce them into one of the groups, once I am sure they are healthy?

OK,
I think I have the mouse thing figured out.
Instead of trying to add the blue females to a group, I will leave them in their own tub. Once I am sure they are all good, I will introduce a male from one of the other groups to the blue females, in a fresh clean tub.
I hope this works.

This is a picture of the tubs I am using. They are 64QT.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/dsc00483.jpg

Where are the air holes? If they are in the lid and the mice can jump up on the water bottle and reach them you will come home to an empty tub.

How should I hang the water bottles to prevent that?

OK,
I went to the hardware store and got some ¼ inch mesh for the lids. That should keep them in I think.

are these feeders? Cuz I like 1.3 or 1.4 or more and as a group it works out pretty well as long as you dont have weaned babies in with pinkies

Yes,
I am trying to breed some feeders. Does it work better with bigger groups? I am just not sure how to introduce new females to a group.

just throw them in, males will fight but females are fine. Some people prefer communal groups while others like smaller groups. I prefer communal. It seems to work fine, the production rate is higher because the females are mated with while still nursing (weird I know)

jdmls88,
Thank you so much. That is the answer that I have been looking for days now.

Just a heads up i have those tubs and the mice can jump up on the side ledge and chew their way out also

In my most humble of opinions, it is safer to keep mice in a tank or barred cage. Those little buggers are VERY good at escaping and can chew through a number of things. Also, they are excellent climbers and jumpers. Definitely don't worry about keeping them all together. As long as you keep a two or three female to one male ratio, you are fine. If you notice any of them being aggressive, you can always quarantine and introduce them to their own colony later. ;)

This is the blue girls that I introduced to one of the groups. It went fairly well, lots of squeaking but no fights. The female albino on the wheel with them may be pregnant from the looks of her.
There is ¼ inch wire mesh on the lids so they can’t get out.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...9/dsc00493.jpg

Adding the new mice to the group turned out to be a disaster. Last night the group broke down and everybody was fighting. The fights just kept escalating so I separated the two new females back to their original tub. None were seriously injured as I was watching closely. All the mice have settled back down to their original calm mousy activities. A lesson learned. :tears:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sandy_01

Adding the new mice to the group turned out to be a disaster. Last night the group broke down and everybody was fighting. The fights just kept escalating so I separated the two new females back to their original tub. None were seriously injured as I was watching closely. All the mice have settled back down to their original calm mousy activities. A lesson learned. :tears:

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did you change bedding when you added those 2 new girls?

Yes,
Everything was cleaned and disinfected with fresh bedding. The fighting didn’t start right away. It started the second night they were together.

I got my first litter. The albino female that I thought might be pregnant had 3pups. They are a couple of days old now. :banana:

I have been feeding rodent lab blocks that I get from a pet food supply place. They have it in a bulk bin so I really don’t know what it is. I got some better food on order. I ordered a bag of Native Earth 4018. Has anybody used this food? I am hoping to get more then 3 pups per litter.

I also found a couple of fancy boys to pair with the blue girls. This seems to be working much better than trying to add them to another group. :gj: