Raising Rodents

Im going to start small. I bought 1 male mouse and 5 females. How old do they have to be to start breeding? O also have a male and two female gerbils for a small colony to supply my one and only live feeder ball python.

Any tips on raising mice will be appreciated!

my advice to you is to make sure the stink doesn't over run the neighborhood, that is why i decided against breeding mice or any other rodents. plus they look so cute when they are soft and fuzzy, but they have sharp little teeth and then they bite. plus they sometimes make strange "wheel running" sounds when you are trying to sleep at night, it can be very obnoxious.

oh and to answer your question about age to start breeding, you have to wait til they are at sexual maturity, otherwise no offspring will be produced.

what kind of ball python do you have? i have heard that some will coil up into a ball shape, do you find that to be true?

cheers!

The rodents are in a building beside my snake building. The ball pythons hold true to there name often curl up into a ball shape, especially the young ones.


Thanks for your feedback.


:crazy02:

My mice don't stink. But then I use an absorbent bedding that absorbs the smells. http://www.research.uci.edu/tmf/husbandry.htm

Carpe Serpentis said:

My mice don't stink. But then I use an absorbent bedding that absorbs the smells. http://www.research.uci.edu/tmf/husbandry.htm

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can you use that stuff in a baby's diaper, cuz i dont sometimes the diaper and fabreeezio just dont absorb enuff of that stench, also if you sprinkle it around an outhouse while you are camping will it take careof that stink?

gelshark said:

can you use that stuff in a baby's diaper, cuz i dont sometimes the diaper and fabreeezio just dont absorb enuff of that stench, also if you sprinkle it around an outhouse while you are camping will it take careof that stink?

Click to expand...

You make me laugh which is good. I use... wait for it.... wait for it... wait for it equine pelletized bedding for my mice. It is the bomb diggity to keep out unwanted smells and it works wonders for my mice.

"Hybrid mice tend to have more, larger, and healthier litters than inbred strains."

" Sexual maturity.
Generally, laboratory mice become sexually mature between five and eight weeks of age. Males of most strains usually mature sexually by six weeks of age. DBA/2J (000671) and C3H/HeJ (000659) mice are precocious: females can conceive when they are as young as 23 days old. However, mice bred that early generally produce small litters. " http://jaxmice.jax.org/manual/breeding_strategies_manual.pdf
More information for you.
"Therefore, we usually mate mice when they are six-to-eight weeks old."
Hope this information helps you a little.

I appreciate the info. What's a good male female ratio?

I use 3-1 ratio on my colonies too many females causes problems. I found this to work best

That being 3 females to 1 male

How long will I get the best mother instincts and the optimum baby counts? How often do I need to rotate males and females

I only let my females breed for about 8 months males it really doesnt matter.i never remove the males they help with raising the babies.

When your litters start to get smaller its time to change females. I usually get anywhere from 12-18 babies on average per female. When they drop to 6-10 its time to change females.

Nick it depends on the type of mice you have as well. Fancy mice tend to have litters ranging from 8-12 while other larger strains can have up to and beyond 20 (22 live +1 still born is the most I have ever had in a litter) Like Cornsonly mentioned 3 female to 1 male is a good ratio but I have had larger colonies of 5 females to 1 male do great as well. Mice can reproduce as early as 5-6 weeks, however I find it more common around 8-9 weeks before they start. And I change out colonies around 8-9 months of age. I have found it easier to just start over a colony. Often with the last litter that the colony produced "IF" that colony was a good producer. If not, I cull them and start fresh with a litter from a high producing colony.

Good luck, they can be frustrating to start... Once they get going you should be happy not paying those crazy food bills for live mice eaters.

How long is the pregnancy of a mouse? How often will a female have babies if I'm using the pinks as she has em?

Usually about 21 days of pregnancy and the female usually goes into heat within 24 hours of giving birth

It takes a little trial & error before you get an efficient colony, but my husband has grown ours from one pair to 3 10gallon tanks w/ a ratio of 3 girls to 1 male and they are having so many babies now it is definitely worth the trouble for the $ saved plus they are readily available whatever size we need- he takes care of feeding them (make sure they have a varied diet with plenty of protein-has kept ours from eating their babies)& I tell him what sizes I need culled & also pull the f/t out of the bags on feeding day-good system for us- we also have 1 pair of rats for our pythons- that saves a lot 'cuz rats cost more than mice-we still buy some f/t in bulk,mostly adults,but raising our own has been a huge help- anyway,good luck!

Gestation period is 21 days. So about every 20-23 days you'll have a new litter from that individual mother. Babies will grow from pinkies to weanlings in 21 days as well, but I would keep them with their mom a little longer.

Don't take the male out. There is no need for it. In this style of breeding, the females will be pregnant all the time.

I feed my mice pork grower. you can go to your local feed store and see what they have and try stuff out. Or go the more expensive route and buy mazuri or the like. I also give them a little bit of dog food every now and then, no dyes.

I have colonies of 1:3. I haven't had 1:5 but from just watching my groups right now, I think 5 females would start to push the boundary.

I keep my mice on kiln-dried pine shavings. The kiln-dried part is rather important as I believe if it isn't dried, the fumes from the wood will cause respiratory problems in your stock.

If your mommas eat their first or even second litter, don't give up on them! They just don't have the hang of it yet. After the third eaten litter, I would feed them off and start over.

I don't know when I replace breeders. Just when I notice them looking tired or just old. So probably before I even need to.

Build a rack if you are going to get more eventually, or if you don't mind spending the money. Soooo much more easier than tanks..

I hope this helps!!

Hey this was great! Thanks everyone.