I suck at breeding mice?

[Rhasputin]

Keep in mind you could also of gotten mice that were inbred for generations. When this happens they will not breed and just develop tumors and or die.

This is 100% false. Mice that are inbred and selected properly, are the best mice available. In the show arena, if your mice are NOT inbred, they generally do not do well in the arena, because you cannot improve an animal without inbreeding. Outcrossing, or bad selection of stock, is what causes problems, NOT inbreeding.

[RichsBallPythons]

rats and mice in same room wont cause them to not breed. I do them in same room and they breed no problems. My rats are popping out rats like crazy right now. I havent ordered rats or mice in 2 years which is nice. But i will need to get about 200 live mice here shortly to get new groups going and what not.

[RichsBallPythons]

This is 100% false. Mice that are inbred and selected properly, are the best mice available. In the show arena, if your mice are NOT inbred, they generally do not do well in the arena, because you cannot improve an animal without inbreeding. Outcrossing, or bad selection of stock, is what causes problems, NOT inbreeding.

Then explain why i have a stock of 500 mice same genes past 5 years and this year they arent doing squat. Same food,same water and same room temps nothings changed in 5 years. Rats are fed same food and same water and drop litter after litter non stop

I truly believe mice that are inbred too far will not breed as well. Till this year i was producing 500 mice a month and be lucky to produce 100 a month right now.

[JohnNJ]

Then explain why i have a stock of 500 mice same genes past 5 years and this year they arent doing squat. Same food,same water and same room temps nothings changed in 5 years. Rats are fed same food and same water and drop litter after litter non stop.

It must be global warming.

[Rhasputin]

Then explain why i have a stock of 500 mice same genes past 5 years and this year they arent doing squat. Same food,same water and same room temps nothings changed in 5 years. Rats are fed same food and same water and drop litter after litter non stop

I truly believe mice that are inbred too far will not breed as well. Till this year i was producing 500 mice a month and be lucky to produce 100 a month right now.

It could be tons of things, including inbreeding in your case. Why would inbreeding be bad in your case? Because I highly doubt that you select your mice based on long term health, since you will probably feed them before they reach a year old or so. Therefore you may not have any idea what kind of health problems you are breeding in. Mice that are poorly, or randomly bred, can develope health problems in your lines, and cause trouble.

Now, is that the case here? I don't know, but it certainly could be.

Inbreeding itself does not cause health problems. If you inbreed mice WITH health problems, of course there will be more problems. If you inbreed mice without health problems, then you won't have issues.

The key is selection. Inbreeding is how you get any breed of any animal. If you've ever owned, or shopped around for a yellow lab puppy, you will find that hip displasia is a word that's thrown around a lot. If a breeder selects the puppies properly and breeds only the ones who have no history of the problem, there should be no problems. If the breeder is irresponsible in their selection, and breeds randomly, without the health in mind, then the dogs are all more likely to have serious health problems in the future, since the problems are not tracked.

This is comparable to cancer, specifically mammary tumors (some of the most common cancers) in mice.

My mice for instance, have no history of tumors at all. I have had a grand total of 2 tumors in my lines ever, and the mice were culled out of the breeding program, and their lines carefully monitored. The same thing happens with tail kinks in mice. They are generally not a problem for the mouse, but if you don't select away from it, then you're just going to get more tails with kinks.

Inbreeding is how you select for favorable traits in mice. Breed parents together that you like and are healthy, then select the best of the offspring to breed back to the parents to get more traits that you like, and more healthy mice. Of course if the best mice from the litter have a health problem, then you skip over them and select the next best pups from the litter.

I hope that helps explain, I think I rambled a lot there.



EDIT: Also, are you feeding them food with GMO corn or soy beans in it? This could explain your sudden lack of litters. It has been proven to increase the number of sterile male and female mice after many generations.

[jasbus]

I have over 350 breeding rats in with 1500-2000 mice....with dozens of hamsters, with hundreds of ASF's, with Guinea Pigs....
That's a myth.

[jasbus]

As for rodent block, if you do your homework, you can find them cheap. Find a local breeder, farm store, or even a mill. Buy in bulk, split it with someone if you have to.
I buy in bulk, usually for .30-.34 a pound.

[jasbus]

I think the whole inbreeding thing is a 50/50 fact/fiction issue. I have 115 colonies of mice, a mix of totally inbred, to lab mice, that I've paid up to $15 a piece for. I bring in new stock every few months, just to mix up my lines. But, 90% of the time, it's daughters and grand-daughters being bred back to a single male, or an offspring of that male...
When I see a colony starting to go south, I just start looking for a reason why. I don't change their diet at all, never in my mice.
If your numbers have fallen that much over the course of time, I'd be doing some serious investigating!

[RondaH]

I would like to comment in regards to "new blood." I have four colonies of mice and when it is time for "new blood" I take babies from one colony and add to another colony. I have never had a problem with a colony accepting new babies as long as the babies still have their eyes closed. This is easiest if you have colored babies so you don't accidentally feed off your new breeding stock. It has worked well for me and avoids any problems with bringing in new blood. If all of your colonies are related, you can also buy fuzzies from the pet store to add. Good luck!!

[Rhasputin]

If your numbers have fallen that much over the course of time, I'd be doing some serious investigating!

That is a serious drop in production. 80% drop in production. . . Are they too hot?