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breeding mice

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dirtymaxLB7

New member
I want to try to breed mice and just start out with a male and a female. Where would be a good place to get them? My local petsmart only has males apparantly for the pets so idk where to go.
 
Look around for local breeders. I would not get them from a petstore, unless the mice come from a local breeder with a good reputation for being healthy animals.
 
I have a 1/4 ratio of mice. (1 male, 4 females) in the bin.
My mice are from a local breeder in southwest WA.
 
well i just wanted to start out with a small litter to see how it works out. Also ive been getting different answers but can a male be left in with the female after the babies are born?
 
I have no problems leaving my male in with my females. If the females are prego from a previous male, the male may eat the babies, but once the female(s) have babies from him, they tend to leave them alone.
I cull the pinkies within a few days of being born, since the majority of my snakes are hatchlings.
I leave the females & the male together, & just keep them fed & watered, & I wait to clean out the bin until after all the females have had their babies, so as not to stress them out during pregnancy.
When you have a colony with a few females & the male, they generally work as a group to take care of the babies.
I have had success with adding a bit of high protein dog or cat food kibble, it helps prevent cannibalism. I have heard of people throwing in scraps of meat (leftover dinner) & such, but be careful of spices & sauces.

I also put wads of toilet paper in & also the t.p. tubes in for them. They use the t.p. for bedding, & they've made little tunnels out of the tubes.
 
I buy meow mix for my cats so can i feed them that for the extra protein. And also would two females be better than one because i have heard they actually help each other out
 
That would probably be ok for a short period of time, but I personally steer clear of grocery store brand foods, for any of my animals.

I feed Before Grain chicken cat food.

You can easily have 3 or 4 females in with one male. I know people that have had up to 6 females with one male.
As long as you have an adequate sized bin/container for them.
 
Maybe...I have heard of mice chewing through bins that have corners, instead of rounded edges, but I have not experienced this personally.
For bins that size, I would probably keep it to 2, (maybe) 3 females, with one male. Then you're looking at 3 males, one for each bin, correct? Males stink more than females.
I would probably add airholes in the bins as well. Unless you're in a real dry area, you will likely have high humidity, causing condensation buildup, which is bad, & can cause them to get sick.
 
ive been reading different views n this but if i have 2(maybe3) females with one male can they all stay together through the births and everything?
 
i have 1 male with 4 females in a 2 ft tank (20 gallon) they stay together all the time and have babies in the same nest where all the females will feed all the babies.......

never had any probs yet.
 
thats what i thought too but i saw like two sites that said you have to totally isolate the female but i figured that would be such a pain andthen one told me that they actually help each other even the male so thanks for clearing that up
 
I'm considering this too. For 2 snakes what ratio would you recommend? And how do you kill them? CO² seems to be the best option but than i'd have to build a CO² chamber and than would ruin the benefit of breeding them myself and i just as well could get them F/T. (The reason i'm considering to do this for only 2 snakes i because i still don't know any large mice/rats breeders here that ship to belgium)
 
dirtymaxLB7 said:
thats what i thought too but i saw like two sites that said you have to totally isolate the female but i figured that would be such a pain andthen one told me that they actually help each other even the male so thanks for clearing that up
Click to expand...
IMO, that adds more stress to them, moving them back & forth.
I've had no problems keeping my colonies together all the time. Like mentioned earlier, they work together with caring for the babies.

atmox said:
I'm considering this too. For 2 snakes what ratio would you recommend? And how do you kill them? CO² seems to be the best option but than i'd have to build a CO² chamber and than would ruin the benefit of breeding them myself and i just as well could get them F/T. (The reason i'm considering to do this for only 2 snakes i because i still don't know any large mice/rats breeders here that ship to belgium)
Click to expand...

How old are your two snakes?
With only two snakes, you can probably get away with a 1.1 ratio, since they tend to have close to 10 or more babies at a time.
If the snakes are older, you will need a grow out bin, for the babies to get to the size you need to feed them at. (You don't want to keep the babies in with the adults, because they will be trying to breed as soon as their mature.)

Pinkies you can put into the freezer. Without fur, they lose their body temp rapidly. Do not use the freezer method for anything with fur-it takes too long for them & they suffer as they die slowly.

It's fairly easy to make a CO2 chamber. Pick up a CO2 canister from any place that sells paintball equipment, along with some hose & fittings. Get an airtight container, to put the rodents in, drill a hole just big enough for the end of the hose to fit in tightly, near the bottom of the bin. Drill 1 or 2 small holes near the top or in the lid, on the opposite side of the container, (these are for oxygen to escape).
Put the rodents in the bin, & close the lid. Stick the hose in the hole near the bottom, turn on the tank (you don't need to turn it on very much, you want a slow flow in to the container-if you have too high of flow, the CO2 canister will freeze up & you will need to wait for it to thaw before you can use it again.)
Have a leather glove or good work glove handy, the CO2 canister will get cold.
 
My corn is an 8 months old (i guess) but i asked in preparation for the BCI i will buy next fall. I want to be ready for everything before i have the boa here at home.

Sound like a plan to make it, any idea how much CO² costs and how long it will last? Probably gonna have to buy it from a hardware store or aquarium shop (there are no paintball shops near my location)
 
atmox said:
My corn is an 8 months old (i guess) but i asked in preparation for the BCI i will buy next fall. I want to be ready for everything before i have the boa here at home.

Sound like a plan to make it, any idea how much CO² costs and how long it will last? Probably gonna have to buy it from a hardware store or aquarium shop (there are no paintball shops near my location)
Click to expand...

Anywhere that sells paintball stuff..you will have to check your area for prices.
How long it lasts will depend on how much you use it.
 
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