Questions bout breeding mice.

Hey all,
Will I finally convinced my wife to let me breed some mice. Had to do a LOT of begging and pleading but I finally won her over. :laugh: I done a lot of research and had some questions answered by some of the members. THANKS AGAIN BY DA WAY. So just had a few more questions.

1) is 1.2 mice ok for a 10 gallon tank.

2) does the top of the tank have to be covered.
If yes, I have a wooden top strapped down with cords. Will this bo ok. I have holes drilled in the top.

3) They will be kept in the basement <one of the many agreements> and my basement is rather cool. I dont' have any heat turned on down there during the summer. So will this affect their breeding.

4) For the food, do I purchase hamster & small rodent feed. And what type of dog food do you put in it for additives.

5) When I purchase them, how long to they usually be together before they mate.

6) I am only planning on keeping them for a few months. Just to get enough food for 6 months or so. So do I need to purchase a wheel for them. I have tunnels, ladder, and etc. But the wheels are $15. And by the time I buys the food, $4.99 a bag and shavings $4.99 small bag, and then 3 mice at $4.99 each it won't really be worth all the money to buy a wheel to. Especially since I am only keeping them for 3 or 4 months.

So If anyone could please help me with these question I would be greatly appreciated. Tks all. Sorry for the long post. Have a great day.

I answered on your other post, but I'll give a shot here too!
1.2 mice should be fine in a 10 gallon tank
I use a fine wire mesh top for better ventilation (less smell build-up)
Mice stop breeding well if they get too hot, so as long as it's not freezing, your basement should be good for them
Plain dog-biscuit bones are a good addition for their diet
They'll breed from around 6 weeks of age, as soon as they are introduced!
Wheels are bad because they can catch their tails in them, plenty of toilet-roll tubes and small cardboard boxes will give them fun to run in and out of. It's best not to harvest a whole litter at a time, say if you get a litter of 10, take out 6 at large pink size, then grow the others on to peach fuzz.

Tks for your help diamondlil. Really appreciate it.

i agree with everything that has been said. make sure the mesh is very fine and a material they cant chew through. and one last point i would shop around for your supplies because they sound quite expensive to me. when you feed the mice make sure you dont feed alphalpa (mainlyin rabbit and guinie pig food) as they can not digest it.

good luck and congrats on convincing the wife!! :laugh:

lee :cheers:

snakeboy24 said:

i agree with everything that has been said. make sure the mesh is very fine and a material they cant chew through. and one last point i would shop around for your supplies because they sound quite expensive to me. when you feed the mice make sure you dont feed alphalpa (mainlyin rabbit and guinie pig food) as they can not digest it.

good luck and congrats on convincing the wife!! :laugh:

lee :cheers:

Click to expand...

Tks for the point Lee. A friend of mine had some gunie pig food to give me. lol

Also to, I dont' have a mesh top. I have a wooden top strapped down with cords with LOTS of holes drilled in it. That should be ok shouldn't it. They dont' have anything to climb to be able to reach the top.

Mice need a lot of ventilation as the moisture build can cause RI. I would go with a mesh as suggested, even if its a piece of screening material fitted around tank. susan

susang said:

Mice need a lot of ventilation as the moisture build can cause RI. I would go with a mesh as suggested, even if its a piece of screening material fitted around tank. susan

Click to expand...

oh ok. tks again susang.

A wooden top would probably end up getting chewed through and they would escape. I'd get a screen top, or buy some 1/4" hardware mesh and make a top. They can climb the water bottle to get to the top. If you don't have a water bottle with a tank hanger, get one. they are essential.

10gal is PLENTY of room for 1.2, I'd probably go 1.4 at least in a 10 gal.

Wheel is not needed but wouldn't hurt, get a solid plastic one and they won't kill themselves on it.

For feed, if you can't get cheap lab blocks (well under $1 per lb), find dog food with about 18% protein and NO red dye. Don't bother with hamster mixes, they're not nutritionally complete and the mice will pick out only what they like and not get the needed nutrition.

Get young adults or juveniles, not full size adults. They may take up to 2 months to get started breeding.
If you get full adults they could be used up breeders and never reproduce, or not very well. They also may not get along as easily as younger ones.

good point. i have had mine for about 4 -5 weeks now and am still awaiting my first litter. so when you next go to the feed shop i would stock up on a few frozen mice as you may need them.

I've had some take as long as 2 months, others get started right away and have a litter 3 weeks after starting the colony.

I gave up breeding mice for a while as the African soft furred rats don't smell nearly as much and they grow bigger. But with 2 new hatchlings coming thursday I started up with mice again.

I planned on keeping it to just one 1.2 colony of albinos, but then this past Sunday at the local show I bought 2 colored/spotted males so I had to start 2 more colonies with some of the grow out females.

Flagg said:

I've had some take as long as 2 months, others get started right away and have a litter 3 weeks after starting the colony.

I gave up breeding mice for a while as the African soft furred rats don't smell nearly as much and they grow bigger. But with 2 new hatchlings coming thursday I started up with mice again.

I planned on keeping it to just one 1.2 colony of albinos, but then this past Sunday at the local show I bought 2 colored/spotted males so I had to start 2 more colonies with some of the grow out females.

Click to expand...

WOW. lol Wish I had a snake snow to go to. They dont' have them here. Then again if i did go to one and brought home another snake my wife would divorce me. lol She still hasn't come near Anubis.