1. The main thing is how often do mice breed and how long does it take them to mature?
It has been a few years, but I believe females can produce a clutch every 28 days or so.
Babies take about month to become sexually mature.
2. At the moment, I need four pinkies a week. How many pairs do I need to have breeding to keep up with demand?
The problem would be that a female would have pinkies then it would take another month to produce more pinkies. So to have small pinks available every week you would need 4 females who reproductive cycles weren't all synchronized. For that you have to keep them in different cages with different males.
Of course, assuming you could get your four cages timed correctly to each have their litters on different weeks, you would have the problem of them producing 8-12 pinkies, rather than 4. What would you do with the excess production. At the end of a month you would find yourself with between 32 and 64 extra mice (or more!).
3. Do I need to pull the males out of the cage when the pinkies are born? (i.e. are the pinkies going to get eaten by the male?)
Males don't generally harm their own pinkies. Therefore if you leave the male in all the time and don't switch mice around, you should have no problem. Once in a while you get a rogue female (usually a non-reproducing female) that kills other females pinkies.
4. What are the more humane ways to kill prey items prior to feeding? Not sure I could handle repeatedly throwing mice against the wall.
CO2 is the most humane way, but most people use cervical dislocation. This leads me to a question...
5. Any other tips?
If you only need a few mice a week and you are feeding prekilled prey why on earth would you want the hassle of breeding your own mice. The smell, the labor, etc can make it a rather negative experience. Even if you change the litter daily, mice produce an extraordinary amount of odor. And you can't just keep them outside as they don't reproduce well if they are kept too warm (they like it in the upper 60s and low 70s, no warmer).
Why don't you just buy some frozen pinkies/fuzzies online and keep them in your freezer. You could buy a few months worth and they don't take up much freezer space (unlike rats!). That way there is FAR less hassle, and you always have food ready any day you plan on feeding.
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Chris Harrison
