Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am trying to breed mice, because it cost me about 30 dollars a wk to feed all my snakes. does any one no if i have to take the male out after the females r all pregnant. and do i have to seperate the pregnant females? and can i just leave the young in the cage and the females will take care of em. how long does it take for them to have birth.
thanks

My colonies are 1:4 on my smaller tubs and 1:6 on my larger tubs. I keep them together all the time. The females will rotate on feeding the babies. You should expect your females to produce a litter very 22-28 days give or take on both ends.

Kerby...

thanks kerby, i was wondering cause my son tried to breed some, and the male ended up killing the babies and the females. i wonder why this happened

Maybe you had more than one male in the colony?

It is hard to introduce any mouse, male or female to a colony. I always start fresh as a group. Try again before feeding them off and starting over.

Kerby...

no need to take any mice out then they will keep breeding but alternate the females after a few months as they get cancer after a while. i have two females to one male and have plenty of mice sometimes overrun.if you touch the babies the mum and dad eat them so if you need pinkies be carefull how you pick them out. when they are bigger take them out and put them in a other tank so the parents are only feeding new babies as the new yong will not win when trying to feed

when should i swap the females, how many liters can they have before they develope cancer?. how do i tell if they have cancer, and will it give my snakes cancer?
thanks, this is a must kno, i am worried bout this now : (

""when should i swap the females""

Up to you, I start new colonies about every 8-10 months on mice and every 12 months on rats.

""how many liters can they have before they develope cancer?""

ZERO! Not all mice develop cancer. At least to where we can see from the naked eye. In fact most probably will not develop cancer.

""how do i tell if they have cancer""

Visually you will see a large lump growing from the body.

""and will it give my snakes cancer?""

No, it will not, cancer is not contagious. But I still kill those that have it and throw them away.

And mice do not kill their babies because you touched them when changing cages.

Kerby...

thanks alot again kerby, and thanks dennis. many things can happen. thanks alot
steve