Pinkies on the way...

[sfaoldguy]

I have 1 male and he has 4 ladies... One of them is about to have some pinkies any day now... Do I need to take her out and let her have them in a separate tank or will she be ok in there with the rest of them?

 

[cornsnakekid92]

i leave mine in with the rest becasue when you try to put her back there might be figting and she might be killed

 

[Adui]

While I am far from an expert, I also leave mine in. Three going on 4 litters and the only losses were to runts that died and had to be removed.

I will note that I did quite a lot of web research on the subject and the consensus I found was to have 1 male, 3-5 females housed together all the time. You seem to get the best production that way.

 

[cornsnakekid92]

While I am far from an expert, I also leave mine in. Three going on 4 litters and the only losses were to runts that died and had to be removed.

I will note that I did quite a lot of web research on the subject and the consensus I found was to have 1 male, 3-5 females housed together all the time. You seem to get the best production that way.

Yea, i always got through the litter about 6 hours after they were born, i freze off all the ones with out a milk band then, if they havent gotten milk thus far they wont have to good of a chance.

 

[Baba-Lou]

Leave them in. If you take them out and try and re-introduce them later they can be killed, severly injured. Its just easier and safer to keep them all together. And with so many females. Their likely to help the new mother.

 

[Ratsicles]

I may have missed it but are you referring to mice or rats?

What cage size are they in (if its too small she will kill off or cull the litter).

How long has the colony been together? (this mostly pertains to mice)

Is it a first time mother or experienced veteran? How about her cage mates?

Mice tend to be a bit pickier about getting moved out of their colony ... while I have not experienced this I have seen it on alot of forums. Rats are pretty good about getting moved in and out of colonies.

Cage size really comes down to rodents will control their numbers. If there is not enough room they will kill off all or part of the litter. This is natural instinct to conserve resources.

First time females (mice or rat) are notoriously bad with their first litter. My mice tend to have mostly still borns (or are killed quickly after birth). My rats tend to go berzerk and kill or try to kill everything in the tub. First time mothers I always pull and put into their own enclosure, regardless of species.

How old is the colony? Mice take a while to "mesh". Males in young colonies have a tendency to kill off litters that they think may not be theirs. This falls into the ensuring your own genes survive.

Bryan

 

[sfaoldguy]

She had around 6 babies the other day and a couple were still born and the others were killed by the two brown females in the tank...

I have 1 male and 2 female white mice that have been together a couple months and 2 brown female mice were introduced about a month ago... I read online that 1 male and 3 females were fine in a 10 gallon tank for breeding...

This was her first litter... I checked on the babies to find the mother running on the wheel and the 2 brown females in the nest eating the babies... :madeuce:

I have an extra 10 gallon tank I use for amphibians and reptiles that I catch in the wild and use to house them for study and/or rehabilitation... I think I will use this tank for the mother of the next litter (a brown female showing signs)...

They get plenty of fresh water and a mix of Hartz hamster & gerbil food and dog food for the extra protein...

One of the white females and one of the brown females are yet to show any signs of being pregnant... Think I should feed those to my snakes and just use the two proven mothers?

 

[diamondlil]

I found the pinky snacking improved after switching to a mix of rat food and dry dogfood, seems the higher protein means the mice are more likely to raise the pinks than use them as a diet supplement.

 

[sfaoldguy]

I found the pinky snacking improved after switching to a mix of rat food and dry dogfood, seems the higher protein means the mice are more likely to raise the pinks than use them as a diet supplement.

Yea, I feed them a combination of Harts gerbil and hamster food as well as dog food every day... I put that in my previous post, but it's cool if you didn't see it...

 

[Emanon]

I feed scrap food and rat food. Not too many munchers at all. I have been thinning out a couple of colonies because I felt they were too crowded.

Mice on the other hand... I have just started with them and I could really use the live pinks for my hatchlings... is it ok to pluck the first litter in their new colony? I usually leave the pinks in with the rats when it is the first litter but the mice I am a little new to.

 

[Tula_Montage]

My female fawn just dropped last night, from a glance theres roughly 10 - 15 pinks, this too her first litter.

I have left her in with the male, and there has been no snacking or trampling yet. She was clever enough to have them inside a clay strawberry house so they are all warm and cosy and out of the way.

Just make sure theres only 1 male in with the females. If there are more, they may fight and kill each other.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Here is a really weird update...

I just went in to check on my mice and the brown one, that I posted the other day looked like she may be pregnant, had her babies... She hardly looked pregnant at all and I figured they were a couple weeks from coming but the male and her are taking care of them now... She is also one of them that killed the other mouses babies...

Weird stuff if ya ask me lol...

 

[Shrap]

Mice have so little brains :crazy02: . Good luck.

Happy freezing. :sidestep:

 

[sfaoldguy]

lol... The saga continues... It looks like the white mouse whose babies that brown mother ate has addopted the pinkies for herself... A you took mine so I am taking yours kind of thing... At least she is feeding them and not eating them lol...