I need to breed my own but am very frustrated!

[Turbo Serpent]

My wife doesn't want to breed mice any more. I was out of town working and one of the females had like ten babies. Three days later one of the adults,maybe mom herself, ate all the babies. My wife was sad, disgusted, etc...

All rodents will do this if they are stressed or overcrowded or have a lack of food/water.

Once you make sure everything is A-OK they produce like crazy!

[PghBall]

All rodents will do this if they are stressed or overcrowded or have a lack of food/water.

Once you make sure everything is A-OK they produce like crazy!

I had a great Breeding 1.3 group going for my snakes that preferred mice, they had 4 litters each without issue, then after the fifth litter, they went crazy and killed two of the mothers and half the babies. Nothing changed with the setup, food, water, etc. Plenty of space and hides for them. Anyhow, I have a new group started and it was only a matter of a month before I got my first new litter. Just have some patience and nature should take its course.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the replies. I will probably put 1.3 in the 10g. I'm going to keep a Mouse Colony Diary with pictures and such and we shall see how things go. Maybe with pictures and documentation I can pinpoint what the problem was.

[FlowRock]

Yeahh, do not give up, I am raising around 15 mouse pups out of three litters in the moment, which is a good thing, because I need all the different sizes, fuzzies for my corn, bigger ones for the ball and the extra big buggers for my boa and I hope, if the transfer from geckoes to rodents works out, I will need pinks for my racer... it is a hard job, but someone has to do it...

[zombieon3rd]

I started to breed ASF rats about 2 monts ago and highly recomend it. I to tried to breed Mice and did not have any luck. thats why I switched.
If you ever decide to Breed your own food, you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. PEACE

[Jay_Bunny]

I don't have access to any ASFs here. The only place I found them was a petstore going out of business and they were not legally allowed to sell them because they were considered "exotic". He gave them to me but they turned out to be adult males.

I don't have enough space for a rat colony right now either, so mice will have to be my only option for now. I have a rat rack with two tubs in it (supposed to be three but it was my first time making a rack and I built it wrong) so that's enough space for 2-4 females and I can keep a male in another cage. I use 3 small rats a week, so I don't need that many rats for breeding.

I might go tonight to get my mouse group. We shall see.

[snakecharmer3638]

Jay... nobody touched on the temperature issue. Mice seem to produce better in cooler temps. High 60's to low 70's. 80 is probably not to high but I think you'll get better production at a lower temp.

[suzuki4life]

I have ton of common rat in the rack setups 1.4 for years and going strong

Asf's 1.4 and no issues other than what to do with all of the babies. (10 gallon aquarium)

Common mice 1.6, my ackies wipe them out faster than they can reproduce. Babies are removed the same day they are born and fed that day or next morning. (10 gallon aquarium)

gerbils 1.2, pet shops have bought them up as quick as they are weaned. (10 gallon aquarium)

African pygmy mice 1.3, I have a waiting list for babies. (10 gallon aquarium)

[chromeitout]

Jay... nobody touched on the temperature issue. Mice seem to produce better in cooler temps. High 60's to low 70's. 80 is probably not to high but I think you'll get better production at a lower temp.

You are exactly right! I've been breeding mice for a couple of years now and temperature and ventilation are the two biggest players. My mice produce double at 70 as they do at 80. Also the aquarium deal is terrible for ventilation (been there too). Even if you do not have space, tools, or skills to build a rack system, pick up a couple of litter pans, some 1/4" hardware cloth, and some 1x2's. Make a simple rectangular frame to fit tight around the top of the tubs, staple the hardware cloth on top and use it like a lid. This will do two things for you... decrease the height of the container (increasing ventillation), and with the dark sides and low semi-ceiling it will make them feel more secure. I'm not saying that aquariums will not work because they will, but the pans work much better for me. And about separating the females... this also works for some, but in my experience I've found that moving established group members and reintroducing them causes aggression problems. I never break up a group of breeders or introduce new members (even to the point of if a female dies the only way I replace her is I'll leave one of the daughters in the tub to grow out). Sure there is a possibility that you may loose a litter or two to cannabilism at first (not to say that you will because I very rarely do), but then things will settle down and the group will work together to take care of the babies. Also, with setting up new groups from animals that I have produced, I make sure that the whole group was weaned together. Not necessisarily from the same litter but at least grown up together in the same growout bin. Have patience with your mice as others have said (and so few actually do), keep them cool, make them feel secure, and give them plenty of ventilation and you will be over run before you know it.

[RichsBallPythons]

I beg to differ with temps. With extremely high temps yes they will not breed well. But my mice have been in 82oF room and i produce over 200 mice a month on the dot. It mainly has to do with the males and if they have what it takes.