Failing at Breeding

So I bought a few mice a month ago from Petco, and they all ended up dying after their 15 day guarantee, so I had to buy a new batch of them.

Just last week, I bought 3 females and 1 male. To my frustration, two have died including the sole male and this time, I went back to Petco and got them replaced.

I'm not understanding what could be going wrong. They are placed in a 10g tank, with food and water daily... so far I have noticed they are very active upon arrival, then they get lethargic and start to look thinner and their food pellets are just being ground up and are sleeping on it?

I haven't bred mice before, I also have rats and they are being taken care of the same way and fed the same diet - but haven't had fatalities with the rats.

Any help is appreciated.

Probably your supplier... Try getting a whole new batch from a different store, sanitize your current tank and replace everything.

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Originally Posted by Sarin

Probably your supplier... Try getting a whole new batch from a different store, sanitize your current tank and replace everything.

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It's becoming rather expensive! But, I have a new 1.2 batch just replaced, and I've placed them in a whole separate tank and in a different room of the house.

If this doesn't work, I'll have to take your advice and get a new batch elsewhere. This is my 3rd batch already, so if it doesn't work then it's their supply that's bad.

I always quarantine new arrivals for 4 weeks, and I clean everything with 50% bleach & 50% water to sanitize, and the furnishings are frozen for 48 hours because I don't have a working oven to use.

Thanks for the advice!

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Originally Posted by revxus

It's becoming rather expensive! But, I have a new 1.2 batch just replaced, and I've placed them in a whole separate tank and in a different room of the house.

If this doesn't work, I'll have to take your advice and get a new batch elsewhere. This is my 3rd batch already, so if it doesn't work then it's their supply that's bad.

I always quarantine new arrivals for 4 weeks, and I clean everything with 50% bleach & 50% water to sanitize, and the furnishings are frozen for 48 hours because I don't have a working oven to use.

Thanks for the advice!

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check ur watter bottle too just in case, i had the same thing happen with asf rats when i realized the watter bottle was not working at all.

What food are you feeding. If feeding the pet store mix bags that could be a problem as well.

Those are not good for breeding stock mainly for hamsters. Try to get your hands on bag of KENT or Mazuri Rodent Blocks. Mice once started NEVER stop. That 10 gallon tank will be over grown in 2 months.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

What food are you feeding. If feeding the pet store mix bags that could be a problem as well.

Those are not good for breeding stock mainly for hamsters. Try to get your hands on bag of KENT or Mazuri Rodent Blocks. Mice once started NEVER stop. That 10 gallon tank will be over grown in 2 months.

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Yeah, I got a free pair of rats at 10 weeks of age so they're still small and more likely not of age to produce yet and that 10g tank is temporary until I get a system with tubs.

Anyway, about the mice... they are feeding on these small green pellets I bought at Wal-mart, and it's actually Timothy Hay not Alfalfa as I stated earlier.

Here's what the bag says:

WESTERN TIMOTHY ESSENTIALS
FOOD FOR RABITS, GUINEA PIGS, CHICHILLAS, AND OTHER SMALL ANMALS

I understand this may not be the appropriate diet, but as I have never bred rats or mice before I thought they all had the same dietary necessities. Petco employees said it was fine as long as it said for "small animals" and the bag also states Vitamin and Mineral Enriched. And it contains 13% Crude Protein.

I have also been adding table scraps along with these pellets recently.

Also, the food at the store they are being fed are these grayish pellets. It's like $9.99 for a 3lb bag here in Cali.

Call around to feed stores and as if they carry Kent or Mazuri rodent food. The food you are supplying is not good enough nutrition for rodents.

As mentioned before, it sounds like the water bottle to me too. Are you sure they are actually getting water?

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Originally Posted by Jenn

As mentioned before, it sounds like the water bottle to me too. Are you sure they are actually getting water?

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Oh, the water is changed daily and the water bottles all work. However, I will be calling around for the food you have suggested. Thanks.

YOu can do a search here to see if their sold locally.

http://www.kentfeeds.com/

Usually Farm feed barns carry it or mazuri. Kent runs about 11-14$ per 40lbs and mazuri is $23-30 for 50lbs

Sounds good. Sometimes you do get a bad water bottle. I lost mice because of this before. You can tell right away if you place a small dish of water in the tank and they all head for it right away.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

YOu can do a search here to see if their sold locally.

http://www.kentfeeds.com/

Usually Farm feed barns carry it or mazuri. Kent runs about 11-14$ per 40lbs and mazuri is $23-30 for 50lbs

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Ok, it only took about 15 mins to call around and no one carries it, but they can special order it and I was told to arrive by Friday 11/27 for Mazuri 25lb bag.

For now, I'll have to feed on just scraps I guess?

Petco sells 3 or 5 lbs bags of Mazuri for 10$ which i know it a lot comapred to the larger bag but itll hold you till they come in

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

Petco sells 3 or 5 lbs bags of Mazuri for 10$ which i know it a lot comapred to the larger bag but itll hold you till they come in

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Good deal. I'll need to go personally and find out, I called and the "mgr" said they didn't carry either brand. Anyway, one the good side Walmart is letting me return their opened bag of Western Timothy Essentials! Woot! Woot!

Communication is key.

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Originally Posted by revxus

Good deal. I'll need to go personally and find out, I called and the "mgr" said they didn't carry either brand. Anyway, one the good side Walmart is letting me return their opened bag of Western Timothy Essentials! Woot! Woot!

Communication is key.

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Yeah Im thinking it might be the food. Rodents need a totally different food than the other listed on that bag. They need higher protein. I too use Kent rodent diet for the mice, norway rats and ASF's. I only give alfalfa or timothy hay a couple times a week as a snack and added veggies. The water bottle thing is also a good thing to remember. You cant fill them all the way to the top or it will not create the vacuum needed to let water out. (I too found this out the hard way when a rat was killed by another) When you fill it leave it down a half inch or so from the top. Turn it around and test the ball with your finger until you see bubbles in the bottle and some water drips out. Then its ready to go. Let us know how the new ones work out :)

Well, I found a local feed store that was able to special order their Mazuri product but it won't come in 'til Fri 11/27.

For now, I was able to return the Timothy Hay Essentials bag back to Walmart without questions, and instead bought a bag of Gerbil/Hamster mix with flax seed, along with Premium brand Mouse & Rat food pellets with Corn & Molasses to hold them over 'til Friday's feed supply.

I'm using the tech lab 2018 from these guys and my production and going fantastic
http://www.theratshop.com/shop/index...505ef6557976a7

Just my experience but I haven't ever had much luck with PetCo mice... they always die if I had to keep them for any amount of time. The PetCo here has even had dead mice in the cage a few times!! They aren't healthy or well cared for, and most of the ones I have picked up are sick. A RI or cold of sorts. If you get more mice, I would strongly suggest finding somewhere else to get them. I only use PetCo mice as feeders since they don't have to live long anyways, and they are unfortunately the only place in town with live rodents, or I wouldn't even use them for that.

Good luck getting your guys going! ^_^

Problem is, I don't have any other resource to get them! The feeder mice at the local pet shop aren't very healthy either, but so far the new couple of batches I replaced from Petco's animal guarantee are doing just fine and thriving.

I think I even got one to finally get pregnant! I guess all the males were shootin' blanks... *LOL*

Other than Petco and the local pet shop, there's PetSmart but all they sell are males!

Anywhere online you can buy?