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Starting to breed mice 1st time.

SilverWolf

SilverWolf

Alpha Wolf
Ok, I decided to try breeding mice as my bf and I collection of mice eaters has gotten big enough we felt it worth the hassle. I purchased 1.2 mice from the store. All white (kinda wanted a colored one). Put them in the tank and left them alone. Well a couple days later the bf decided to give the male to his ball python to show his friend how it ate. :rolleyes: So I stopped at another pet store on the way home from work the next day and purchased another male. He is the same size as the girls but I was able to get a tan one. I put him in with the girls knowing that the girls might not like him being a different male. So far I haven't noticed too much drama. I have noticed that the male and one female stay together and that the other female goes to another corner and stays by herself. Does that mean something is wrong?
I have them in a 10 gallon glass tank with screen lid. Water bottle, igloo hide, and aspen bedding. I've thrown about three toliet paper rolls in (most are chewed up) and their food. Is there anything else I should provide them with?
Thanks!
 
If the girls haven't killed him yet they should be fine. The one may be off to the side because she doesn't want the male around her, she may be pregnant... The problem I have heard of in this situation is the male will kill the babies because they are not his. Don't take him out however. Mice form long lasting colonies and don't like change. It takes a while to establish a colony so I wouldn't just take this or that one out for food yet. If you need bigger feeders buy them. if these females have litters within the next 25 days watch very closely and take them out if there is any sign of aggression toward them and feed those babies off.
It is ok to take babies out fuzzies, try to leave a least two to weinling in. If all is well the females will produce litters about every 25 days.
Emphasize to your bf if you need big feeders buy them for now. If all you need is big feeders, once babies are weined/hopper size put them in their own tank to grow.
 
I agree with Susang, your biggest worry here will be the male eating the babies. Once a colony is established, you really shouldn't add new members to it. So watch very careful to see what the male does.

Please update after the babies are born, as I am very curious about what is going to happen here.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep an eye on them.
I wasn't sure how long it took for them to create a bonding colony. I had only had the original three for two days before the male was taken to be food. (Bf was being stupid) It was the next day that the new male was introduced. So I was hoping there wouldn't be any problems. So far I have only noticed an occasional tussle with the male and the female that stays by herself in the one corner.
As for her and her being pregnant, I'm not sure and I guess I'll just have to wait and see. The store I purchased the original three from had the males and females separated, but of course there is that occasional "accident". lol

Oh and I'll try and get some pics soon. I'm trying to leave them alone as much as possible for now. But they do have names now. I didn't want to get too attached to them so there is Momma 1 and Momma 2 (M1 and M2) and the male was named by the bf. His name is Lucky. Bf figures it's a good name for a male that gets to have lots of action from two females. lol
 
I wouldn't worry too much. It usually takes a couple weeks minimum to establish a "colony" before the breeding begins. I doubt the female is pregnant this soon, unless, of course, you purchased a pregnant female. In this casse, if the female is pregnant, the colony is young enough that the male may be fooled into believing the offspring are his. Watch for signs of copulation...if he tries to copulate with the suspected pregnant female, it may be enough to convince him the babies are his. While cannibalism happens when a male believes the offspring are not his, a dominant female will usually keep an aggressive male in line. I have successfully fostered pinkies and fuzzies purchased from the store within my own colonies for no other reason than the dominant mouse was female, and she accepted the babies...and wouldn't let the others harm them.

It's not uncommon for a male to prefer one female over the others, however, this preferance means very little in terms of breeding. The male will breed whenever and with whomever he has access to, even though he may prefer the close company of one female over the others.

I also concur with allowing the females to raise a couple of babies to full weanling size from every other litter. This helps to prevent mammary tumors from developing, and also strengthens the family bond of the colony. However, I recommend that weanling size mice be removed from the colony ASAP, to prevent unwanted pregnancies and/or aggression from the "father" male against his male offspring. Weanlings are not considered babies in the colony, and will be forced to fall in line behind the adults under aggressive terms if necessary. Females will be copulated with(usually too soon), and young males will get beaten up by the adult male. It's nature.

Also...FWIW...you could have a larger colony in a 10g aquarium if you desired. I keep 1.6 in a 10g critter cage with no issues. Of course...my mice are not "pets", and as such, they have food, water, bedding, and a hide...no wheel, no toys, no unnecessary adornments of any kind. They serve a purpose exclusively...Your mileage may vary.
 
Just wanted to update some. The mice are all doing great. Getting along and getting bigger. I think mostly just from eating well but hopefully soon they'll be pregnant. :)

I also got a new female. I went to the store to pick up some adult mice for the big snakes. While there I said I was starting my own breeding colony and was maybe looking at getting some more females(preferably colored). The guy there ends up bringing out this huge female that was definitely pregnant. She is all white, but I decided to bring her home anyways. She is much larger than the others so I have her by herself. But I figured I'd get some babies out of her now, let her raise them to weanlings and then feed them off. Maybe by then I'll have another male about her size to breed her with. If not then I'll probably feed her off too. We will just wait and see.

Thanks again for all the advice and I'm sure as time goes on I'll be asking more questions. :)
 
Keep a male from her babies, maybe even a female or 2, and start another colony. No use feeding her off once you know she is a good breeder.
 
Ok, I'm not really sure what happened. But the last female mouse I bought that I thought was "Very" pregnant must have been fooling us. She looked huge when we got her, the guy at the store even said she was very pregnant. Well, still no babies. Plus she's not nearly as big as she was. It will have been two weeks tomorrow (sunday) since I got her. So I have no idea what is going on with her. Any ideas?

And on another note, one of the original females is now making a funny noise. Not really sure how to explain it, but it kinda makes me think of breathing problems. She is the one that has always been the outsider of the group. Maybe she is sick and that's why they don't want her around?

I'm really thinking of feeding these guys off and starting all over again. I would like to keep the male, but if one is sick then it's possible all would end up sick right?

Oh what to do, lol.
 
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