Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whats the best bedding to use for breeding mice/rats? Also two weeks ago i bought some mice from the local pet store to try breeding i used some for feeders and kept a few. Out of the ones i kept i put two females and one male in a 10 gallon aquarium kept it clean kept them fed and with plenty of water but the females castrated the male so i used him as a feeder and put in a new male then next day he was damn near completly eaten. It was the only other male i kept back so i just used the rest as feeders. What was it i did wrong? This is my second failed attempt. Ball pythons are easy compared to these things lol.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel
1.0 07 Pastel

>>Whats the best bedding to use for breeding mice/rats? Also two weeks ago i bought some mice from the local pet store to try breeding i used some for feeders and kept a few. Out of the ones i kept i put two females and one male in a 10 gallon aquarium kept it clean kept them fed and with plenty of water but the females castrated the male so i used him as a feeder and put in a new male then next day he was damn near completly eaten. It was the only other male i kept back so i just used the rest as feeders. What was it i did wrong? This is my second failed attempt. Ball pythons are easy compared to these things lol.
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>>B Sleeper
>>
>>1.0 Chocolate Lab
>>0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
>>1.0 04 Het Albino
>>1.1 06 Het Albino
>>1.0 06 Het Pied
>>1.0 06 Pastel
>>1.0 07 Pastel

Aspen bedding. Its the best bedding for rats, mice, and sani-chips are the best for ball pythons.
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Cliff

My Collection:
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles
0.1 Ornate Box Turtle
0.0.1 Desert Ornate Box Turtle
1.1.1 Redfoot Tortoises
2.1 Russian Tortoises
1.0.1 African Sulcata Tortoises
1.0 Burmese Python
0.1 Virginia Opossum
1.0 German Boxer
1.0 Pit Bull
1.1 Chihuahuas

What are you feeding the mice? If they do not get enough protien then will eat each other. They need 18-20%. And yes aspen in the best for rats and mice. You can get is at Pet Co type stores for $14 or so a bale.

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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

If you want wood shavings, aspen bedding is good. I prefer using a pelleted bedding as it does a much better job controlling mouse odor.

Pelleted newspaper (Yesterdays News unscented cat litter pellets), pelleted Aspen (Aspen Supreme), pelleted wood (Woody Pet), alfalfa pellets all work well. I use hardwood premium wood stove pellets from Menards $4 for 40 lbs, thats the best deal for pelleted "bedding".

As for the males being eaten, the best thing to do is get the mice as juveniles, introduce them in a completely cleaned out cage and leave them, no adding or removing once you start the colony. Make sure to provide a constant source of good quality lab blocks (NOT Kaytee brand). Make sure they have a nest/hide box to reduce stress.

Thanks for all the help im not sure the name of the food but i asked the petstore what they recomend and they showed me better food so hopefully it will work out this time.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel
1.0 07 Pastel

"Pet stores" usually don't have very good rodent lab blocks. I would try your local feed stores. They can get grat quality feed in 25 and 50 pound bags. The best brands are; Harlen, Purina Lab Diet, Purina Mazuri. There are different formulas of rodent feed for your animals needs. You can look up these brands online and figure out what would be best for your animals. Once you figure that out you can see if the feed store would order how ever many bags you need. They might not know what would be best for your animals so it would be better to have the product # of the feed you want when you call. Good luck. I use Mazuri 6F for breeding rats and mice. It has been working great for 5 years.

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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

Ok thanks for the info. The lab blocks i have now are good enough as far as protein goes its 22% but its also a really small bag so ill be looking into some of the ones you mentioned. Also with just the stuff yous have had me do the mice are looking alot more healthy so thanks again everyone. Ohh i also threw in a wheel for them but its driving me nuts lol.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel
1.0 07 Pastel

Put a little vaseline or chap stick at the joints of the wheel. Works great and won't harm the mice.
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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

Wow thats a pretty amazing idea. Dont know why i didnt think of it thanks.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel
1.0 07 Pastel

At another members suggestion, I tried hardwood woodstove pellets, and they control odor MUCH better than aspen. If you let it go too long it just gets dusty instead of smelly.