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Mice Mixers..?

skinwrappedbox

skinwrappedbox

New member
I've noticed this in a few threads, and i dont want to step on anyone's toes or anything, and if it works for you i guess it's alright but:
When you breed your mice, you should seperate the male after you breed him to the girls. If he is left in the same cage with the females after they give birth, he will mate with them again. This is not healthy for your breeders (and im sure its not healthy for a developing litter). You are forcing a female to nurse one group of pups while developing another. It's better to wait until the female is finished with a litter (reguardless if you take the babies as pinkies or let them develop further) and give her a bit of rest in between breedings.
I would suggest having a male and two females and breeding each female every other go, Or having four females and breeding two every other time. So on and so fourth, or however you decide to handle it.
Totally consider that, if not for your mice but for the standard of your feeders.
Like i said, i hope i dont offend or upset anyone, its just something i've read about many times as a former breeder (and future again) breeder.
<luffs3
 
I've found it MUCH worse on the mice if I separate them. Females are not very accepting of mice when they are added to the tank. Every time I have tried to add a new male to a tank of females, he gets killed. I've had NO problms when I keep the males in with the females. I think it's harder on him to be killed than it is on the females to be bred often.
 
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Bent over real good? ;)

I understand its probably not the best for the female mice, but the social factor of mice being what it is just doesn't leave much room for compromising. Like Terri, I've had far better luck leaving the male mice in with the females than taking him out and re-adding him back in a month or so later. Most of my males when removed for one reason or another for even a day and put back in, he's met with severe hostility.

And you also have to factor in, these are mice being bred for snake food. More often than not, numbers are what matters, rather than the health of the female. If she starts to look ragged, she's turned into snake food herself. Most people I know who breed mice, feed off the adult females at 6-8 months of age when they say their numbers started slacking off.

If I were to give every female mouse a month off, I wouldn't have enough food to feed my snakes. If you were to give them a month off before retiring them at 6 months of age, you'd only get 2-3 litters. And when I'm breeding for an alternative purpose, it just doesn't make practical sense. If I'm breeding for quality mice for shows or whatever doesn't result in mice being eaten, well then you can have the time and inclination to do that.

My rats are a different story. After this past year's nasty summer, the females were looking ragged from the babies and the heat. They took a 2 month hiatus and just recouperated. But when I introduced the males back in, there was a little squabble and that was it. Now a couple of months later, I've got a lot of babies. But for all of the ruthlessness rats get associated with, their social structure is so much better. Not to mention, most of my rats breed until they're a year and a half old, so time isn't such a factor.

I appreciate your opinion, but it just doesn't make sense when you're breeding rodents for snake food. I care for my rodents, most of my friends on here can tell you that I dote on them and give them far better care and nutrition than most large scale feeder breeders. But I can't escape the fact that ultimately, they're snake food.

We simply cannot anthropomorphize every animal we keep. Being female, I know sure as hell I wouldn't want to be mated after just having had a baby. But these are mice; they have a short lifespan, large litters, and breed a lot to make up for the fact other animals find them tasty. Just a fact of life.
 
i can understand that, just pointing it out-
with mice, females will kill a male, its a neutral territory type deal, introduce her to him and that should solve problems.

i dont have qualms with such, but for people who are interested in the health of a mouse, i slapped it on there.
 
I don't see why the fact their going to be fed to snakes makes them any less deserving. If I bred mice for food I would treat them almost as nicely as possible. Why not? You're killing them so you can feed one of their worst enemies. ;)

You can give them a break, and treat them nicely for low costs anyways.
 
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