Mean Lady Mouse

I've decided to try my hand at breeding my own feeders. I did all of my homework, and I thought I was prepared for anything that might come up. At this point I imagine you guys are all laughing, or at least smiling. The best laid plans of mice and men.....

Here's my problem. I have 1 male and 3 females. One of the females has become very possessive of the male. She follows him everywhere, and attacks the others if they approach him. Is this normal? Should I remove her, or let them work it out? I have another bin to move her to if that's the case, and I've seen her and the male "coupling" about 10 times in the last 24 hours. Can I assume that she is pregnant already? Any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Did you just put the group together? I set up my groups young. If I get a real aggressive female or if I get a female that eats the babies I cull her out. Is she larger or older than your others?

I put them together Saturday. All three females are within a few grams of each other (27-30g) The guy I got them from said they were all about 5 months old.

Rats are so much easier than mice. Wish they were as good for the corns. Mice tend to be more cannibalistic. They may all settle down without disaster. I set my breeding groups of mice up just after weaning. I rarely add mice within a couple of weeks but never after that. If you loose the other two, keep some of the females with their mother and use that group as your breeding group.

Ok, thanks Myca.

That isn't a mouse I'd want in my breeding colony. When I had mice, I culled any that were aggressive or ate their babies after their first litter.

Sounds like she is his breeding colney. If she is the only keep the nicest for future breeders.

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She doesn't seem to be attacking the others until they approach the male. I've seen the male doing his thing with the others while the mean girl sleeps. Once I am sure that the mean girl is pregnant, can I just move her to her own bin to make sure that she can't get to the other girls and their babies? And then once her babies are weaned, just feed her to my Lizzie Mae?

And just so you have all of the information, I'm not looking for a constant stream of mice. I'm only feeding a few snakes right now, and adding a couple of babies this summer. I'm planning on separating all males and females once they are weaned, and then putting some together to breed once I get a feel for how often I'll need a new litter or two.

Is that even a good plan, or should I just keep them rolling?

Originally Posted by Gabby1970

She doesn't seem to be attacking the others until they approach the male. I've seen the male doing his thing with the others while the mean girl sleeps. Once I am sure that the mean girl is pregnant, can I just move her to her own bin to make sure that she can't get to the other girls and their babies? And then once her babies are weaned, just feed her to my Lizzie Mae?

I have absolutely NO experience in this, but what seems logical to me is to pull Mean Girl out now, wait for the other two to have their babies (or are sure they are pregnant) THEN switch them out and put Mean Girl (if she isn't already pregnant) back with the male. Since time and numbers aren't dire, two mamas should provide you with enough for now.