Breeding mice questions

I haven't had much luck with breeding mice yet. I just picked up a completely new batch and started from scratch today. Got one male and 2 females from petco that were in seperate cages. Just cleaned out and set up the cage again.

I had the previous set of mice for over a month and I didn't even see any signs of pregnant mice, so they became snake dinner.

Here is a pic of the cage, is there anything wrong with this setup? Does anyone have pics of what their mice breeding setup looks like?

I also weighed them this time, is this a reliable way to determine if they are pregnant? The male is 23g, female #1 is 23g and female #2 is 26g.

Thanks

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...092805_0_0.jpg

Best way would be to just stick them in a dark place, like a closet and just leave them alone. Clean once per week and provide plenty of lab block diet. You can keep a good number of adults on a 10-gallon tank. I usually do(when I have to use tanks) 1 male to 5-6 females. They do great.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Best way would be to just stick them in a dark place, like a closet and just leave them alone. Clean once per week and provide plenty of lab block diet. You can keep a good number of adults on a 10-gallon tank. I usually do(when I have to use tanks) 1 male to 5-6 females. They do great.

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So they don't need any kind of day/night cycle? Right now they are in my bedroom which I usually don't go into except for sleep

I have noticed that with new groups sometimes it takes longer before they start breeding. Our first group did not produce for about 2 months. It does not always take that long, but some do.

Hey nice to see you posting Monica! :) I can't give advice on mouse breeding. I truly and absolutely suck at it LOL. Rats...I'm good to go...mice...geeze louise I never have any good results with them! :(

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Originally Posted by Snikt228

So they don't need any kind of day/night cycle? Right now they are in my bedroom which I usually don't go into except for sleep

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I find they do good with a light cycle, but it doesn't have to be a direct light. It could be as simple as leaving your closet door cracked open to let in some light. They just need to feel secure and they really like to sleep and hide during the day. ;)

Edit: In my 30' x 10' rodent room I run one 4' flourescent light on a timer during day hours, just enough to let them know its daytime. I have other lights on a switch to turn on for cleaning cages etc. ;)

I figured I have been breeding them long enough that I can help a little. I still have some trouble with the mice, but it's not too bad for me. They produce for me, but I still have the eating each other sometimes.

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Originally Posted by mistino

I have noticed that with new groups sometimes it takes longer before they start breeding. Our first group did not produce for about 2 months. It does not always take that long, but some do.

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This is very true Monica!!! You have to give them at least a couple months to start producing. ;)

I had mine from December 06 until April 07 and the only thing they produced was a big burp after they ate their young *grumble, complain, whine, etc.*

i too am a newb with the mice/rat breeding, so far 1 died somehow, 1 got out and i wear its like the movie mouse hunt and he laughing at me going threw the couch in my basement looking for him. and i see alot of humidity in the rats tub for some reason and they are sneezing. Hopefully it will work out though...but rodents are rodents, and rodents multiply, so why is it such a pain to get them to do in a controled enviornment? lol good luck everyone

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Originally Posted by bonez

i see alot of humidity in the rats tub for some reason

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If you don't have enough air flow in the tub the humidity will build up. They get very hot in plastic tubs. We have a tub that we put them in to move them to the snake room for feeding. Right now it just has a bunch of holes melted in it on the sides and top and they sweat. We are getting ready to cut out the top and put wire mesh on it to help with the air flow.

Ok, well i've finally got a visibly pregnant mouse after a month or 2. Strange is that it's the 2nd female that I added about 2-3 weeks from having the original male and female I bought.

So, now that the mouse kinda looks like a golf ball, how much longer does it usually take? I just cleaned the cage so hopefully it'll be somewhat clean when she pops.

Also, the original female that's been in the cage like 3 weeks longer than the mouse that is pregnant. Is it possible that she's broken, doesn't breed, etc..? Should I ditch her?

The pregnant female has been gaining weight even before I could tell but this other one isn't at all.

Does the color of the mouse make a difference? The male and pregnant female are blended colors but the other female is plain white.