*sigh* No more live pinkies. And this time the only bodies I found were halfway eaten, so I believe they were killed by cannibalism.

I think only those 2 were pregnant from the pet store, so if male mice really can tell if the babies are theirs or not, I should be past that particular hurdle.

I want to add some more females now that I know they won't be too crowded. I have them divided up as 1.2s right now. First find good source, then QT/grow up the new girls... then what? It seems like adding 2 new females to an established group is asking for trouble. Would I be better off shuffling everybody around so nobody feels established and territorial? Or is breaking up established groups just a bad idea? I know the best answer would be to just wait and grow up some babies when I get them, but I'm trying to get the colony producing enough that I won't need to buy more than what I already have in the freezer.

How come kids accidentally breed their pet mice all the time, but it is so hard for people trying to do it? LOL!