OK, so I started a breeding colony on May 7th. The 1st litter came on May 29th, all were killed. 2nd litter on June 3rd, half survived. There was a 3rd litter on June 7th and all of these survived. Good it's working, I thought. The largest adult female died on June 21st and I put in a replacement the next day. They accepted her, no fighting or anything, but there is no signs of breeding. None of the females look pregnant. Shouldn't they be more productive? Perhaps I should start over with new mice? I am discouraged and befuddled and am about to feed them off to some hungry Kings! Any thoughts or advice? :shrugs:
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About to give up
- Thread starter mbdorfer
- Start date
Taceas
USW = UB313
Give them some time. Anytime I have a colony reshuffling or mixup, it takes a good 2 months before production gets going again. And even when I start up a new colony from scratch, it takes a couple of months before I see evidence of breeding.
My mom always used to say "A watched pot never boils" and I've found the same principle to be true when it comes to animals. I wouldn't scrap these mice entirely, but I'd go and get another batch of mice and set up a secondary colony for backup purposes. And if the first colony eventually takes and babies are born, then you'll have snake food while you're waiting for the second one.
How many mice are in your current colony perchance?
I generally run a 1:5, so that if anything happens to one or two I still have plenty to keep the boat afloat, and then simply raise up a couple more younger females or add in a couple of still nursing baby females from another colony to fill the void.
But right now I've got a 1:7 running in one colony and they're like a freight train, I don't want to bust up a good thing. Huge litters every week it seems like, so its keeping my hatchling snakes well fed and on a regular basis. :crazy02:
My mom always used to say "A watched pot never boils" and I've found the same principle to be true when it comes to animals. I wouldn't scrap these mice entirely, but I'd go and get another batch of mice and set up a secondary colony for backup purposes. And if the first colony eventually takes and babies are born, then you'll have snake food while you're waiting for the second one.
How many mice are in your current colony perchance?
I generally run a 1:5, so that if anything happens to one or two I still have plenty to keep the boat afloat, and then simply raise up a couple more younger females or add in a couple of still nursing baby females from another colony to fill the void.
But right now I've got a 1:7 running in one colony and they're like a freight train, I don't want to bust up a good thing. Huge litters every week it seems like, so its keeping my hatchling snakes well fed and on a regular basis. :crazy02:
Thanks for the reply, Misty. I was hoping you'd be on this afternoon! I have just a 1 male, 3 female thing going as I have them in a 10 gal aquarium. I actuall have a second tank set up with 3 of the mice from the last litter. I need to sex them and see what I need to start the 2nd colony. Thanks again, I will try to be patient :grin01:
Sasheena
Addicted
I agree completely... you have to let them do their thing.
My colonies are set up so that I don't get impatient for at least two months. New colonies are placed on the top level of the rack, and old colonies are fed off from the bottom level of the rack. With seven levels on the rack, this results in the mice spending approximately one month on each level of the rack. If they get to the third level of the rack and don't show signs of pregnancy I start to consider them snake food. I never get impatient until them. With five cages on each level of the rack, there are always SOME babies. Even within a week of having most of my mice killed due to heat, some of the survivors had babies!
In general I find that if they haven't produced by the third level, then either I've messed up and forgotten to put in a male, or there are issues with the colony. Since I always have hungry snakes and new mice just waiting their turn to be made into a new breeding colony, it eliminates guesswork.
I do remember my first 1.2 breeding group. It seemed to take FOREVER for them to start producing.
My colonies are set up so that I don't get impatient for at least two months. New colonies are placed on the top level of the rack, and old colonies are fed off from the bottom level of the rack. With seven levels on the rack, this results in the mice spending approximately one month on each level of the rack. If they get to the third level of the rack and don't show signs of pregnancy I start to consider them snake food. I never get impatient until them. With five cages on each level of the rack, there are always SOME babies. Even within a week of having most of my mice killed due to heat, some of the survivors had babies!
In general I find that if they haven't produced by the third level, then either I've messed up and forgotten to put in a male, or there are issues with the colony. Since I always have hungry snakes and new mice just waiting their turn to be made into a new breeding colony, it eliminates guesswork.
I do remember my first 1.2 breeding group. It seemed to take FOREVER for them to start producing.