Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got my first mice. she had 7 babies three days after i got her. I've only got one, looking to get a male to breed her again. I know nothing about mice. Any info will be helpful.

What is the best way to house mice?

How often to you change out the bedding? cause she sure does poop a lot.

How soon do you take the mom away from the babies?

How soon can you breed her again?

Any help and comments welcome.
Thanks
DAVY

She had 7 mice. They are just the right size now to feed my one snake. Do I need to take all 7 and freeze them or do I need to take half away and let her wean the rest? Don't want to do something that is not healthy for the mom. How long does it take to wean? How do you know when they are weaned?

Almost impossible to answer all your questions in one post. All that info is available on line, fairly easy to find. Check right here on kingsnake in the General Topics for Feeder Food Discussion and you can learn just about everything you need just searching and looking at past topics and posts. Mice are very easy to breed, they do all the work. You can get one male and about six females if you want to have a steady supply. They are very clean animals but the bedding will smell if you don’t change it often enough. Very easy to raise them in little shoe box type tubs and swap the tubs to make the cage cleaning really fast. Do it often enough and you can really keep the smell down in a small little colony. For one or two snakes you really have to weigh the effort with just buying your feeders, because you probably will end up spending more on your own mice. It can become something of a hobby in itself so if you are ready for that, go for it.

Yeah the smell can be a bit much. If you keep them indoors you may want to clean them every 3 or 4 days. I clean mine once a week. But they are in a sealed room with an extractor pulling the air out.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Thanks for the info. I decided to go live cause the closest pet store is very undependable. When they run out, they could be out months at a time. When they get them in they might not be the size I need. But I will weigh my options and keep a close eye on the cost.

Thanks again

DAVY

Check right here on kingsnake in the General Topics for Feeder Food Discussion and you can learn just about everything you need just searching and looking at past topics and posts.

He posted this on the feeder forum first. I was the only one to respond up to this point. He is just doing his research to get varying ideas as to how others keep their mice.

Davy you should check the feeder forum. Sonya posted a follow up also.

I'm sure many of the folks in this thread will vouch for Sonya that she not only knows what's what with feeders but reptiles also.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
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2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
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Thanks BigT, I do appreciate everyone's comments and advice, even though I don't respond to each and everyone, I do read them. Every little bit helps me.

Thanks to upscale, that was a great link on sexting.

DAVY

Well I haven't got exact answers, I just take what I need at the appropriate size and try to leave some to get bigger, for bigger snakes. I have about 20 tubs going all the time so I have plenty to choose from. Sometimes I leave entire litters to get bigger or take half. Once they look like small versions of their parents you can take them away. If you still see them getting under the mom and sucking milk then give them a little more time. I'm not sure about what the exact time involved is. I just look at them and can tell. You will want to wait till all the babies are gone before you introduce a male. Usually the males will kill any babies that aren't their own. There are exceptions but it's not a good idea. I leave the colonies together untill I feel they are not producing enough to warrent feeding them. I feed the retired breeders to my adult snakes. I have noticed their production starts declining after 4 or 5 months of production. I rarely have any tubs longer than 5 months. I also noticed some colors tend to be better producers then others. Fancy mice look fantastic, but usually make bad breeders.

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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Those are some of the nicest looking mice I've ever seen. Strange that they wouldn't breed as good as white mice.
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I know, they look like pets. I wouldn't have the heart to feed those.

DAVY

Gee Swiss Webster mice. They produce 20 babies very 20 days.

There are also other lab strain mice that are great at this. You just have to search and find out who has them.

Also get food high in fat content if you want to breed mice. Most commercial mouse chow that you see in feed supply store is designed to do the opposite. It was originally developed for lab mice 9for testing) and not for reproduction. Thus they are low in fat.
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www.Bluerosy.com

I wish I could find a supply of Swiss Websters, near by. They are very hard to find!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>Those are some of the nicest looking mice I've ever seen. Strange that they wouldn't breed as good as white mice.
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>>

I started with all white mice, then as a different one one pop out, I would keep it as a breeder. Now my entire colony is all speckled, and patched, and in an assortment of colors and hair types. I am trying to re-introduce new blood from some mice I just got to help revive the yields. I noticed long ago that Satin mice make poor breeders. Maybe it's inbreeding? I am careful not to put female Satins with a male Satin. In fact I don't use male Satins for breeeding at all. Now that I need a higher out put I will probably keep back less and less Satins.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Thanks for the info. Great looking mice. How hard is it to sex them, I haven't really got down there and looked that close yet.. Will I be able to do that when they are pinkies, so I'll know in case I want to keep a couple of girls and feed the rest.

DAVY

don't think you can do it as pinkies...when close to maturity the males develop pretty obvious testes.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
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4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Here’s an excellent site to show you how to tell males from females, you can see a difference right away but you have to have a few to compare and get the hang of it. If you’re old like me and use reading glasses, maybe you will need a magnifying glass too.

Link

Thanks for that Link! I saved it in my favorites.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

>>Thanks for the info. Great looking mice. How hard is it to sex them, I haven't really got down there and looked that close yet.. Will I be able to do that when they are pinkies, so I'll know in case I want to keep a couple of girls and feed the rest.
>>
>>DAVY

There are two spots under the mouse. One for poop, and one for wizz, lol. The two are closer together in females. Much closer than males, but it takes some practice. Someone mentioned the nipples, I'll have to try that.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Once you understand the basics of mouse husbandry it is very easy. It helps to actually like the mice, too. They do demand care and attention to cleanliness. I breed for color and have short and longhair types. In my experience the colors breed just as well as the white ones, with big litters. I select future breeders from parents who produce big litters and are good at parenting.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

"In my experience the colors breed just as well as the white ones, with big litters. I select future breeders from parents who produce big litters and are good at parenting."

This is a very good point Bob! I had lots of problems with cannibalism in the beginning. The only way to fix the problem is to eliminate any and all mice with those tendencies. Keep the ones that are showing good behavior and parenting skills. Also hold back breeders from only those animals, as mentioned. Colored mice and fancy mice, such as Satins can be worked with to produce fairly well, but it takes time to out cross and refine the strains, so I don't recommend it for someone trying to get high yields right away. For me the Black and white Marbled mice seem to be the best in my colonies.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Gestation is 3 weeks, and they are weaned at 3 weeks. I haven't figured out how to sex them as pinkies, but when they are fuzzies you can see a double row of nipple spots on the females. Thats a good time to choose keeper for future breeders.

When they are weaned sometimes it can be hard to sex them. I think the males' testicles show up better if they are warm.

You can either separate the males from the females when they are pregnant, or just leave them together. The females are receptive to the males as soon as they give birth, so they can have another litter by the time the first one is weaned. But like another poster said, don't put a male back in with a female with a litter.

Only one male per cage, or they will fight, and the males smell really bad. The females cages get pretty bad too when they are nursing a litter.

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Kent

1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
2.1 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas

Sorry, forgot this was the kingsnake forum when included that pic of a cornsnake hatchling.
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Kent

1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
2.1 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas

Sorry, forgot this was the kingsnake forum when included that pic of a cornsnake hatchling.

LOL! Eatin' is eatin' no matter who is doing it! Always a joy!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I agree! That pic is from 2004, my first year to breed snakes. I am hoping my alternas and rubber boas will breed this year.
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Kent

1.1 Hypo (het lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
2.1 Normal (het hypo, lavender, striped) cornsnake juveniles
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase
1.1 Oregon rubber boas