Breeding Mice

:laugh: I can tell I'm going to like it around here!!!! That was funny!

hee hee hee

aiden_punx - if you're going to take all the pinkies out at the same time and freeze them to use later then take them out the day they are born or wait until they are the appropriate size for your snakes. If you're only going to take a few out then it's best to do as Baba-Lou stated and wait 3 days. If you try to take a few out before 3 days the mother may eat the ones you left in the nest. Of course I've taken pinkies from the mother within the first three days many times and they just go on as usual. Some female mice are just more tolerant than others.

I think it may be best to give the pinks a chance to suckle, the milk can be seen in their tummy and I'm sure I've read it is an extra nutritional boost?

cheers for that i will be taking all the first lot out i will leave them aday to get milk then take them put i have one pinky lkeft for next week and should have the first litter in a few days

Yes. Letting them suckle a bit will add some additional nutrients. It all depends on what size you need. For 1 to 3 week hatchlings corns I pull my pinkies as soon as I can because I have a higher success rate with the hatchlings eating smaller pinkies. Pinkies can double or even triple in size in the first three days. I have 10 bins of mice that I have designated for pinkies only... the rest I let grow for larger stock. I check the pinkie bins twice a day and pull any pinkies and freeze them. I'm trying to stock up for the hatchling season.

i have a candy cane corn that is mayb a few months old she is small because candys are smaller i belive here she is

By the size of your corn I'd say you'd be fine waiting 3 to 5 days on the pinkies. You can feed your corn a pinkie mouse 1.5 times the widest part of it's body.

ok thanks i just didn't want to let them get to big and then she decides she can't take it and i can't get hold of any smaller she has been feed once so far that was a hamster pinky was all i could get and that was 1 mayb 2 days old

Baba-Lou said:

It'll take roughly 5 days till they get to fuzzies. NO never offer them live to the snakes.

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Just a quick question- why would you suggest never feeding the fuzzies live? I find no reason to say that at all. In general we can say a rodent that is the proper size for digestion can be safely handled by a corn, with some noteable exceptions being those gnarly young adult rats and the like.

Live rodents are at the perfect temperature for starting good digestion, the snake actually gets exercise during the contriction phase [and if you said don't feed live because of potential emotional disturbance at the squealing death of the rodent I would question why keep snakes in the first place? With a hearty "you can leave the room while the snake eats" following second just as an option] and it's pretty interesting to see the natural reaction of your new friends to live prey items.

In fact a lot of the excitement of owning a snake comes from the realization that in spite of the fact that they're captive-bred feeding on an alternate food source they retain so much instinct and drive from their heredity.

And finally if you're afraid of getting struck or mistakenly bitten by the snake you can use tongs, tweezers or hemos to dangle-feed the snake until you're more comfortable with their eating habits. This is crucial if you're using undersized food such as fuzzies or hoppers to an older snake that's used to larger items.

I agree, even though a snake is captive it'd be great to see thier natural instincts and characteristics when fronted to live prey. However, my corn leaps and attacks hard at a dead fuzzie and constricts it so i don't know if i'll bother with live!!

I have heard if you feed your snake live stuff you could cause it to go off dead stuff. Is that right?

I would suggest you not feed live mice to your snakes. I've never seen a fuzzie bite or claw a snake and inflict an injury but... and there's alway a but .... mice can carry parasites and freezing the mice first will kill the parasites they may have. You might feed your snakes a thousand times and not have a problem but if you do have a problem with parasites then you'd be taking a trip to the vet for sure. I'd rather be safe than sorry. You can always wiggle the F/T food in front of them with the tongs and they'll still attack it and coil it up.

I would agree with this idea if the mice were coming from a less than reputable pet store, or perhaps some breeder who didn't care for his animals,or any time there might be a question about the general health of the animal or their habitat/caging circumstances.

But I grow my mice right here in my house- I inspect them, their caging and supplies; I keep their water fresh and look out for any abnormal marking, spotting or coat issues.

I would be surprised to find anything on or in them that I don't know about, and if one would even give a hint as to illness then it would be segregated and treated, or culled immediately if untreatable.

So I would have to say that I agree with your statement in the right circumstance, Vinny, but in my situation I prefer using the live foodstuffs if possible. Even though it's not their diet in the wild at least it is a bit more natural for them temp and prey-wise imo.

i dont want to get into a debate but i was told that it is against the law to fed live mice in the uk just something i thought needed to be said :wavey:

for a kick, yes, but if you can prove it is to save the snake, it is ok to feed live in the UK.The RSPCA etc cannot ban it completely as it is a respected practise for non-feeding snakes to be fed live rodents as a last resort. I'm sure London Zoo etc have used the live-feeding trick in their herp collections and will continue to do so when necessary.

schilsound said:

I would be surprised to find anything on or in them that I don't know about

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This is my point... I would eliminate any surprises. I wouldn't want to be surprised by a sick snake that I could have easily prevented getting sick. Mice can have harmful parasites without any visible warning. The risk for you may not be that big because of all the precautions you take but it is still a risk. My intension was to inform the people who don't know about the risk so they can make that call for themselves. Again... in my book it's better safe than sorry.

I would not feed live ever. I've never fed live but I just recently got a nice adult from a local pet store as a customer bring in. He has a 1 1/2 wound about 6 inches behind his head on his right side that was said to be from a live mouse attack. Yes snakes have instinks but if they aren't interested right away the mouse can and will attack as in the case of my new snake. If he wasn't in blue I'd show pics but he doesn't look like he wants to be handled right now. Thats just my .02 cents

mice breeding

Even after 3 days you'll have to be careful about disturbing the nest. Mice are notorious for eating babies at the drop of a hat.

No, don't drown them. Newborns could be frozen because of their susceptibility to cold, but CO2 is more humane. A small paintball canister filled and a valve & hose only cost me $42 for my rats, and it's going to last a looooooong time. (Or a dry ice CO2 chamber would work but for mice would be a little more than U need.)

Be prepared. Once the mouse has her litter, the male will rebreed her immediately. Don't put more than one male w/your chosen number of females. They'll fight

Good luck.

schilsound said:

Just a quick question- why would you suggest never feeding the fuzzies live?

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Because it's massively unethical to torture a rodent to death simply to see your snake eat a live prey item. Because freezing kills parasites and germs. Because rodents bite back. Because frozen rodents are infinitely cheaper. Because some of us own snakes because we like them, not because we like to see them kill things. I mean, where should I stop? For all the perceived benefits of live feeding (exercise, etc.) there are ways to do that that do not require a rodent to be squashed to death.

And as for the argument that live prey is "natural"--trapping live rodents in a container with a predator on a regular basis is about as natural as breeding snakes for genetic mutations, keeping them confined indoors, and treating them as pets. Likewise, having a rodent escape completely, leaving the snake hungry; or having the rodent kill the snake, are both "natural" outcomes.

Also, on a purely personal note, unless you feel like having your mice's feces tested for worms and other ectoparasites, you really might NOT see any indication of infestation. I can't understand, with all the risks, why anyone would deliberately expose their pets to dangers that are totally avoidable in almost all cases.