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I researched breeding mice and........

N

newsnakeowner1978

New member
I found a few ppl saying that you have to have your mouse colony on a 12.12 hour light cycle for them to breed. Is this true, false? I will be breeding them in the basement and I ususally leaves a light on but the tank will be off to the side a bit so the light wont' be shining on it but they wont' be in total darkness. I am starting to get discouraged bout breeding mice. They say it can me months and months before they breed, and they may eat the first 1 - 3 litters. I dont' have the time to wait all this time to start getting some mice. If this is the case then I am thinking I am better off just buying them at the pet store. sigh. any help/suggestions would be greatly apprecitated. :(
 
Don't get discouraged: My mice are in a room that has no access to natural light. Occasionaly a light will be on in that room but no schedule for light. I started with one colony, they had four babies in second day. When these babies were weaned (around four weeks) I started a 1.2 colony with them, the next day this colony had 14 babies and original colony had 12 babies, no eating in either one. These two colonies have been producing pretty steady since. My daughter has a colony in a room with natural light, they were producing 12-14 regularly, they also get handled a lot by the kids, mine only get handled when I change bedding. Her last litter a few days ago was eaten in part by male, first time. I really think it is because the kids handle them so much. I have six snakes and have not had to buy a mouse in a little over a month. These current colonies I have had for about three months. susan
 
Mine don't get much light at all and they don't have any problems breeding! :)

Mine haven't eaten any litters so far, it depends on the mice...USUALLY they only eat if the conditions aren't good, ie, too cramped or not enough food or if the babies are born deformed. But you do get cannabalistic strains...
 
They will breed better on a "spring" L:D cycle (12:12), but they usually do fine on a summer cycle (14:10), and will even breed (but not as well) on a winter cycle (10:14). I get production during brumation (same room as some of my snakes) where it is 100% dark except for my weekly watering check. Production on Mus IS reduced, but not prevented. I wouldn't recommend breeding them that way. I give my mice a photoperiod that I give my snakes, and it works - even if production isn't MAXIMUM. There are other factors (many more important than photoperiod) that determine production in a mouse colony.

KJ
 
Natural light cycle here.. I find in the summer ( I live in the Mojave Desert ) breeding slows down, over winter, well lets just say they like keeping warm and our breeding of mice goes up.. Of course when the corns are brumating the mice get a little more fiskie.. Geees...Lets get it together people.. *LOL*

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
I should also mention, when I find Cannibal mice, their time is often short.. Pulled from the coloney and await a bigger feeder..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
> I find in the summer ( I live in the Mojave Desert ) breeding slows down,

I imagine that is because you let your temps spike up to 76F or above in the summer???? You one of those that have to rely on evaporative cooling units?
 
I'd agree with pretty much everything you've been told~ mice are very forgiving of light and temp requirements. They breed BEST (fastest) at optimal light and temp but will still breed fine at low or high light and with low or high temp (not too high~ over 90-95 and your mice are just dead)~ I'd just like to make a comment on what seemed your impatience in the first post for them to get busy in a hurry. Often it is a matter of patience. They may take a couple months to get going for you~ and if they do......just continue buying your mice at the pet store in the mean time. Don't give in to the temptation to screw with them~ change out the male, add females~ whatever else may cross your mind in an attempt to get them "Going"~ you'll just slow it down by changing the colony dynamic and starting at day one again.

Good luck!
 
KJUN said:
> I find in the summer ( I live in the Mojave Desert ) breeding slows down,

I imagine that is because you let your temps spike up to 76F or above in the summer???? You one of those that have to rely on evaporative cooling units?
Click to expand...

Sorry to bust in here with a question: are you saying evaporative cooling effects breeding? While I get plenty of mice to feed now, I have small litters. It has been in mid to high 90's here swamp coolers runs about 12 hours a day. Because most of our windows face west we get a lot of evening heat. Last year I kept frozen bottles to put with mice and hamsters, this year I have been aiming fans at them. any suggestions, susan
 
susang said:
Sorry to bust in here with a question: are you saying evaporative cooling effects breeding? While I get plenty of mice to feed now, I have small litters. It has been in mid to high 90's here swamp coolers runs about 12 hours a day. Because most of our windows face west we get a lot of evening heat. Last year I kept frozen bottles to put with mice and hamsters, this year I have been aiming fans at them. any suggestions, susan
Click to expand...

No, temps obviously no. Anything above something like 72F has reduced production in mice. HOWEVER, I keep mine at 74 with spikes maybe up to 76F max. It costs too much to keep it cooler than ~75F and the price per pink produced increases. In other words, I keep the temp where I feel the cost per pink is lowest - not where the pink per mouse per month is highest. Follow my logic on this?

As far as little size goes, you may want to cool them down a little, keep the average age of the mice younger (even 10 month old females produce less), trybetter feed, etc. Of course, the LINE of mice you have for your set-up effects production a lot. I keep 2 lines of mice. One has MUCH smaller litters than the other line, but it is MUCH less influenced by temps and dietthan the high production line. Still, when things are right, the high production line has litters at least twice the size of the low production lines. The low production lines ARE hardier mice, though.

ANYWAY, to get back to the original topic, I only mentioned evaporative cooling because it seems they don't work as efficiently and people with them in HOT areas can't keep the mouse temps down cool enough for good production. I don't know - that technology can't be used ANYWHERE I have a desire to live. It might cost me more, but I can cool the mouse and snake room down to 60F any time of the year that I want....lol. If they can't keep it cool enough because they use evaporative cooling, that could be why they have low production. That's all I was getting to - nothing more. :)

KJ
 
I have been breeding mice a long time and even when I worked in the pet store.... in the summer when it was really hot we would put a little powdered gatorade in their water once a week. Not alot but just a tiny bit and the mice and rats really liked it (of course they only got it once a week and the water was changed daily) Always have lots of babies too so take my 2 cents worth for what its worth :)
 
KJUN said:
No, temps obviously no. Anything above something like 72F has reduced production in mice. HOWEVER, I keep mine at 74 with spikes maybe up to 76F max. It costs too much to keep it cooler than ~75F and the price per pink produced increases. In other words, I keep the temp where I feel the cost per pink is lowest - not where the pink per mouse per month is highest. Follow my logic on this?

As far as little size goes, you may want to cool them down a little, keep the average age of the mice younger (even 10 month old females produce less), trybetter feed, etc. Of course, the LINE of mice you have for your set-up effects production a lot. I keep 2 lines of mice. One has MUCH smaller litters than the other line, but it is MUCH less influenced by temps and dietthan the high production line. Still, when things are right, the high production line has litters at least twice the size of the low production lines. The low production lines ARE hardier mice, though.

ANYWAY, to get back to the original topic, I only mentioned evaporative cooling because it seems they don't work as efficiently and people with them in HOT areas can't keep the mouse temps down cool enough for good production. I don't know - that technology can't be used ANYWHERE I have a desire to live. It might cost me more, but I can cool the mouse and snake room down to 60F any time of the year that I want....lol. If they can't keep it cool enough because they use evaporative cooling, that could be why they have low production. That's all I was getting to - nothing more. :)

KJ
Click to expand...

Ironically I do understand now, since we live pretty much on the river the humidity is always high. I was worried I'ld have to somehow lower humidity. I have two colonies of mice and two growing bins of mice and 1.1 hamster. I just started again laid off for about six months. I know I was spending about $35.00 month on mice $1.00 a piece, now feed and bedding about $20-25 and going lower (with excess in freezer). thanks for your help, susan
 
I keep my labratory mice and rat cages in the loft area.
I have a light on a timer ( 14 / 10 ) and the bulb is about 2% UV.
As long as the temp does not get too high or too low they produce all year.
Stephen.
 
What kind of foods...

What is the best food for them. Yes i researched this thread but the food that was talked about in her I cna't get. None of the stores sells it. They sell bags of small rodent seed/mix. I have heard they can also have some dog and cat food. What kind. We feed our cat whiskas brand. Is that a good kind or a bad kind. Also what kinds of fruit/vegetables can u give them from time to time? sry for all the questions ev1 but I wanna get it all down pat before I buy the mice. Tks again ev1.
 
If you use guinea pig or rabbit food it is fine but low in protein, so you need to add peanuts etc.
Hampster food has sunflower seeds which are bad for lactating mice.
Some people recomend WAGG do food. I got my firts bag of this last week. It is 23% protein but the mice do not seem too keen on it. Maybe they will be happier with it in a week or so.
Rodent pellet is the best food but impossible to get in some areas.
Pig pellet is also fine, I used it for years, but some breeders think there is too much copper in it for reptile use.
Stephen
 
Talk to local feed stores. They should be able to special order lab diet (brand doesn't matter and the type depnds on your GOALS). That's what we do.
 
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