how to breed mice?

Discussion in 'Feeder Forum' started by tupi1, Jun 27, 2011.

  1. tupi1

    tupi1 New Member

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    So I have never dealt with mice but I have a couple of smaller snakes now and could use some mice around.How do I start.Will a ten gal be big enough for a small colony?

    How long does it take them to get to adult size?

    What do I feed them? The same as rats?
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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    This is a somewhat inadequate response on my part, so I do hope someone else can chime in; I just wanted to give a couple of minor pointers...

    I've never bred mice or rats, purely because I do not have the space or desire to put up with the smell, etc. To my knowledge, the price difference between buying frozen rodents and breeding your own really isn't significant until you get somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen snakes. This is due to cost of the rack/housing for the rodents, bedding, watering, feeding, time, etc.

    The decision is entirely up to you though, and I can certainly vouch that a small colony of mice or rats would be nice in some situations (I've received a foul order of Frozen feeders before which would have put feedings on hold for a few weeks).

    From who I've talked to, mice tend to be more cannibalistic that rats, and I believe you will need more than one enclosure. Most people utilize racks for their rodents, but I'd guess you would need at least two ten gallon aquariums or similar sized bins in order to breed them efficiently. I think you want nursing females to be kept alone with their babies, and you may need to rotate females away from males from time to time. Again, I'm not 100% sure on these details... hopefully someone else can chime in.

    In the meantime, I always find http://www.youtube.com a good visual resource. I can guarantee someone has posted video instruction on their method for breeding mice. Sorry for the inadequate response and linked answer, I hate doing that, just wanted to give a quick $.02
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Sharman Wisdom

    Sharman Wisdom HOTM Winner December

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    I raise my own, and so does a friend of mine since we both have several snakes. We live way out in the boonies, far from anyone that sells rodents. They do stink but I have them in my reptile room and keep them clean. you can get food for them at walmart, the Rat and mice food. I have my mice in a rodent bin and my rats in a wire cage. They reach adult size quickly.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. Cammy

    Cammy ReptileBoards Addict

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    Hello! I don't know a ton about breeding mice for feeders, but I'll tell you what I do know about breeding them in general...

    A single 10 gallon tank won't be enough as mice are very cannibalistic. You'll need at least two cages. As soon as the female has been mated with, you want to remove her to a separate cage. Obviously the more females you want to breed, the more cages you will need.

    For the setups, you'll need aspen or paper shavings for the bedding. (Pine and cedar can make your mice sick, especially in a glass tank.) You'll need a water bottle and mouse/rat block for food. (Yes, to answer your question, their food is the same as rats'.) Of course, more variety means healthier feeders, so giving them some veggies and quality dog kibble in addition to the mouse/rat block is a good idea. Regardless of what you feed, food should be available at all times. Same goes for water.

    If you've never kept live mice before, please know that they have a very distinct odor, especially the males. After working at a pet store for so long, I'm almost immune to pet smell, and I still find the scent of male mice offensive.

    Mice are sexually mature at 2 months old, are fully grown between 3-4 months old, and end efficient breeding after a year of age. They live about 2 years. I'm not sure what their gestation period or average litter size is, but a quick google search could probably tell you, lol.

    One last thing before I go: remember that you still need to prekill or stun the mouse before feeding it to your snake. Also, make sure your breeders come from different lineage. Inbreeding often leads to unhealthy offspring who frequently die prematurely for seemingly no reason. Aldo make sure you procure your mice from a reputable source. Obviously you don't want sick or parasite ridden breeders and feeders.

    Sorry this isn't the most in depth answer, but hopefully I covered the basics. Like I said, I'm not an expert on this, and it's been a while since I last read about breeding mice, but I know there are some good articles online if it is something you are truly interested. :D
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. tupi1

    tupi1 New Member

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    Sounds stinky but I was going to keep them in the basement so it wont matter too much..I just hate wasting rats by feeding them off as weaners to small snakes when i need to grow them out for my bigger snakes.But buying a load of just mice with the shipping prices at around 50 bucks is insane.I am at that stage were I have enough snakes to almost make it worth my time to breed but I really hate doing it and it takes forever to get things rolling.Plus I need so many different sizes from large rats to hopper mice.

    I may buy some mice and just see what happens.I have a couple empty ten gallons with tops.
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. Cammy

    Cammy ReptileBoards Addict

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    It can't hurt to try, especially if you have quite a few snakes. I'd think the more snakes you have the more worthwhile it would be. And I looked up the litter size; it seems to be around 10-20 a litter, so even just having two females and one male would probably give you a decent supply once you got the ball rolling.
     
  12. 2manyherps

    2manyherps Embryo

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    Your best bet would be to purchase several commercial mouse/rat breeder cages and water bottles w/corks and ball bearing tubes. These can be had for around $40 online and will make your life much easier. The cages hold both the food and the water where it will be slowly dispensed and not contaminated. You can keep one male with five female mice in one breeder group. The mice must be put together before they are sexually mature or they must come from a common cage to prevent fighting. Once a breeder group is established any newcomers will be attacked (and often killed). Use pine shavings and moisture absorbing wood pellets which are available from feed stores. Mouse chow is available in pellet form that will not fall through the wire of the tops of the cages (also from feed stores). If you use dog food (not recommended) be sure to use the low protein, grain based food. Supplement with grain such as COB. The young mice are easily weaned by 3 weeks of age and need to be removed at that age or before (when their ears are fully up). Good luck!
     
  13. tupi1

    tupi1 New Member

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    Thanks,Ive been looking on youtube and there are some good videos on mouse breeding using sterilite tubs.And since I know this will not be a long term thing.My snakes will outgrow mice eventually.I dont want to sink a ton of money into it..Just something to boost my freezer for a year or two.
    Plus its something new to try.
    The mice at the petstore are always really small so I assume they are young.I dont know if they are unrelated or not.We live out in the middle of nowhere and there is one petstore within an hour of our town.
    So I dont have alot of choices.
     
  14. Akirawallace

    Akirawallace New Member

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    I worked in a commercial mouse breeding facility. Everyone seems to have pretty much summed it up. I do want to emphasize that mice STINK! Also, I know a lot of mice breeders like to remove the male from the group or the pregnant female from the group. We never did this at the facility I worked at. One male mouse would stay in a cage with several females. The male never messed with the babies (sometimes the females would). Of course, we had thousands of breeder cages. Removing the male or pregnant from a colony in a small scale operation might be worth the reduced stress on the mice.

    A ten gallon is big enough for a pair of mice (one male, one female). A whole colony will need something bigger. I like carefresh for substrate but that can get a little pricey. Shredded paper is okay if you change it out enough. I like to use an enzymatic cleaner to help reduce the odors in the cage (make sure to get one that is safe for in-tank use). Oh, and the mouse pellet food at walmart is awesome and cheap!

    Another tip: Mice love tp tubes and cardboard boxes (they make great hides). I never put anything (except for the on-demand water bottle) in my personal mouse breeder tank that can't be tossed when it gets nasty.

    Good luck!
     
  15. Akirawallace

    Akirawallace New Member

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  16. ReptileLover789

    ReptileLover789 New Member

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    i am looking into getting a red tailed boa ball python a corn snake and a savan moniter would it be worth the money to breed mice and rats and just kill them and frezze them and also i dont want a rack so any suggestions
     

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