-
Hello!
Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.
Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....
Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.
Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.
Breeders stopped breeding
- Thread starter marky-b
- Start date
TandJ
Ole' Stoic Viper...
How old are the breeders? Might be they are just getting up there in age.. I noticed mine stopped breeding in the summer time, ( So Cal but the High Desert ) and I figured it was to warm for them.. Now that we have cooler temps my mice are going to town, and I don't even have to play any Barry White for them or have soft lighting..
Regards
Regards
Taceas
USW = UB313
Like T&J, my mice breed a lot better when its cooler. During the heat of summer, I have very few babies.
A local guy who breeds mice cycles his colonies out at 6 month intervals. He said that adding up babies per month, at 6 months his rates dropped by almost 50% as an average.
While that isn't any worry for me necessarily, it would be for someone who prouduces for sale like he does.
I typically let mine get to 8-10 months before I cycle them out. Most of the time that extra time lets me get new females picked out/raised up and birthing experienced so they know what they're doing. All of my colonies are a variety of ages, as I let them raise up their replacements continually, rather than just start a new colony from scratch each time.
So I would say its age. If you got them at a pet store, most mice are there and adult size for 2-4 months before being sold generally. So in all honesty it COULD be that they're simply just old and past their prime. Most of the time you can usually tell as the female's muzzles get haggard looking, and their back gets a slight hunch to it from all the pregnancies and mineral leaching.
I'd say its time to get new stock. =)
A local guy who breeds mice cycles his colonies out at 6 month intervals. He said that adding up babies per month, at 6 months his rates dropped by almost 50% as an average.
While that isn't any worry for me necessarily, it would be for someone who prouduces for sale like he does.
I typically let mine get to 8-10 months before I cycle them out. Most of the time that extra time lets me get new females picked out/raised up and birthing experienced so they know what they're doing. All of my colonies are a variety of ages, as I let them raise up their replacements continually, rather than just start a new colony from scratch each time.
So I would say its age. If you got them at a pet store, most mice are there and adult size for 2-4 months before being sold generally. So in all honesty it COULD be that they're simply just old and past their prime. Most of the time you can usually tell as the female's muzzles get haggard looking, and their back gets a slight hunch to it from all the pregnancies and mineral leaching.
I'd say its time to get new stock. =)
marky-b
New member
Mine are 8 months old this month (January). I think I spoke too soon, 'cause this morning I noticed one of the girls is looking a bit more plump. And when it's a few days before she delivers, she would look like a bag of marbles :laugh01: You're up in the high desert? A friend of mine lives up in Hesperia; gets pretty chilly up there in winter.
sdmessmer
New member
Three males?
I've found that with more than one adult male they can be so consumed with bickering, fighting, posturing, and whatever it is male mice do with each other that they loose fertile time with the females. So instead of getting more matings with more males I was getting less and fewer litters. Now the only time I have more than one male is when I'm raising up a young male to take the place of the old one. I only have three colonies so I cycle individuals instead of whole colonies, keeps my food supply production more steady.
You might want to try just one mature but young-ish male with your girls and set up the others with their own girls or feed them off.
I personally have not had a drop in production in winter, mine are in my warm laundry room so no cool temps.
Silvia
marky-b said:
I've found that with more than one adult male they can be so consumed with bickering, fighting, posturing, and whatever it is male mice do with each other that they loose fertile time with the females. So instead of getting more matings with more males I was getting less and fewer litters. Now the only time I have more than one male is when I'm raising up a young male to take the place of the old one. I only have three colonies so I cycle individuals instead of whole colonies, keeps my food supply production more steady.
You might want to try just one mature but young-ish male with your girls and set up the others with their own girls or feed them off.
I personally have not had a drop in production in winter, mine are in my warm laundry room so no cool temps.
Silvia
TandJ
Ole' Stoic Viper...
Hey glad you caught that Silvia.. 3.3 might have something to do with it as well.. I really need to look, but in the three established colonies, I believe were are at 1.4 or sometimes 1.5.. I am at the point of where I need to start replacing the studs, as I am around the 6 month or so mark, although the babies are coming steady at about 10 to 15 a litter..
Regards
Regards
cornmorphs
New member
i generally breed mine until they die of old age.
Taceas
USW = UB313
I didn't "read" that he had 3.3 in one tank, but maybe 1.1 in each tub. If they were fighting and bickering, I'm sure any sane person would have separated them out by now. :shrug:
True, a tank with 3 males might have issues. But I've had tubs with 2 males (father & son) do very well and all of the females end up very pregnant every month. However the only drawback was the increased urinating all over the sides and such. However that wasn't an intentional situation.
Right now I've got a colony of "rejects" as I call them, its a 4.3 and those females are the largest I've ever seen when pregnant. Everyone lives happily together for some reason or another. They're all waiting in line to be fed off when my adult snakes are brought out of brumation, so I guess the need for love in their final days is more crucial than fighting. =P
Since I've gone to larger tubs for my mouse rack, I'm able to keep 1.7-9's quite comfortably. Got one colony right now with 4 "golfballs", they're so pregnant they can't walk normally. The first 2 popped yesterday, 38 babies between the two of them. If there's any animal I pity, it's them.
True, a tank with 3 males might have issues. But I've had tubs with 2 males (father & son) do very well and all of the females end up very pregnant every month. However the only drawback was the increased urinating all over the sides and such. However that wasn't an intentional situation.
Right now I've got a colony of "rejects" as I call them, its a 4.3 and those females are the largest I've ever seen when pregnant. Everyone lives happily together for some reason or another. They're all waiting in line to be fed off when my adult snakes are brought out of brumation, so I guess the need for love in their final days is more crucial than fighting. =P
Since I've gone to larger tubs for my mouse rack, I'm able to keep 1.7-9's quite comfortably. Got one colony right now with 4 "golfballs", they're so pregnant they can't walk normally. The first 2 popped yesterday, 38 babies between the two of them. If there's any animal I pity, it's them.
cornmorphs
New member
most of mine are in 1.3/4 now.
boxes are about 18 inches long and 15 wide, i think they are 8 high.
boxes are about 18 inches long and 15 wide, i think they are 8 high.
Taceas
USW = UB313
Denowt,
I'm using Sterilite 1860 (41 qt) tubs for my mouse rack. Never liked keeping mice in cramped quarters as they seemed too prone to more respiratory issues due to the fact their small tubs/cages got messier faster. Plus, they seem to like the room. You can view the rack here.
Marky-b,
Am I reading what you wrote the right way? Sounds kind of mean-spirited considering I wasn't even referring to you, but instead trying to help. Context can be tricky sometimes. Good grief
If you stop and re-read it, I'm agreeing with you (kind of). I was meaning "that any sane person would separate their male mice if they were fighting". Your's aren't fighting, so you shouldn't have to worry about being offended, because you're already sane (at least from my point of view). That make more sense?
And why does it always have to digress to the "you pay for permission to be mean" crap? Let me clarify.
- I donate to the site because I spend most of my waking online time here. I like to give back to places that foster my addictions and keep me entertained.
- I never liked the thought of "everything for nothing".
- This server's services aren't free. Rich pays for every picture that's uploaded to his site and the bandwidth to post posts and read stuff. I like giving back to help keep it alive a little longer.
- I don't pay to get special priveledges (not that there are any anyway), and if you still think that's the case, I pity you.
- I am extremely proud to be a Contributor. Yes, I may get joy out of simple things. But I'm a simple person. It makes me feel good that I gave money to keep something around that I love to visit everyday. When you get right down to it, Contributor money benefits every user on this site, even you.
So think about all of the above before you try to separate us into two classes of people again. We all love corns, I just like showing my love of this site in a more beneficial way.
Handy quote I adore: "If you go around through life expecting to be offended by someone or something, you won't be disappointed."
:cheers:
I'm using Sterilite 1860 (41 qt) tubs for my mouse rack. Never liked keeping mice in cramped quarters as they seemed too prone to more respiratory issues due to the fact their small tubs/cages got messier faster. Plus, they seem to like the room. You can view the rack here.
Marky-b,
Am I reading what you wrote the right way? Sounds kind of mean-spirited considering I wasn't even referring to you, but instead trying to help. Context can be tricky sometimes. Good grief
If you stop and re-read it, I'm agreeing with you (kind of). I was meaning "that any sane person would separate their male mice if they were fighting". Your's aren't fighting, so you shouldn't have to worry about being offended, because you're already sane (at least from my point of view). That make more sense?
And why does it always have to digress to the "you pay for permission to be mean" crap? Let me clarify.
- I donate to the site because I spend most of my waking online time here. I like to give back to places that foster my addictions and keep me entertained.
- I never liked the thought of "everything for nothing".
- This server's services aren't free. Rich pays for every picture that's uploaded to his site and the bandwidth to post posts and read stuff. I like giving back to help keep it alive a little longer.
- I don't pay to get special priveledges (not that there are any anyway), and if you still think that's the case, I pity you.
- I am extremely proud to be a Contributor. Yes, I may get joy out of simple things. But I'm a simple person. It makes me feel good that I gave money to keep something around that I love to visit everyday. When you get right down to it, Contributor money benefits every user on this site, even you.
So think about all of the above before you try to separate us into two classes of people again. We all love corns, I just like showing my love of this site in a more beneficial way.
Handy quote I adore: "If you go around through life expecting to be offended by someone or something, you won't be disappointed."
:cheers: