Reptile & Amphibian Forums

n/p
-----
1.0 ball python (vakker)
0.1 dogs
2.1 cockatiels
1.1 chinchillas
Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
0.1 axanthic ball python

i have one about 5 months old and I need to put her in with a male, but I'm afraid they will breed and there will be complications because she is too young. The male is the same age.
-----
1.0 ball python (vakker)
0.1 dogs
2.1 cockatiels
1.1 chinchillas
Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
0.1 axanthic ball python

they breed when they damn well feel like it!..

5 months old?!.. shes almost too old to breed as it is.. female mice can breed at the age of 8 weeks!!!! males can breed at the age of 4 weeks!!!

im not sure where you got your information regarding breeding rodents, but its horribly inaccurate. there is no "safe age" to breed rodents.. simply put them together as YOUNG as possible and they do their thing on their own..

young breeders are the best breeders.. old breeders are BAD

well i stuffed up the pet shop sold me a 9 month old female and male mouse the male over heated and died and the female had babies but they were dieing 1 by 1 because the female wasn't producing milk so you mos well say they sold me a retried breeder so i brought 2 6 week old mice but i'm getting the male in a week or so i got told when they turn 6 months old kill them and feed them to your snake because thats when there breeding silull slows down hope that helped

Female mice can breed as young as 6 weeks old (maybe even younger). However, to ensure large healthy litters, it is best to wait till the female is about 8 weeks old. the male should be able to do the job once he is 5 weeks old.

First I meant to say weeks and not months. Also, I have read that if a female mouse breeds when she is too young there is a much greater chance of complications and having the female die. Just like there is if the female has her first litter when she is too old. I think I will just keep them together and what ever happens, happens. Though it will be sad if she dies.
-----
1.0 ball python (vakker)
0.1 dogs
2.1 cockatiels
1.1 chinchillas
Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
0.1 axanthic ball python

Five weeks old is often fine. I would be safe and wait until she is 7 or 8 weeks old.

Some of my BAD experiences with too-young female mice:

I put a five week old female in with an experienced male. He went after her and so enthusiastically tried to subdue her that he accidentally disemboweled her. Ooopsie!

I had another couple of six week old swiss websters that I put with another experienced breeder. They came from a good "family" of high producing mice, as did the male, and I didn't see any problem with their size. I'd removed the other females that had been with the male, as they hadn't produced for three different males (bad "family". The next day when I looked in I felt quite sick to my stomach. Apparantly he'd "raped" them continuously since I put them in. I know the male is supposed to dominate the female and the female usually screams and stuff when he goes at her, but normally I've seen that a case of acceptable behaviour, the female isn't hurt, the babies keep coming. In this instance however both females fur was spiky (a sign of sickness), their ears flat to their heads, and they were soaked with liquid and blood up to their ribcages. Close examination showed they had bitten up tails (one almost amputated) and mangled genitals. I had no doubt that both girls were pregnant, and no doubt they would die before the day was done. Internal injuries. I was shocked at what I saw, poor things. They made good snake food, but I hate to waste good Swiss Webster bloodlines as snake food, especially as I had a shortage of good breeder females.

When setting up new breeding colonies I have now resorted to putting five week old females and three week old males together. By the time the boy has his libido going, the girls are big enough to handle pregnancy, and also big enough not to be pushed around by the male.
-----
~Sasheena

Older females also seem to understand what is going on much better than younger females. My older female doesn't squeek anymore when being mated...she calmly lets it happen. One i bred her daughter when she was around 6 weeks old, she squeeked and resisted, but after her first mating and litter, she was calm about the whole thing as well. Then again my male was experienced and rather patient..often the girls come to him for servicing than the other way around. Really sad to have lost him a month ago. I am hoping his son takes after him well. He's going to be put with some unrelated females soon, just waiting till he is old enough that my new girls won't torment him to death.

I have one male that is so old that he's using a walker, but still gets the job done. Seems to do the deed in slow motion now, but that didn't used to be the case. One night I witnessed him raping all his unweaned daughters I was growing out. One after the other. He's the only one I've seen do this, and I never saw him do it again. I guess his ears were burning as I thought about feeding him off.

I have noticed that if the male is older than the girls when first put together, he'll rough them up more than if they are older than him. And it also seems as though the younger the girls are, the rougher the treatment, and I wonder if it's because the males think they are someone elses babies that must be eliminated. Aren't mice fun.

I Love these forums
MissHisssss