Might start breeding mice

[jarobin]

We have a ball python, he's a little over a year old. We found a 20 gallon tank with a wheel, ball, hide, and water bottle...all for $10. We couldn't pass it up. So the question is now, should we start breeding feeder mice? I'm pretty sure we would need a 2nd tank for the male mouse and use this one for breeding and for mom and babies. Is there anything I haven't thought of yet? And how exactly do I start this breeding procedure?

[satomi325]

We have a ball python, he's a little over a year old. We found a 20 gallon tank with a wheel, ball, hide, and water bottle...all for $10. We couldn't pass it up. So the question is now, should we start breeding feeder mice? I'm pretty sure we would need a 2nd tank for the male mouse and use this one for breeding and for mom and babies. Is there anything I haven't thought of yet? And how exactly do I start this breeding procedure?

Personally, I don't think breeding feeders is worth it for 1 snake. But if you want to do it for fun too, well go for it. And I recommend breeding rats. Mice smell awful. They urinate a lot.

You can keep the male in with the female and pups if you want. But he's going to breed with the female constantly and you will get back to back litters. If you're going to breed at your own pace, then go ahead and get him a separate container.

The female goes into heat every 4 or so days. All you need to do is introduce the male and female together. After mating, gestation is about 22 days. About 4-5 weeks after birth, the litter will be weaned. Each litter averages about 8-12 pups.
The pups reach sexual maturity at 5-8 weeks.

And another thing, the mother will go into heat hours after giving birth for a few hours. If you have a mature male in with her, they will breed. If this happens, the next litter will be born as soon as the previous litter is weaned. If copulation does not occur within that small time frame, the female will not go into heat again until she is done weaning the litter.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Andrew21]

And another thing, the mother will go into heat hours after giving birth for a few hours. If you have a mature male in with her, they will breed. If this happens, the next litter will be born as soon as the previous litter is weaned. If copulation does not occur within that small time frame, the female will not go into heat again until she is done weaning the litter.

Umm, do you know this from experience or did you like read it somewhere? I'm 95% sure that if the male doesn't do the do right after she gives birth, they'll just do it the next ovulation(in about 5 days). I say this because I've had females give birth within 2-3 days for one litter, then like 6-8 days the next. So one didn't get pregnant after she gave birth, but a little later.

To the op, If you like mice, I say do it. Because I honestly think it is worth it for just one snake. I can buy 4 cubic feet of kiln-dried pine for $6, and 50 pounds of hog feed for $11. The hog feed lasts about 3 months, and the bedding lasts about 2 or so. I have 8 breeders+grow outs though. The pine and feed would last you a lot longer.

I replace the bedding on sunday and wednesday. Feed them everyday, give them water when they need it. I don't have hides, but i use a rack so the tub is kind of a big hide. I wean the babies a few days after they start eating on their own. You will need grow out tanks. I wouldn't separate the male cause you can try and sell the extra, or just freeze them. (euthanize first) Also, kiln-dried pine is the way to go as far as bedding. Aspen smells horrid when it is soaked in urine, and paper smells worse. I think that is about it. You might want to raise a female and male from your first litter, and replace the first ones you bought.

[jarobin]

I do like mice, my boyfriend likes them more. He wanted to breed rats too when the snake gets bigger. I'm all for just getting a gerbil and keeping a pet lol. I think I'll have a hard time euthanizing the mice and leave that to him.

What's a grow out? And also, I don't want them to go crazy breeding since it is only the one snake. Right now he is eating 3 hopper mice a week. We were planning to move up to the next size after tonight. We have fed him 2 so far this week and he is still hungry so we're feeding him the third. If he doesn't seem satiated after the 3rd I dunno what to think. But thats why it also seemed like a good idea to start breeding. It's getting expensive to buy him all those mice all the time. Plus he wastes so many of them on his picky days/weeks. I don't really know what pace to breed though. How often, for one snake, should I want the mice to breed? And if i keep them all in the same tank, won't they all start breeding like crazy at some point? Or will the snake go through them faster than they'll have the chance?

[Andrew21]

You need to seperate the babies when they are weaned so they don't breed themselves.. So the females all go into one tank, and the males all go into another. "the grow out tanks". Because you are raising them up for future breedings/holding them till feeding time or euthanization/raising them up to a larger size.. Do you feed f/t? The next size up is weaned. So you will need the extra tanks. You don't have to breed the female back to back, if you have to many. But if you feed f/t then I don't think that would be a problem. Just kill and freeze the extras.

[satomi325]

Umm, do you know this from experience or did you like read it somewhere? I'm 95% sure that if the male doesn't do the do right after she gives birth, they'll just do it the next ovulation(in about 5 days). I say this because I've had females give birth within 2-3 days for one litter, then like 6-8 days the next. So one didn't get pregnant after she gave birth, but a little later.

I breed rodents at home and work in a research laboratory. At work, the lab has their own breeding colonies. So it's pretty much scientifically known.

Are you sure its a single female giving birth over a span of 2-8 days?
There is no "next ovulation" once the mom is nursing the pups and the heat after birth passes. The next one should take place once the pups are weaning or weaned.


To the OP: for 3 mice a week, you probably just want one litter a month give or take.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Andrew21]

I breed rodents at home and work in a research laboratory. At work, the lab has their own breeding colonies. So it's pretty much scientifically known.

Are you sure its a single female giving birth over a span of 2-8 days?
There is no "next ovulation" once the mom is nursing the pups and the heat after birth passes. The next one should take place once the pups are weaning or weaned.

I watch them pretty close, so maybe over a span of 1-3 days. Maybe they are off a couple of days from eachother, and their gestation period also fluxuates (sp?) a little. Causing it to be 6 days one time, and only 2 the next? Idk.

[jarobin]

Ok, so I am guessing we move on from 3 hoppers a week to 1-2 weaned mice a week since he is getting bigger. I found a few charts for ages, but they all differ. Right now we are feeding f/t mice from petco. The brand is Gourmet Rodent. About how old would you say those hoppers are? My boyfriend and I are discussing whether or not we will need a grow out tank to start off, or if we will end up killing the mice before they reach sexual maturity. I read that it is 2-3 weeks for hoppers and 3-4 weeks for "weaned mice". I'm not sure what the difference is between an older hopper and a younger weaned mouse if the weeks overlap. What is the actual definition of a weaned mouse? I also read that sexual maturity happens around 5-8 weeks, later for males.

After some discussion, this is our potential plan. Please tell me if it sounds do-able. We will have the main tank for breeding/nursing. The breeder male would get his own separate tank to avoid excessive mating/breeding. We plan to kill and then freeze the entire litter and then breed another one, etc, etc. We would worry about getting additional grow out tanks when our snake is starting to eat bigger mice who are reaching sexual maturity. The only way I foresee this being a problem is if he gets to that point quickly. Right now, like I said, he is eating 3 prepackaged hoppers a week. The weaned mice, which I assume are a little bigger, we'll start after his next shed. How long do you think we could go without needing the grow out tanks with this plan?

[jarobin]

oh and also, how big should the 2nd tank be since it will only have the one mouse in it? (2 at the most if we decide to keep one to raise to maturity) Should it be small since there is only 1 or 2 mice, or should it be a grow out tank size? If the latter, how big do those need to be? Same as the current one, or can it be smaller and be an ok environment.

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure that if we do this, we do it right. I know they're food, but the way I see it they're pets too and they need to be as well taken care of and comfortable as any other animal in my home. I don't want to just be shoving a bunch of mice in a tank together and act like its ok to have no room just because they're food. The one I have I think is a 10 gallon. It seems like a decent size. I just don't know if i have room for more than a 5 gallon for the 2nd one. I'll have to see. Lots of decisions to make. If this doesn't work out, we'll probably just get a gerbil. I'm ok with either decision, but I think my boyfriend wants the mice more.

[jarobin]

ok and he's looking for more food today, so 3 hoppers a week isn't enough at this point to keep him satisfied. definitely need the next level up. Would rats be a better idea than mice?