Male mouse back to the females ?

I just started a small colony of mice : 1 male, 4 females. Now 3 females have a litter and I immediately took the male out. This was about 2 weeks ago. Can I now put the male back to the females or will they attack the male ? Or will the male harm the babies ?

Sorry, couldn't find the answer in the archive.

Can I ask a question? I am wondering why some people take the males out of a mouse colony, when the females give birth?

I only ask this and this is my personal experience only and may differ from you, but I have never removed a male from a breeder colony, when the female delivers. I have yet to have a problem. I have multiple colonies of mice and I get plenty of feeders. I have been doing this for years.

Is it a fear that the male will eat the babies? I am just trying to understand, that's all.

Wayne

medusacoils said:

Can I ask a question? I am wondering why some people take the males out of a mouse colony, when the females give birth?

I only ask this and this is my personal experience only and may differ from you, but I have never removed a male from a breeder colony, when the female delivers. I have yet to have a problem. I have multiple colonies of mice and I get plenty of feeders. I have been doing this for years.

Is it a fear that the male will eat the babies? I am just trying to understand, that's all.

Wayne

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I just read somewhere that one should give the females a little break before becoming pregnant that's all. Am I wrong ?

I would never remove the male. It is very hard to get the females to take him back. Then you have a none breeding colony.

wade said:

I would never remove the male. It is very hard to get the females to take him back. Then you have a none breeding colony.

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That's what I am sort of getting at. I have heard other members of the forum say that they remove the males. I was confused by this, but figured it was something they did to because they have a problem. My wife and I, raise hundreds of rodents, of all different types and removing a male mouse, was foreign to me. I am not saying it is right or wrong, just foreign to me.

I would, as Wade mentioned, be afraid that the females may not take the male back and introducing him to a tank of, what my wife affectionately calls, "raptors", may be dangerous for him. They may have forgotten about him and when you reintroduce him, see him as a stranger and do bad mousy things to him. You may be giving the females a break, but at the same time, be jeopardizing the life of the male.

As I mentioned, we raise hundreds of rodents and do not remove the male. The only time we have seen a problem, is if there is a second male in the tank, he will be able to tell which offspring are not his and kill them, so he can force the females back into breeding.

Sorry I rambled,

Wayne

I've been raising mice/rats for a little over 3 years. I never remove the male from a colony of mice. If you do, you run the risk of the females tearing him apart when you try to reintroduce him. Most of the males I've ever had have been very helpful with the babies and moms. The mom will be out running on the wheel or eating/drinking/pooping and the male will just lay around with the babies and keep them company or keep them warm. I've had other males that totally ignore the babies, but don't harm them either. If you really want productive colonies its better to leave the males in so they can impregnate the females right away after they give birth.

it's good to give the mom a break as someone mentioned above. SOME females go after the male and kill him when returned. Most just do the hen picking order thingy if the male is bigger or the same size. There is always removal of the head female and split caging the male with the others for a week then return head female once the male has settled with the rest of the colony.

MedusaCorns said:

it's good to give the mom a break as someone mentioned above. SOME females go after the male and kill him when returned. Most just do the hen picking order thingy if the male is bigger or the same size. There is always removal of the head female and split caging the male with the others for a week then return head female once the male has settled with the rest of the colony.

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I said the females should have a break.....Now I see the problematic. I will put the male back today and watch them for a while and see what happens....

unless you notice the male being dominant and harrassing or chasing around the tank/cage, I wouldn't worry about him.

Now the dominat female does'n t want him to have a go:awcrap: and biting him a bit now and then again...the other 3 females seem to be fine. He should be OK....or ?

The dominant female will bite his man parts off and you will end up with pets and no babies.

Awww! Isn't that how it always goes.......

I don't breed a lot of mice, I have four breeding colonies. I have very good success leaving the male with the females. The only males I remove is when I cull out the mice that are going to be euthenised or raised up to adult feeders, in which case, I keep all the males together in one tub, and females in another. That may be an incorrect method, but it seems to work. Good luck.

Hind sight is always 20/20. The male should be left in with the females if at all possible. The male mice actully will fight off predators in the wild and will lay on the babies to keep them warm, while the mom takes a break. If you wanna give the female a break, it is best to remove the female. The colony will more than likely take the female back with very little fighting. I usually intro the female back when changing the cages. I am not sure what others do, but I would change the cage and have the male in the cage first then re-intro the females and see what happens. If they still fight then you maybe forced to start over. Good luck

Now the male is back in "business"...no problem ( what a job he has.....). With the next litters of the 4 females I will have enough food for a while so I plan to separate the male for a longer time. Will it be OK to put a glass barrier into the tank so they can still smell and see each other. Perhaps this way the male will not be rejected when removing the barrier after a few weeks ?? or what else can I do ?

I can not make use of the adult mice as my snakes are all still on fuzzies.......

I don't know about the barrier. I would let them go at it and start freezing the buggers. You would get more stock and wouldn't have to deal with re-introducing the male. Just my 2 cents.

If you do a barrier, let us know how it works out.That might be a solution for some of the people that don't need a bunch of feeders, but enjoy raising them.

If I removed anyone it would be the near birth female. The barrier idea well I don't do that either. I just leave them alone and collect the baby mice at the size that is needed. As for the extra mice or babies... Humanely kill them and freeze for later, sell/give them to a snake friend that needs them, or take to a pet shop and get some $$$. There's alot of possibilites for the extras. I trade my extras for mice food, bedding, etc. The mice support themselves. I try my best to leave a colony alone!!! I have had some to get their sex organs chewed off by females and I think the barrier is no solution to the reintroduction problem. If you are only needing a few fuzzies then drop the number of females to two. I wish you the best in whatever you decide but I reccommend leaving the colony as is and letting them drop babies every 3-4 weeks.