Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it too hard on the female mice to breed them continously, I mean just keep the male with the females and let them become pregnant whenever they want. I want to keep the breeder mice as healthy as possibly while under my care.

Does anyone breed mice in this way or have any bad experiences with this?

Thanks,
Brian
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1.1 Normal Ball Pythons (Snakerton and Mathilda)
1.0 Het Albino Ball Python (Walter)
0.1 Albino Ball Python (Perrie)

>>Is it too hard on the female mice to breed them continously, I mean just keep the male with the females and let them become pregnant whenever they want. I want to keep the breeder mice as healthy as possibly while under my care.
>>
>>Does anyone breed mice in this way or have any bad experiences with this?

I think someone commented a bit ago that giving animals a break didn't seem to increase their number of litters etc. Plus, in my experience, mice do NOT deal well with having their social groups interrupted. Taking out a male and trying to reintroduce him later may easily result in his death and or (best case scenario) several months of waiting for them to get reaquainted. Mice are prey animals. They are designed to make babies. If you are feeding well this shouldn't affect their health. In fact I find that animals I use for breeding live longer and are generally cancer free compared to their pet only, not bred counterparts. Go fig.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thank you Sonya!
People have told me that you have to take the male out when the babies come or he will kill them. Have you ever had a problem with males killing babies? Or do you have any tips for a mouse colony that is very soon expecting?
I took the male out a couple hours ago, should I put him back now? One of the female mice is very close to having babies I think (she is huge!)....
Anything you feel like telling me would be great.

Thanks,
Brian
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1.1 Normal Ball Pythons (Snakerton and Mathilda)
1.0 Het Albino Ball Python (Walter)
0.1 Albino Ball Python (Perrie)

I hear that all the time about rats and mice and I don't think its generally true, I've never had a male eat any babies. I always leave male mice with the colony and they always help take care of the babies, keep them warm, build the nest, etc.leave

I raise rats, not mice, but in the 2 yrs. I've been breeding them I've never had the first male eat a baby. Some moms will eat their babies and sometimes another female will, but I've never had a male do so. Like "Rflagg" said, they usually help out.

As far as removing the male, I've done it both ways and still do it both ways, sometimes. Thinking logically, I can only imagine that continuos back to back litters takes a toll on them, wearing them out faster. I don't have any proof and I don't usually keep breeding pairs around long enough to really find out.

As far as re-introducing a rodent (male or female) to it's colony, I've had good results by placing the one to be introduced in an empty container first, place the original colony in with it, change the substrate in the original cage and place all rodents back in. It's not foolproof but has worked best for me.

It's been my experience that if there's any social problems with male rats not readily taking advantage of a ripe female, the male most likely isn't or won't be a good breeder. A good breeder male should be dominate. Yes, sometimes they'll cower a bit when first being introduced but it shouldn't take weeks for them to be accepted. They should be taking what they want within a day or so.

Now, that's just my experiences and opinions. I'm not saying it's the law.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

>>I raise rats, not mice, but in the 2 yrs. I've been breeding them I've never had the first male eat a baby. Some moms will eat their babies and sometimes another female will, but I've never had a male do so. Like "Rflagg" said, they usually help out.
>>
>>As far as removing the male, I've done it both ways and still do it both ways, sometimes. Thinking logically, I can only imagine that continuos back to back litters takes a toll on them, wearing them out faster. I don't have any proof and I don't usually keep breeding pairs around long enough to really find out.
>>
>>As far as re-introducing a rodent (male or female) to it's colony, I've had good results by placing the one to be introduced in an empty container first, place the original colony in with it, change the substrate in the original cage and place all rodents back in. It's not foolproof but has worked best for me.
>>
>>It's been my experience that if there's any social problems with male rats not readily taking advantage of a ripe female, the male most likely isn't or won't be a good breeder. A good breeder male should be dominate. Yes, sometimes they'll cower a bit when first being introduced but it shouldn't take weeks for them to be accepted. They should be taking what they want within a day or so.
>>
>>Now, that's just my experiences and opinions. I'm not saying it's the law.
>>
>>Take care!
>>Mike
>>-----
>>It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I think this is true of rats but NOT mice. Rats are way more laid back about social structure and don't stress like mice do. Mice will go to peices about moving animals around.
Personally I don't think back to back litters are any worse on a well cared for rodent. They are made to make babies. Some lines may stress more but in that case I would breed away from them and back to the lines that take it in stride.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thanks for the info.

As for back-to-back litters being hard on females, I've never seen any proof, pro or con. Like I said, "I can only imagine". I know that most, if not all, of the human baby factories I've seen sure looked like they've been through H---. LOL! They definitely believed that they were made to have babies.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Sonya,
Before you get mean on this ol' sissy, I just wanted to make sure that you didn't think I was trying to be a smarty in any way. I wasn't.

I also feel that I owe you and anyone else that I may have offended, an apology for my rather crude choice of words in describing what I feel are good male breeder characteristics. I didn't realize how crude it sounded until I re-read it. I am sorry, I didn't intend to be rude & crude.

Have a great day!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

>>Thank you Sonya!
>>People have told me that you have to take the male out when the babies come or he will kill them. Have you ever had a problem with males killing babies? Or do you have any tips for a mouse colony that is very soon expecting?
>>I took the male out a couple hours ago, should I put him back now? One of the female mice is very close to having babies I think (she is huge!)....
>>Anything you feel like telling me would be great.
>>

Personally I have found that moving mice around at all will do nothing good. It will add stress and they have enough in their furry little minds already. If it has only been a couple hours I would put him in and leave them alone. No, I gotta say the cannabalizm I see in mice is from overstressed or first time moms.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

I always move my female mice around and don't seem to have any problems.

I have 6 tubs devoted to breeding 8 for raising up feeders (hoppers) and 2 for storing/raising up breeders.

Twice a week I check the breeder tubs and pull any reapy to pop females out. They all go into a comunal birthing tub(s).

As they give birth, I move her and her babies into a raising tub with 3 - 5 other females with similar aged litters.

On Wednesday, I clean the entire rack and add that weeks "fresh" females into the breeding tubs.

With my methods, I closely control the flow of babies out of the "factory". One point I did realize as I was typing this is I aonly move females and only into freshly cleaned tubs. Or at worst, one or two day old tubs with other moms/litters.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.24 BRB
11.13 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

>>
>>With my methods, I closely control the flow of babies out of the "factory". One point I did realize as I was typing this is I aonly move females and only into freshly cleaned tubs. Or at worst, one or two day old tubs with other moms/litters.

This is probably a key to your not having massacres. Everyone is new and no one claiming the spot. But at the same time you are adding a stress to the moms.
And I still don't see the point. When do you reintroduce them to males and how? You are delaying them breeding back by weeks and I really doubt you get more litters out of the females than those bred back to back.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Hey Sonya, like I've said before, I clean on wednesday evenings. That's when I add as many females as I want litters from to the male breeding cages. In each male cage is a male and the females from the prior two weeks.

I agree with you 100% that I don't get more out of each individual female this way. My primary concern is to control the flow of fuzzy and hopper mice. Everything I have eats rats except the baby BRB's so the mouse production is soley for them. I do have several smaller boas I can feed off any excess mice to but would rather feed them rats.

I feel with my limited production, I really only need 50 or so per week, tub breeding wouldn't work well for me. I simply don't have the statistical volume to average the production out.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.24 BRB
11.13 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats