No mice babies yet

Well the mouse breeding project is going nowhere fast. :( I've got lovely foursome of chubby, quite happy mice but nary a baby to be seen or even an indication any of the females are preggers. We got the male and female December 19th and the second set of females January 14th. Am I unrealistic to expect something to have been happening by now? The male lately has had to obvious nip marks behind one ear. Are the females now picking on him for some reason I wonder? They've all gotten along very well since the first with no fighting at all and they all seem to happily share their plastic mouse house and the various plastic and cardboard tubes they have to scurry through. Lots of good eats, we don't bother them much at all....and still no babies. Is it just too soon to be expecting some?

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Well the mouse breeding project is going nowhere fast. :( I've got lovely foursome of chubby, quite happy mice but nary a baby to be seen or even an indication any of the females are preggers. We got the male and female December 19th and the second set of females January 14th. Am I unrealistic to expect something to have been happening by now? The male lately has had to obvious nip marks behind one ear. Are the females now picking on him for some reason I wonder? They've all gotten along very well since the first with no fighting at all and they all seem to happily share their plastic mouse house and the various plastic and cardboard tubes they have to scurry through. Lots of good eats, we don't bother them much at all....and still no babies. Is it just too soon to be expecting some?

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Well, it all depends on how old they were when you got them. I find most of my new sets take about 2 months to get started. Then once that happens they take off really well. If the male had a little nip marks then he is actively pursuing the ladies. Sometime the girls play hard to get. ;) I really find that using tubs or cages that are not clear really helps keep them feeling secure.

Hmmm maybe that's it then Bill. I'll go out as soon as this winter storm breaks and get a darker tub for them. They are in a glass tank at the moment so maybe that's it. I did put in tons of stuff for them to do and lots of telephone book strips but maybe they feel too exposed anyways. Thanks!

Also I'm thinking I wouldn't want to be a boy mouse. Wow but those females boss him around! I think in the mouse world that the females rule as poor Licorice (the male) always seems to be getting sent back to the mouse house while the trio of females enjoys the various mouse tubes and so forth. The boy mouse comes out and he only gets to grab a drink and a bit of food, maybe a quick race through the tubes when sure enough....one of those bossy females chases him back to the purple mouse house of passion. LOL I think poor Licorice is a harrassed mouse hubby!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Hmmm maybe that's it then Bill. I'll go out as soon as this winter storm breaks and get a darker tub for them. They are in a glass tank at the moment ...

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Could you just tape some dark paper around the outside of the glass? Maybe leave a little viewing window for fun peeks at what they're up to? ;)

Yep good idea Jude! The only thing I'm worried about with a plastic bin for them is that they might chew out and lord knows but I don't want a pregnant female mouse loose in this big old house! Bill, how are they about chewing out of plastic and what sort of plastic bins are best (toughest) when it comes to mice?

Edit (additional question)....I'm assuming I can cut out a portion of the lid much as I do with rat tubs (for ventilation purposes) and replace it with wire mesh (hardware cloth...1/4 inch rather than the 1/2 inch I use for the ratties).

Do they let him around them at all? Most of my males and females sleep all cuddled up in a corner. Are you absolutely positive there is only one male? LOL!! If you go another 3 weeks with no preggers, I would try to get a different male. When you do take the old male out. Clean the cage and put the new male in, then add the females back into it. Here are some pics of my mouse setups.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_0661.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3.../mouserack.jpg

They are just solid color cat litter pans with hardware cloth above. ;)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Yep good idea Jude! The only thing I'm worried about with a plastic bin for them is that they might chew out and lord knows but I don't want a pregnant female mouse loose in this big old house! Bill, how are they about chewing out of plastic and what sort of plastic bins are best (toughest) when it comes to mice?

Edit (additional question)....I'm assuming I can cut out a portion of the lid much as I do with rat tubs (for ventilation purposes) and replace it with wire mesh (hardware cloth...1/4 inch rather than the 1/2 inch I use for the ratties).

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You just have to make sure the tub doesn't have any edges they can chew on. I personally like the cat litter pans or concrete mixing tubs. You can use them and not need a rack. Just get a cat litter pan and build a wood frame that goes around the outside edge out of 2x2's or 1x2's then cover it with 1/4" wire. Then on top of the wire make a box out of spare wood to attach to hold food. Then you cut a small hole for the tip of your water bottle to go into the tub. The food actually makes one side of the tub "dark" as a hide and the other side open for you to see in. I really think mice need a quiet corner in the house and be left alone as much as possible.

Thanks for the pics Bill! I'll look into getting them into a much darker environment and see if that helps somewhat. The females let him cuddle with them all the time as long as he's in the plastic purple mouse house. They just don't let the poor dear out to play much with them LOL. He's always in with them though for loads of cuddling just not much "action" at this point. Three of them are definitely females and he's definitely a male. I do hope he does the job though, I picked him especially for his lovely markings and silky coat. I have this thing about albino mice, they give me the creeps, so it took me forever to find mice here in Toledo with colors and markings.

I am going to setup a tub like I was talking about for a local person. I will take pics and post them in this thread in case you ever decide to try it. I will also take a couple pics of my colored mice and post them for you. ;)

Thanks Bill. I don't see myself ever needing a lot of tubs as we only have a few mouse eaters here but I will need at least one main one for the breeders and one or two for grow out for the offspring (if I ever get any from those dang lazy mice LOL).

Wild bill you have any DIY page for those racks? I plan to do something like that eventually with bigger tubs for rats and use auto watering instead.

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

Wild bill you have any DIY page for those racks? I plan to do something like that eventually with bigger tubs for rats and use auto watering instead.

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Unfortunately I don't. I will be building a couple of more mice racks in the near future. I will try to put something together. ;)

Here ya go Jo!! Pics of a cat litter pan with a wire top made from scraps and a pic of a few different colors I have for mice. I mostly do the albino lab strain mice, but do "tinker" with a few breeding groups of mice with color. ;)

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_1283.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_1284.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_1289.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_1286.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...s/100_1290.jpg