getting into breeding, need help with current setup

[ch312]

right now i have 10 mice in a tank. using this chart http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=61411

for males i have one XL black and one 4 week old albino.

for females i have an XL black and some females from her litter that are about 3 weeks old along with 3, 4 week old albinos.

i have a couple cages so i can seperate them if thats what i should do. should i worry about inbreeding or just let them do their thing? should i put the albino male with the black females and the black male with albino females?

[Royal_Rodents]

first of all you should keep the females and the males seperated. some breeders may say a breeding trio or so. but to me the best plan is the rotation. also you got to consider genetics if the rodents you have now are from the same family DO NOT BREED THEM! also if you have a female that eats her babies from the frist litter feed her off to. also some other genetics you may wanna consider is size of the litters, size of adults, and may other things. in my opinion you should keep the males together and keep the females together. But only introduce one male at a time. when you notice an female swelling up do to her babies move her to a maternity tank. where she can raise the baby. Some people say you can keep 1-2 females together with thier babies. but actually it comes down to your opinion and what yo uwant. this is my 2 cents

[ch312]

so what kind of problems will i run into if daddy or brother breeds one of his daughters/sisters? the 2 XL came from a tank with over 50 mice (hoppers when i got them) so i have no idea if they are related.

so i should really have 4 tanks setup. black females, albino females, males, mothers?

the black female only had 5 for her first litter, is that a normal number? seems low to me but ive heard of other animals having small first litters as well.

housing and food....

how many mice should i keep per tank?

right now i am trying some premium horse bedding pellets. its been 2 or 3 days and there is no noticeable change in smell yet so it seems alot better than shavings. what is the cheapest option for bedding? i paid $7 for 35lbs of pellets

what is the cheapest, yet healthy, food? all i have been able to find are smaller bags at pet shops. is there anything i can buy from a livestock/farming store that will work?

[littleindiangirl]

I know for rats you can inbreed for a few generations, it's less harmful for father to daughter compared to brother and sister, but there are so few feeder breeders keeping track that they just refresh the lines with males every few months.

I think inbreeding will bring up any hidden genes in your colony and to an extent is responsible. How many generations can you line breed? I think 3 would be the extent, but I have honestly never heard of too much other than smaller litters and maybe a few other things...