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Basics of Breeding Mice

Penman6668

Penman6668

Dr. Jan Itor
OK I was thinking of breeding mice. Can someone tell where I can get the basic information for set up and what else I may need?
This is not something I will be doing for a couple of months but I like to do the research before jumping into it. I need to get more snakes first. :grin01:
 
breedomg mice is really easy all you have to do is get a cage with ONE MALE only and preferably 5 females. keep constant food and water in there and wood shavings on the bottom have to be kept clean otherwise it stinks. and in a minimum of 25 days u will have a litter of pinkies....when u buy the mice the best age of mice is 2-3 months old because they have the biggest litter of babies.
 
if u find the smell gets too bad put viniger or vinilla extract in the water only a few drops though...sorry for spell mistake on last post it says breeding mice is really easy
 
oops 2 mroe things u need to keep the mice warm for them to be happy i think its around 70 degrees...and there not piky eaters at all u can feed them anything even dog food or cat food thats what i use u dont need to buy expensive roddent food at pet shops.
 
I asked this in another post but here goes:
If you buy pinkies of fuzzies from a local reptile show (alive of course) are they good for breeding? They are a lot cheaper than pet stores.
 
mice are ready to breed after 6 weeks from birth but like i said above u wanna get a 3 month old mouse for larger litters
 
Well the problem with buying mice fuzzies or pinks at a show OR a petshop to breed is that they are not weaned yet, Meaning that they are still feedin on the milk produced by the mother and do not know how to eat solid food yet. I went to a show and picked up a trio of mice that had just been weaned for $2. I then went and bought a mouse breeder care there too. I just use wood shaving for the bottom and i put a little bit of vinegar in the watter too keep the Ammonia smell down. I still do have to change the cage twice a week to keep the smell of the poo down, but the cage is not big. You can start out to breed in a ten gallon, i would change that one a week. I use Lab block because they are better for the micethen food intended for other animals like cat or dog food. If You go to Walmart you can get a 1.5 pound box of lab blocks for 2 bux. that should last 1-1.5 months for a trio of mice. litter come about once every 21 days. TO get them to breed you really do not have to do much but keep them healthy and together. There should only be one male per a cage and 2 to 8 females. Any more questioins?
 
Thank you cornsnakekid92
I will look for the Lab block. I will also look weaned or breeder mice at the next show I can get too.
 
Wow. Owen you've made like 37 posts to right now. And you're saying some things I would never believe would happen with mice. And I've been breeding for a few months now. Using Viniger? That would more likely dehydrate them. Even if it was only 3 drops. Depending on the size of bottle maybe. Are you sure 1.5 would fit in a 10 gal tank? I know I have a cage the equilivent to a 5 gal and I can easily house a 1.3 with out cannabalism. And as for mice eating "Anything" Yes maybe. But its like how dogs can eat cat food. But cats can not eat dog food. (if you want to know the reason behind this ask you're local vet. its to long for me ot answer) I would not advise a breeder to give their mice cat food. Only because of some of the things in Cat food. Where Dog food also holds a lot more protien supposedly then cat food. BTW Dog food is never good as a staple food item for mice.

As for mouse breeding age. Females can be safely breed after 6 weeks and males 8 weeks.

I don't mean to Bash you or anything Owen. But some of the things you said I just had to clear up.
 
Lab blocks, by far, are the best food for mice [colonies]. An occasional treat of seeds, peanut butter, and/or yogurt drops is perfectly fine in order to keep morale up :laugh: . As far as purchasing lab blocks, if you intend on keeping multiple colonies (like I do with both rats and mice) the most economical way is to purchase in bulk. I buy 50 pound bags of rodent chow/diet at a local feed store for $22--that's under $0.50 a pound. You can also order directly from some food makers like Mazuri--the food price is cheap, but the shipping is not.
 
Well, if mice are anything like hamsters, be prepared to get bit A LOT. They will most likey hang onto you which hurts like hell lol.

I bought one hamster and I didnt know, but it was pregnet. Every 20 days I had like 5 more hamsters. I ended up with over 25 hamsters and the pet store wouldnt take them :cry:
 
Mice generally don't bite, and when they do, it doesn't even break the skin. Or at least it has been this way with mine. If you want to be sure they don't bite, just handle them a little bit each day.
 
Hehe I handle my rat fuzzies. and I've gotten on tame now. His name is Patches. He's going to be my pet Rat only because He's the runt and he's sooooo tame lol.
 
Vinegar in water for odor control? not gonna raise the acidity to do anything useful with that dilute a soloution.

As for a 10 gal? I can do 1.6 in a 10 gallon with no problem, but then all mice are different in their sudden desire for protein. . . what works for one may be catastrophe for another.

I have made it a point to push all over these threads for better nutrition; consider this- if you take the example of a 15 pound bag of ashy petstore block that is 8 or 10% protein you'll pay what? $15? $20?

Buying a quality lab block with 18-10% protein from Mizuri or Harlan will set you back around $25 or so, but you'll raise healthyier mroe nutritous mice that offer better value for your snake feedings. . . .

Mizuri also containes some basic additives to help with the ammoniatic urine smell. it's a nice thought, although I prefer to just change bedding a couple days earlier so the mice are on a clean base for their breeding.

It's just a thought- you get what you pay for. The other part of the equation is the recovery time for the females; unless you sequester pergnant females and make a "mom colony" [which some on this board are opposed to, and is usually seen more in rats where there is an obvious cannabilstic issue] your females will be pregnant again in no time- their bodies can only do so much under the heavy load of constant pregnancy, so you may see reduced numbers of pinks, smaller size for mom and babies, etc etc etc.

Heavily bred females in laboratory colonies have a life expectancy of 6 months or less, and that's with mice specifically bred for heavy production.

Just food for thought. Hope everyone's furry food items are doing well. . . .
 
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