Still no babies

Hello all,
I bought some mice a while back. Probably a month now or so. I thought i actually got some fat females that looked pregnant. Its a month later and they still look exactly the same with no babies to be found. I have one male with two females. Is my male defective or something? These guys really smell and i have an opportunity to get some rats tomorrow. Should i just feed these three off and start my rat colony or is there something i can do to make these guys productive?

It usually takes more than a month for them to get started. I'd give them at least 2 months.

But if they were big to start with they might be retired breeders and used up. Always best to start a colony with young mice and some patience.

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Originally Posted by bc30629

These guys really smell and i have an opportunity to get some rats tomorrow. Should i just feed these three off and start my rat colony or is there something i can do to make these guys productive?

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Mice typically are harder to get to breed consistently (not impossible they just seem to stress quicker) I have breed both mice and rats and prefer rats 10 to 1 over mice. They seem to breed much easier, are very social, still smell but not as bad as long as you clean.

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Mice typically are harder to get to breed consistently (not impossible they just seem to stress quicker) I have breed both mice and rats and prefer rats 10 to 1 over mice. They seem to breed much easier, are very social, still smell but not as bad as long as you clean.

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Alright i will take your advice here as the cons outweigh the pros with these mice. I'm picking up 2.2 rats today and a new ball python. My mice will go to the new snake and the rats will become my new colony. Thanks for the help.

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Originally Posted by bc30629

Alright i will take your advice here as the cons outweigh the pros with these mice. I'm picking up 2.2 rats today and a new ball python. My mice will go to the new snake and the rats will become my new colony. Thanks for the help.

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I would recommend you only get 1.2 or 1.3. Getting 2 males could pose an issue if you try and put them together. Also, the females will sometimes kill their young in the presense of another male.

Also, note that rats will quickly grow too big to feed to a ball easily...so plan accordingly (or do you plan to euthanize and freeze them?)

Male rats rarely have problems living together. I have about 8 together in one cage and 3 in the other cage, and everyone is fine.

Get 2 boys, like your original plan, since your females surely don't need to be bred back to back(being pregnant while nursing, not cool..). Just rotate everyone around so one female is resting or pregnant while the other is nursing, etc. I'd get 3 females though, so the resting female can have a buddy and isn't alone.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Male rats rarely have problems living together. I have about 8 together in one cage and 3 in the other cage, and everyone is fine.

Get 2 boys, like your original plan, since your females surely don't need to be bred back to back(being pregnant while nursing, not cool..). Just rotate everyone around so one female is resting or pregnant while the other is nursing, etc. I'd get 3 females though, so the resting female can have a buddy and isn't alone.

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I disagree...over the past 10 years when I remove a male from a breeding group and place him in with other males they fight and "pick on him"...it seems to be a territorial issue from an established colony.

I would agree with you if they have always lived together...but the moving in/out of a male or having 2 males in with breeding females is a recipe for issues. At least from what I have seen in my colony.

They still seem to fight even with females. I started a breeding tank 2 weeks ago or so. I've got one male and one female. I just picked up another female the other day and put her in the tank. It was total rejection. Neither of them were letting the new mouse get close to the igloo thing or food. This went on for a few hours and eventually it just stayed huddled up in the very corner of the tank. I had to pull her out.

So now i'm stuck with one male and one female, no way to add more mice later??

Get more mice, that should help solve the issue. You can keep about 1.5-1.7 in a ten gallon tank and they do just fine.

Separate them for a bit, then place everyone in a freshly cleaned tank at once, and put them in a dark place. Yes, they may squabble, but I've rarely had problems letting them work it out on their own. You can even get a squirt bottle with water in it and let the offender have it if they start a fight. They get the picture very quickly, LOL.

Oh, and I've had some groups go as long as 2.5-3 months before I even saw pinks, so just give it a little time. Definitely leave them alone except for when you clean! They stress a bit easily.

I had to clean my tank today anyway so I tried that. I put them in the sink while I was cleaning and they got along fine.

Cleaned the tank then put them all back in. It started right back up, even started taking blood from the new mouse. I think mice just suck.

So i'll leave the one male and one female. If I don't have pinks in 1-2 months then they are snake food. After that i'm done. I was thinking about trying rats but the problem with that is that they grow fast. I haven't seen it in person but it looks like from the pics that I could only use less than a 2-4 week old rat as food.

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Originally Posted by Snikt228

I was thinking about trying rats but the problem with that is that they grow fast. I haven't seen it in person but it looks like from the pics that I could only use less than a 2-4 week old rat as food.

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This is why I currently breed primarily ASF rats. The biggest adults reach maybe 60-80g so will always be edible by my larger corn snakes or the ball python when it gets older.

The lack of strong mouse smell is also a big plus. They do tend to bite sometimes but I've found the ones I've raised aren't as bad as those bought originally. The biting just makes it easier to feed them off anyway.

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Originally Posted by Flagg

This is why I currently breed primarily ASF rats. The biggest adults reach maybe 60-80g so will always be edible by my larger corn snakes or the ball python when it gets older.

The lack of strong mouse smell is also a big plus. They do tend to bite sometimes but I've found the ones I've raised aren't as bad as those bought originally. The biting just makes it easier to feed them off anyway.

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So where do you get those? I've never seen them at a pet store

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

I would recommend you only get 1.2 or 1.3. Getting 2 males could pose an issue if you try and put them together. Also, the females will sometimes kill their young in the presense of another male.

Also, note that rats will quickly grow too big to feed to a ball easily...so plan accordingly (or do you plan to euthanize and freeze them?)

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I have multiple tanks and plan on housing the males seperately. They really are amazing animals compared to mice. These four are all from the same litter and have lived with each other in the same tank their whole lives.

As for them growing to quickly, i do plan on euthanizing and freezing. Thanks all!

You probably won't find ASF rats at a pet shop. Feeder breeders might have them. I got mine from a local reptile show back in November.