Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for a strain of mice that has 25 litters.Is their anyone on this forum that is knowledgeable about lab mice. Just a strain name would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Gordon

np

I used to have a strain that produced 25 -27 in a litter after the first couple of litter. I bought it back in 1992 from fluker farms. I outbred a lot of this strain into my colored mice. which I kept on my upper racks.In 95 we had a moajor flood here in new orleans. I lost everythig . with the exception of some of the colored crossing I kept on the upper racks.I tried to reacquire these from flukers but they no longer sold mice.They told me they got their strain from the mouse house in fulmer arkansaw. I contacted her, and she said that she no longer had them, but she had gotten them from simenson labs. I contacted them and they said they had no such breed. The best they had were swiss websters.Obviously someone was mistaken. the strain I had was albino,masking agouti(wild coat color) they would very often develop lymphomas(large saddle bag tumors on both sides of their throuat.) they also would occasionally produce offspring that would develop harmless ear lesions. their first couple of litters were generally 15 -21 after that they would consistently produce litters of 25 -29. I was just hoping that their was sombody knowledgeable about lab mice on this forum, that could tell me what strain I had or if their is another strain with equal or greater reproductive performance. thanks Gordon

with the exception of the huge litters, I have experienced all those effects on my swiss websters. Good luck in your search. If you do find some that consistently drop 25 babies I would be interested in acquiuring some. I would gladly pay $25-$50 each. Craig Kade

Good Luck,
Troy

Here's a link
Swiss Webster Mice

Every thing you've said sounds like Swiss Webster to me including the albino masking agouti. I've raised 10s of thousands of SW and I have never seen consistant 25 per litter. If there is such an animal, I'd like to have it.

Good luck
-----
Wade's Weptiles & Wodents

What was the outcome for the mice you mentioned which developed "lymphomas(large saddle bag tumors on both sides of their throuat.)"?

I have a very small breeding colony (food for our personal herp collection) and one of them recently developed the same tumors under the neck. What did you do with yours? Continue breeding or "retire" them?
Thanks for the help.
MAP

In the strain I used to have it was the older mice that would develop the tumors.They were usually starting to have decreased litter sizes anyway.I would usually try to catch them while the tumors were still small and use them for feeders.If the tumors were large I would co2 them.

Harland ICR Strain yeilds 20 to 25 pinkies per litter for about the first four litters at which time the litter size dimenishes. This strain must also be outbred to reduce inbreeding and canabalism. In a previous discussion information on ICR & SW, and mice where offered at sas@sasupply.com. Get as many diffent resources of information as possible. Hope this will help you.

I had already contacted sas here is our actual correspondence i'm still waiting for them to reply to my last email.

:Hi what types of mice do you have that are suitable for
breeding. Do
you have more than 1 strain. what size litters do they average

:sas
We have many strains of mice. The strains that we recommend for
breeding is the Swiss Webster or the ICR. They are outbred white albino
mice that are very maternal and yield on average 10 pups per litter.
The cost is $3.75 per mouse.

:In 1992 I had purchased 400 mice from fluker farms to fill a 336 cage mouse breeding rack that I had built. To feed my 86 adult breeder snakes and the thousands of offspring they produce every summer. This strain turned out to be a high yield strain. The first couple of litters I would get 15-21 pups per litter. after that they would consistently produce litters of 25-29. This strain was an albino masking agouti (wild coat color). They would often develop lymphomas (large saddlebag tumors on both sides of the neck) at about 12 months of age. This strain would also occasionally produce offspring that would develop harmless ear lesions. In 1995 we had a major flood here in New Orleans. and we were without power for 3 days we also had 4 ft of water in our mouse room. I lost everything in our mouse room. We have moved since then, and built a new mouse room. I tried to reacquire the high yield mice strain from Flukers, but they no longer sold mice. Flukers said they got their mice from the mouse house in Arkansan. She told me that she got her mouse from simonson labs. When I contacted simonson labs they told me they had no such strain. they told me that the most prolific mouse they sold was Swiss websters which had average litters of 12-15 but as large 18? ( You Quoted your swiss websters as only averaging 10 per litter) I imported Quackenbush mice out of Australia. the lab I bought them from had them listed as averaging 15 per litter. And that's about right I normally get litters of 15-16 after the first couple of litters. the range is 10 -19. I also talked to people raising transgenic CSIRO mice that have litters of 25. in Australia, but am unable to import genetically modified mice from Australia. They have laws prohibiting this. I was surprised when you recommended a strain that only averages 10 per litter as a suitable breeding strain. I have had inbred strains (FVB's) that had average litters of 10 (actually their listed as 9.5 per litter). Do you have any strains that are as prolific as the ones I bought from flukers ??? I know a fancy mouse breeder in Georgia that has a strain that has litter as high as 27. but this strain is not pathogen free and does have mycoplasm. I would prefer to get clean lab mice from you all if you have or can get a high yield strain. I don't care how much they cost. Thanks for your time Gordon.

We have many strains of mice. The strains that we recommend for

breeding is the Swiss Webster or the ICR. They are outbred white albino

mice that are very maternal and yield on average 10 pups per litter.
The cost is $3.75 per mouse.

Hi what types of mice do you have that are suitable for
breeding. Do
you have more than 1 strain. what size litters do they average.

My ICR and Swiss Websters are two separate strains. The third strain of Supermice I have is completely different bloodline outcrossed with another breeders line, still researching outcome of multiple generations. I have Harland direct (unexperimented) bloodlines; and have never had tumors or any other health problems. Husbandry and food are also factors in colonies. No DOG FOOD! Lab Chow and Natural Seed mixes. Mice are never housed in areas or rooms with other rodent species. New animals are always quarantined. With the March outbreak of Monkey Pox I am very careful with whom I purchase breeding stock from.

My note on Monkey Pox is not intended to offend anyone. I do research whom I purchase stock from as regards to Housing, Sanitation, and other species they keep. As Monkey Pox is like a child catching Chicken Pox in school, contact between species is important for any transmition of disease. Also origin of breeders is important to "Unexperimented" Lab Mice or or contact with Imports for quality feeders for our collections. There are many Commerical Rodent Breeders who have excellent stock and with USDA permits & health records. I also use Rat & Mouse Breeders (Rodent Fancy) found through Google.com for information with quality of life breeding and possible future stock.