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View Full Version : Help Breeding and keeping of mice!!!!



SergeMan7
08-17-2010, 12:56 AM
Alright, so I'm trying to breed mice, but it is proving to be amazingly difficult. Because I felt my males were not performing, I went to a new pet shop to pick up new mice, 2 males to replace the old and 1 female. I would have then had 11 mice, 2 large females, 4 small males, and 5 small females.

I had 2 small female mice die today. I have food out in a bowl, a water bottle, and them on cypress mulch inside a dark rubber made tub that is deep with the lid off so they can air out and a pencil case as a hide in each enclosure. I have a rodent mix I'm feeding them but I'm going to purchase some dog food tonight to up their protein.

After the death I moved the mice around, changed their bedding, febrezzed their tubs and set everything back up. I have the 2 small male mice with the 2 large females because I suspect they may already be pregnant. (1) Will the smaller males be able to mate with the larger females?

(2) I have a golden brown male rat with big testicles I stuck with 4 females in hopes he would breed, Do the size the testicles matter for breeding? (3) I have another mouse that has adequate sized testicles as well, but he has a bit of a gash thing going on between his balls and anus, is this a problem?

(4) What can I do to more successfully breed and not have the mice die off on me? I can't even feed the mice to my lizard if they die.





These numbers are not going to add up for some reason....maybe a male died off somewhere too.

Pikey
08-17-2010, 02:03 AM
i used to breed mice, big pain they like to randomly turn cannibal.

But I'd do a rack or glass tanks with pine bedding.
with rats i do 1.4 (M.F) & with mice i did 1.8 or 1.10 and had good luck until they go crazy every few months and eat each other.

wil
08-17-2010, 04:01 AM
Remember this K.I.S.S ( Keep It Simple Stupid).
Use tanks or pans with hardware cloth tops for air circulation. It's best if you build a rack. Use concrete mixing tubs for the rats and cat littler pans for the mice.
I wouldn't go with a 1.8 or 1.10 ratio on mice unless you are wanting to produce large numbers of pinkies and fuzzies to feed off. I always did a 1.4 ratio for mice and a 1.3 ratio on rats. The thing to remember with mice is once you have a group set up leave it alone. If females start eating babies then its time to feed off the tub.

wil
08-17-2010, 04:08 AM
I would also use pine instead of cypress. And make sure your temps aren't to high, it can cause the males to shoot blanks.

SergeMan7
08-17-2010, 04:21 AM
I don't know how....but I found my 4th male....No idea how he escaped.... but luckily he was roaming around and thus was put back in a cage.

So basically I should stop messing with the mice and seeing if they are doing it? and just leave them be? Should I keep the lids on and have them in perpetual darkeness or take the lids off during the day for light?

laurarfl
08-17-2010, 01:32 PM
One male to a group of females, like Wil stated. Normal light cycles. Testicle size has nothing to do with it. Size can be dependent on various things like temperature. So if it is too hot, the testicles appear larger because they are farther away from the body to stay cool. Too much heat kills sperm....shooting blanks as they say. Small male mice may not be mature enough to breed yet. Who knows about the sore. It could be nothing or it could be deep enough or infected as to cause a problem....but probably nothing. The females will be receptive during their "heat" cycles. If they are pregnant, they will give birth then mate within 24 hrs, multiple times per day, then nothing for a while.

I used to keep mice around for pinkies, but it was such a pain! I kept them in tanks with aspen and a screen lid. It just wasn't worth to me, but that's me. Plus in FL, it was too hot in the summer to get them to breed to full extent and they had to stay in the garage.

SergeMan7
08-18-2010, 05:48 AM
Haha! I have just discovered that one of the larger females has given birth to some pinkies. They are really tiny and one seems to already be abondoned. I removed the male from that area just in case (to the tank with my new found pet rat....dang snake), hoping the other Large Female will give birth soon too. With any luck I'll have at least 8 survivers and can have a strong colony going with in the month with just those 2 alone and not have to wonder if I can sacrifice to feed my lizard.

I tried pushing the pinkie that was discarded to the side a bit towards the mother, it was still alive, might it be rejected becuase I have fouled the pinkie and the mother won't take it back or is that just birds?

I still need the other ones to get it on though. House temp is at 75 degrees so I assume the tank temp is the same, every now and again I turn off the AC and the house gets to 78-82 degress, rarely my house mate gets ahold of it and sets it to 72 though.

laurarfl
08-18-2010, 11:43 AM
Really, that's a myth about human scent on baby birds and such. The pinky probably wasn't discarded but wandered off. Mom periodically collects them and rearranges them, etc. If they feel stress or if there is a particular genetic line, they can cannibalize the young, so it is better to them be as much as you can. Overcrowding stress can lead to cannibalism as well.

Congrats!