Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got my first mice. she had babies three days after i got her. I've only got one, looking to get a male to breed her again.

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

Got my first mice. she had babies three days after i got her. I've only got one, looking to get a male to breed her again.

Any help and comments welcome.
Thanks
DAVY

Hey Davy,

If you're just getting started a ten gallon is fine for now. If you really get into them you may want to build or buy a tub rack system.

Mice are pretty good about choosing a "potty" corner which you can scoop regularly and this will help keep down the urine smell. Otherwise depending on the size of our colony a minimum of once once a week should be fine.

If you're going to feed off this first litter then remove them once they are weaned. You may want to sex them and this could be the start of a colony of breeders.

Most breeders keep colonies of anywhere from pairs to 1.3 to as much as 1.5 in each enclosure. It's best to raise sisters from a clutch to start a new group. They tend to get along better and their cycles are very close together so there is less squabbling over babies and younger babies don't have to compete with larger ones for milk.

Always put the male in a new group enclosure first. Then introduce the females up to a day later. If you put in the females then the male the girls will kill him.

Some prefer to pull pregnant females and put them in a separate enclosure until she has weaned her babies and often give them a couple weeks off before returning to the group. This does prolong the life of the females.

Others leave the group together all the time. Females are ready to be bred again shortly after birthing a clutch. This is the method I use as I want as many offspring as I can get to feed my snakes. I don't like feeding empty mouths and they are breeding for one purpose, snake food. I can always raise up more to replace older groups when litter production goes down.

Hope this helps get you started.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
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
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Thank you for the info. Very good advice. I really know nothing about rats. I got a couple of snakes and want to breed them so I read a lot to learn all I could about snakes. Now that I've been feeding them frozen for a while now, I decided to try to bread my on mice. Don't get offended if you see my post on other parts of the forums, I'm tying to gather as much info and opinion as I can. This forum don't seam to have much traffic. Thanks again.

DAVY

Not a problem. I've been following you on the kingsnake threads also. I would rather see someone gather info and learn than stumble around.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
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
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Some Things to consider.
Cost, Time, Money, Smell
Cost- Unless you have alot of snakes to feed... Like a few adults and a few juveniles.. Don't bother. Your start up cost will be around 100 dollars to start and that is just the begining. Things break and you always need more. 25 Dollars a week this method, but this method doesnt stink!!!
Time- I spend 30-40 Min cleaning my cages Every two to three days. I wouldn't want to spend more than 5 minutes in my house if I cleaned my cages once a week. Even If I spot cleaned. I use Steralite tubs 32qt longs I think, and these will cut down on the smell. Must be cleaned more often because of toxins though. If you start with just one mouse it will take you a while. Those babies won't produce for 6-8 weeks and then those babies another 8 weeks. and you will need to still feed in the mean time. I would get two males and six females and have two set ups to start. This will pay for itself and if you don't want to continue, you won't have spent any money.
If you have a sizable snake collection I would consider it. Start small at first so you know what you are getting into. If you are married. Reconsider This! Or Clean them every other day.

>>Got my first mice. she had babies three days after i got her. I've only got one, looking to get a male to breed her again.
>>
>>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
>>
My 30 mumble mumble years experience is this....
Set up a group (in a ten gallon tank or similar sized tub I would go with 1.3 to 1.5)(do NOT house two boys together...they will spend all their energy trying to kill each other and not breeding) and leave them alone. Don't pull moms and move things around. Mice don't like you to mess with them. Clean the cage when it is dirty and feed a good block or no red dye dog/cat kibble with water always available. They will rebreed right after birth. Giving them a break by taking out the male gives you fits when you put them back together and someone gets torn to shreds and eaten. Rats are okay with change, mice are not. Plus, ime they will make 5-8 litters each and then be useless. Giving them a break just means you feeding them longer with nothing to show for it.
Some wean babies at 3 weeks some at 4 weeks old.
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Sonya

1.1 Candoia Paulson
2.2 Western Hognose
1.2 Mexican Black King
1.3 Greenish Ratsnake
1.1 Yellow Ratsnake
3.1 Everglades Ratsnake
2.1 Honduran Milksnake
0.1 Mexican Milksnake
1.1 Black Pinesnake
1.2 Sumatran Shortailed Python
1.3 Boa constrictor
2.2 Childrens Python
1.0 Irian Jaya Python
0.0.2 Timor Monitor
2.2 Mossy Leaftail Gecko
1.1 African Helmeted olivacea
0.1 Savannah Cat F7
1.1 Sugar Glider
Numerous Dogs, Cats, Birds, Fish pets and fosters
Husband
2.1 teens plus…..
You get the picture.

Thanks Sonya, sounds like a plain. Wish me luck.

DAVY