Strange behavior in breeders?

[DesertDustAngel]

Maybe someone else has experienced this and can tell me what it means.

Since we started our small colony of mouse breeders (just a 1.1 for now), I have been pretty freakin' fascinated with their behaviors. I keep them in a low traffic area (they have their own room in the house, lucky brats), and if I'm in the room I do NOT mess with them, but watch them from a distance.

I have a suspicion that the female might already be pregnant. She is cleaning herself CONSTANTLY, nesting away in her own little hideout, etc. She's even taking food into the hole and storing it away there. She is a strange little fluffy thing.

Anyhow, on the my question.

The male is no too smart and seems to be TRYING to breed with her, but halfway through he gets distracted and wanders off to do something else. :shrugs: She will then run across the cage, and then run back to him, turning her backside to him and literally RATTLING her tail... just like a darned snake. It is *SO* bizarre.

Is this normal behavior in mice? If so, what is it indicitive of? I've tried googling it but got nothing.

Help???

[waldo]

I've seen my mice do this, both males & females. I think its more of a dominance display but I could be wrong.
Why don't you handle the mice? If the female isn't used to you and for some reason you have to touch the babies she might kill them since they smell like you. I handle my mice almost daily except for a few days before birth and a few days after, I start holding the babies when they are around 5 days old.

[DesertDustAngel]

I'd love to handle them, but I was told that overstimulation can cause them not to breed, or to stress. I guess it's kind of a double edged sword..

[tyflier]

At the very least they need to be familiar enough with you and your scent that they don't kill any babies that might smell like you from counting or checking for sex after they are born. As well, if they are moderately used to your hand being in and out of the cage, you won't have biting/scratching issues when the time comes to remove the offspring from the cage.

While it is true that too much handling can cause stress which leads to failure to breed, NO contact at all can lead to different problems that can be just as negatively impactive to your goals.

It has been my experience that as long as the males feel confident and secure in the cage, breeding will take place. The only time I had a colony that didn't produce, it was entirely the fault of the male, whom was insecure and felt always threatened, and so never showed any interest in the females. I have one of those females in with 2 other females and 1 male now, and she is my biggest producer, averaging 8-12 offspring every month.

[DesertDustAngel]

Good to know. Thanks guys.

Breeding mice is VERY new to me, so I'm still a'learnin'!

[tyflier]

It's pretty easy, as far as I can tell. Keep 'em clean, fed, and watered, keep them out of harm's way with as little disruption as possible, and breeding will happen. It's what mice do...

FWIW--I have a 3 yr old daughter that ALWAYS wants to see the "mouses". I limit it as much as possible, but...everyday when we feed, they get "harrassed" at least a little bit, and they still seem to produce pretty regularly, so...