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Joined: Mar 25, 2005 Posts: 1354 Location: Denver, CO
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:43 am Post subject: Getting started breeding mice ?
I've had a male for about 6 weeks, and I am going to pick up 2 females today - Should I start by throwing a female in their for a week, than switching to the other female - How fast does it become noticeable that they are pregnant ? I take it I should keep the pregnants away from the male till the babies are born and weaned. Can the 2 females be housed together while pregnant and weaning or should I separate them as well ? _________________ 1.0.0 Ball Python "Albino"
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Joined: Jul 23, 2005 Posts: 385 Location: North Carolina
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:54 am Post subject:
I never had much luck with the new mice... You start with a new cage and then put them all in at once.. This starts them out on neutral ground.
My best breeders have been the babies that grew up here.. They are all used to the environment and they breed like crazy. But i never separate males from the females at any point.. The males are actually kinda helpful in there, and when it came to the babies getting eaten, it was always the females, in my observations, that did it.. _________________ The Jay
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972269 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:38 pm Post subject:
I generally keep two or three females to every male.
When I introduce them to the bin I do it all at once. If you have some already in the bin, take it out. Clean the bin, add new shavings. Place to toilet paper or papertowel rolls in there as well as some food/seed. Place all of the mice that are going into this bin in there at once.
Stand there and be ready, female may fight. I keep my hand in the new bin and keep them apart for a few minutes and let them all settle. After 5 to 10 minutes I remove my hand and see what happens. If the females fight I split them up and keep them apart with my hand for another 5 to 10 minutes. If this still doesn't work I try removing one of the fighting females and add another one.
Once you get the bins set and they are all settled in you are done.
I never remove my adults, even when they have babies. Generally mothers will eat their first litter. This is partly because they start cleaning them and are unsure what they are doing. If more then one litter gets eaten I remove the one killing the babies and try again.
It's a bit of a process but once you get it set you have to do nothing but feed them and clean them.
Joined: Mar 25, 2005 Posts: 1354 Location: Denver, CO
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject:
I've introduced the Trio into a 10G tank that none have been in before, with new bedding, bowls, water bottles, ect... - The male seems very happy about this "imagine that" - The females get along just fine with one-another, however the male seems to have more interest in one particuliar female than the other, and she does of him - The other female just sits off to the side - although the male is interested in some of that as well - I have more tanks if need be - I've read that the "harem method" might be more succesful, than monogamous ? _________________ 1.0.0 Ball Python "Albino"
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Joined: Mar 25, 2005 Posts: 1354 Location: Denver, CO
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:03 pm Post subject:
About a week after I started this post, I seperated the females as they were fighting, and bought another male - So I have 2 breeding pairs in 2 tanks - I've had success with one pair as the female looks very much pregnant now and ready to pop - Still nothing with the other pair though - Do you think I should try a new male with her, or a new female with him, or give them to the Tegu's and get another pair all together - Their environments are identical, however this one pair aint gonna make me a grandpa anytime soon "I don't think"
On a side note, and I don't know how to word this any better the non-breeding male has a really big set of nuts compared to the breeding male - 3-4 times the size of the breeding one - Does this mean anything or is he just well hung lol _________________ 1.0.0 Ball Python "Albino"
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Its not exactly rocket science mice tend to do their own thing, all the time. At my store we keep them all in one group, prolly 20 mice to a 10 gallon, and they breed almost as fast as we sell them. Give it like 8 weeks and the babies will start breeding too, hope you have some room, or a very hungry tegu...
Joined: Mar 25, 2005 Posts: 1354 Location: Denver, CO
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:17 pm Post subject:
yeaitsdave wrote:
Its not exactly rocket science mice tend to do their own thing, all the time. At my store we keep them all in one group, prolly 20 mice to a 10 gallon, and they breed almost as fast as we sell them. Give it like 8 weeks and the babies will start breeding too, hope you have some room, or a very hungry tegu...
1 pair is doing their own thing, and the other pair is not doing anything - Any input on that ? - I have plenty of tanks available to house them in and Tegu's to eat them _________________ 1.0.0 Ball Python "Albino"
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Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 1164 Location: panamacity florida
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:20 am Post subject:
The harem method works. You can put up to five females in with one male. No more or there will be stress. Also all of these females must be not bred at the time they are put together, or fighting will start. If you keep the temps between 70-80, they will breed great. As a side note, they need at least 12 hours of lighting. That would be for white lab mice. The colored mice tend to not be so picky about the temps. Do not have more than one male in the cage, they will fight. If the conditions are right, they will all take care of each others babys as well. As for the male with the large --, it has little to do with breeding, however he may be past his prime, thus to old to breed.
i have started this also. I have one male and two females i have only had them for about 3 weeks but i dont know if they are breeding. i have yet to see them. how long does it normally take when you put mice together and how long after that does it take for them to have babies.
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 1164 Location: panamacity florida
Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject:
The gestation period is three weeks. It might take a week or two for them to adjust to their new home. You should have babys in no more than five weeks.
If you keep non-pregnant females in with the babies, will they begin to produce milk? I've heard this a few times, but I've never gotten a definite answer
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 1164 Location: panamacity florida
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:47 am Post subject:
yeaitsdave wrote:
If you keep non-pregnant females in with the babies, will they begin to produce milk? I've heard this a few times, but I've never gotten a definite answer
I will give you that answer . Yes it is correct, I would say to a point. If a female has never been bred, than she will not produce milk for another female's young. If she has had a litter/litters, than yes she will sometimes produce milk for another female's young. I would also add, that even if a female does not produce milk, she will still help tend to all the young. However it depends on the female in question, other females may only take care of their young and disregard other female's babies. In a good colony/family group, all of the females will work together to care for all of the young. Even the ones that do not produce milk will clean and tend to the babies. I hope this helps.
We are going to be breeding rats very soon. Is there any problem with "inbreeding" to look out for or anything of the sort?
Also, does all the advice given so far apply to rats as well as mice? The bill for the Savannah's food is getting pretty high, not to mention how hard it is to find live pinkies for the red tail, who finds himself to good to eat frozen pinkies. _________________ 0.0.1 Columbian B&W Tegu
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mice tend to do their own thing, all the time. At my store we keep them all in one group, prolly 20 mice to a 10 gallon, and they breed almost as fast as we sell them. Give it like 8 weeks and the babies will start breeding too, hope you have some room, or a very hungry tegu...
. Yes it is correct, I would say to a point. If a female has never been bred, than she will not produce milk for another female's young. If she has had a litter/litters, than yes she will sometimes produce milk for another female's young. I would also add, that even if a female does not produce milk, she will still help tend to all the young. However it depends on the female in question, other females may only take care of their young and disregard other female's babies. In a good colony/family group, all of the females will work together to care for all of the young. Even the ones that do not produce milk will clean and tend to the babies. I hope this helps. 
