I bought them from a pet store, so the age is actually only a guesstimation, but I don't think they are too young as one of them obviously did have babies successfully. I tried to find older mice, but the only store that had them wasn't selling them because they too were using them to breed snake food.
Ok did you keep any from the first litter to grow out for breeding? Just because they came from a petshop doesn't mean they are young or even mid aged. I have seen pet shops take back mice months later and resell them at the same age in the same manner as the younger ones.
No problem about the terms. I have way more experience with rodents than snakes. That is why I know how "nippy" rodent people can get about their terms. Snake folks seem a bit more relaxed.
Your food sounds ok though you might consider adding rolled oats. I have more luck with rolled oats in the mix than when they aren't. When I raised gerbils I had a line that had a plain "gerbil mix" and a line that got my blend. The ones on my blend were larger, lived longer and had healthier litters. My mix is NOT scientifically figured! It is by gut feeling and eyeballing it. I mix a new batch each time I run out and it does not always have the exact same stuff in it nor the same amounts.
I use cat food, kitten food, lab blocks, rolled oats, uncooked brown rice, vegetable pastas, black oil sunflowerseeds, pumpkin seeds, wild bird seed mix, gerbil/hamster mix, moulting blend, ferret fruit treat, ferret food, dog food, dog buiscuits, split peas, bran flakes, rice crispies, grape nuts, um . . .I am sure there is other stuff. I do not use all of this in each mix, it depends on what I have and can get when I need to make a new batch. The only thing that is ALWAYS in my mix every time is the lab blocks. My gerbils were all healthy, and huge. I had several live 5 years. I had one female that lived just short of 8 years. I am learning how to blend special for the mice by watching what they eat first and how their figures look. I will also be watching litter size, newborn size, growth rate etc.
If this helps anyone at all I am glad
