miamijuan3
New member
I was just wondering how many mice colonies i need to feed my snakes i have 17. I started one with 1 male and 3 females.
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How many do i need
- Thread starter miamijuan3
- Start date
Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
It might vary, depending upon the size of your snakes (what size mouse they eat), how often you feed your snakes and how prolific your mice are. And inevitably, no matter how many mice you have, Murphy makes sure you always run out of one size and need to buy some anyway.
carnivorouszoo
Crazy Critter Lady
You don't want to overload your male. I would try not to have more than 5 females to one male. Feeding a cleaning 2 cages of mice is not that much different from caring foro ne. Besides, the more in one cage the higher the chances of fighting and canibalism. I have 1.4 and will be setting up another 1.4 from their offspring and a 1.2 as well. Of course I have 1 snake but people wanting to buy their feeders from me because they have seen my setup and think its better and less stressful than the pet shop who breeds their own feeders. The pet shop has an unknown amount f males with at least 20 females and they clear out males and older females every 3 months. They are in a 55. Alot of their adults have scars from fights. They only sel one size pinks then fuzzies, and hoppers, no weanlings, then just large adults. I am very comfortable with the 1.5 ratio myself. Mind I am fairly new to the whole mouse breeding thing.
Floof
New member
I would listen to Tim, but translate it into, maybe, 2 1.4 colonies--I can only imagine two smaller colonies would be easier to maintain that one BIG one! My suggestion would be to start out with two 1.3-4 colonies, see how that does, and add more colonies as you need them... For that matter, start extra colonies from offspring from your established colonies.. Of course, taking from the mothers with big litters. =)
Buzzard
two corny
1:6 or 1:8 sounds good. I would probably do 2 or 3 colonies.
If you have a lot of time for maintence, Then go with 1:4 just make 5-6 colonies like that. Males can handle 8 females at a time, mine do with no issues. I just bumped 2 of my colonies to 1:10 for pinkie production(possible baby corns on the way). As Susan mentioned make sure you have a few on the side for those slow periods, or when the mice are producing heavy freeze a few. Hope this helps , Good luck...
If you have a lot of time for maintence, Then go with 1:4 just make 5-6 colonies like that. Males can handle 8 females at a time, mine do with no issues. I just bumped 2 of my colonies to 1:10 for pinkie production(possible baby corns on the way). As Susan mentioned make sure you have a few on the side for those slow periods, or when the mice are producing heavy freeze a few. Hope this helps , Good luck...
miamijuan3
New member
Thanks for all your replies. A few more question. 1. should i introduce a new female to my colony and if so how or do i just start my new colonies with more females. 2. Whats is the best way to store frozen mice (long term) would freezer bags be ok?
Floof
New member
Introducing mice to an established colony is risky. I got lucky with mine--I introduced a new male and female to my established girls a day after moving the two girls into a new aquarium-type cage, but all four are young. Going by the way I did it... Introduce them on neutral ground (carries scent from none of the mice), start with the most easy-going and end with the most dominant of the established colony. You can also rub... Oh, gosh, I think it was vanilla extract?... On their bums to diminish scent and make everyone "neutral"... Or to distract them, or both. I've only read about that method, and I can't recall if the places I heard it actually said "why." Put them in a freshly disinfected cage, so no one has any scent in there. There are plenty more methods of introducing mice to each other, just do a search... But, to be safe, you may just want to start new colonies with more females.
As for storing frozen mice, get a vacuum packer. They practically pay for themselves. =) Just pack the bags full of mice, vacuum seal it, and toss it in the freezer! They keep much better than if you put them in loose, ziploc-type bags.
carnivorouszoo
Crazy Critter Lady
ziplock has a new vaccum sealing line with a handheld sealer. It costs $4 for the sealer and 3 bags, then the bags are like $4 for 30 (I think) I'll be looking at it today 
I do agree though that the numbers per colony should depend on what you can handle, cage size and how much you need of each size mouse (growing room). I know what I said before but that was from my point of view, what the others said is more general and I should have gone general as well as saying how I do it.
I do agree though that the numbers per colony should depend on what you can handle, cage size and how much you need of each size mouse (growing room). I know what I said before but that was from my point of view, what the others said is more general and I should have gone general as well as saying how I do it.
Buzzard
two corny
I would try not to introduce new females like FLoof said it is tricky. Let a few female offspring grow up in the colony without culling them. This seems to work better for me.
Carnivorouszoo is right about growing room. Make sure your colonies have space, pending on how much culling you do, remember 3 week old mice take up room too....
Freezer bags work okay for short periods of time, but vac sealing them works best.
Carnivorouszoo is right about growing room. Make sure your colonies have space, pending on how much culling you do, remember 3 week old mice take up room too....
Freezer bags work okay for short periods of time, but vac sealing them works best.
miamijuan3
New member
How early can you tell the sex of the mice? should i just leave the whole litters in the colony? right now there are two litters of about 25 pinks. I have 15 hoppers frem the last litter should i just introduce one of the older mice back into the colony. Is it safe to it when there are pinks in the cage or should i wait to ween them out before i try? sorry for all the questions but i dont want to disturb the colony to much it seems to be doing about 25 to 30 pinks per cycle is that a good number? The last time i tried breeding the mice were killing the pinks and i dont want to see that again.......Thanks again for all your help..
Floof
New member
Here's a good place to go for info on sexing: http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/sexing.cfm
Are you talking about introducing a hopper back into the colony? If so, my suggestion is to skip it and just keep one or two female pinks from their next (or current) litter.. Just never remove her.
Are you talking about introducing a hopper back into the colony? If so, my suggestion is to skip it and just keep one or two female pinks from their next (or current) litter.. Just never remove her.
Buzzard
two corny
That web site will show you how to sex young mice and fuzzies/pinkies it is very helpful.
I wouldn't intro a hopper back in. The females might kill it. I would do like FLoof suggested just keep 2-3 from the next upcoming group. However if you have pulled hoppers(weanlings) out, you can usually get away with pooling them together and creating a new colony, if desired. I started with 4 colonies, I am up to 10 now doing it like this. and I have culled one of my orignal 4 sets out.
I wouldn't intro a hopper back in. The females might kill it. I would do like FLoof suggested just keep 2-3 from the next upcoming group. However if you have pulled hoppers(weanlings) out, you can usually get away with pooling them together and creating a new colony, if desired. I started with 4 colonies, I am up to 10 now doing it like this. and I have culled one of my orignal 4 sets out.
miamijuan3
New member
Thanks for all the help. I went with four colonies with a 1:5 ratio it seems to be working out fine. I even built a rack to house them. I am thinking of adding a few more soon. It makes thing so much easier not to mention cheaper. Im always impressed how willing the people on this site are to give great advise thanks again juan :bowdown:
psychoprimate84
Awesome!
At the moment, I have 6 snakes but soon my adult female will be laying eggs and I will have pippies to feed. I also plan on buying more snakes.At the moment I have 3 1:4 mouse colonies. I went to stay the night at my mom's house last night and when I came back, I had 44 NEW pinkies (a couple of females already had litters before I was gone). I think there are still more to come.In 3 weeks, it will be the same all over again. Maybe this gives you an idea how many you will need.