I suck at breeding mice?

[RichsBallPythons]

My guess is the groups are getting old, and its hot out. Room stays 82 all year but even at 82 in winter time they were breeding fine.

this is what their fed.

[RichsBallPythons]

Im also working on my male problem. I start wit 2.6 and after few months the males get heavy as hell. Each week during cleaning i take males out to leave just 2 per group and put the extras in a feeding bin to be fed later on to snakes.

I was thinking of trying to add Mazuri Hog Pellets into the Kent Rodent Feed. But not sure if its worth $15 25lbs bag of the hog feed.

[Jessica Loesch]

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.

Like I said. It doesn't happen with everyone, but there is a very large population of people that it DOESN'T work for. They have moved mice colonies in the same room, breeding stops, and moved them back out for it to start up again just fine. Rats are a natural predator of mice and sometimes this instinct kicks in. But as mentioned, it does not always.

[Jessica Loesch]

I do breed rats and they are in the same room. I have heard different stories that it makes no difference, if they are bred together and used to each other's scent from the beginning that it makes no difference. The breeders I've gotten mice from also breed rats in the same room as well. So it's something else to try, moving them out of the rat room...

You should at least try it for a month or two, because your mice may be smelling the rats and nervous about it. A LOT of people have this issue but then again like you and I both mentioned a LOT of people do NOT have this issue.

[jasbus]

Hey Rich,
HAve you tried a lower protein diet? 23% is really high for mice. Do you get a lot of hot spots on your mice? I use a base of 19% for my breeders, and if I see any hot spots, I drop down to a 50/50 mix of ADM 19% and Mazuri 6F 16%, hoping for a good mix. That's the only time I ever change the diet on mice. And, it's very rare that I have to do that with the 19%.
Back in the days of my youth, when I was young and dumb, but thought I knew everything... I used dog food. Never even thought about why some of my mice were scaley and partially bald. A high protein diet will over work their kidneys, causing them to drink more to cool off. Same idea in birds, a "hot" diet of high protein will make the system work overtime...

[jasbus]

I think Kent actually makes a 19%...

[RichsBallPythons]

when i first started breeding i was using Mazuri 6f but at 25$ a 50lbs bag its not worth it. After 6 months i went to kent and have been for a long time now. Just past few months they aren't producing. My take is seasonal change. The kent matches up well with mazuri besides the protein.

And what you mean Hot Spots.

[RichsBallPythons]

I think Kent actually makes a 19%...

Probably in hog feed. I talked to feed store and what i get is only kent rodent feed they got.

[jasbus]

I could be wrong on the 19% Kent. I thought I saw it once.
Anyway, hotspot are usually behind the head and along the spine. Looks like the hair is falling out and they scratch around it alot....
Essentially the same in dogs with light coat colors. It's a good sign that the diet is off. In rodents, usually mice, on high protein, they need more water than usual, and in turn, makes the kidney's work harder.
I had a friend who used to do diabetes testing for a lab on mice... Learned way more than I needed to, but then again, I'm a geek anyway...

[RichsBallPythons]

Defiantly no bald patches on them at all. I usually get one with a tumor once a month that is a old female. Never had it with my males or the babies once.

I do run into over crowding since only hatchlings here eat mice and one adult female. So when things get crowded im sure that affects production. Which is why im doing male control right now.