Breeding Mice

[Deleted]

Hi, everyone!

So, I didn't want to post anything about this until I had a better idea of whether we wanted to proceed with breeding mice or not, but I am thinking that we do! Here is what has happened so far:

6/30 : we purchased 3 female mice and 1 male, placed them in a 10-gal tank

7/02 : we killed and fed 2 of the females, leaving just 1 female and 1 male

7/13 : female stopped appearing outside of the "den", male seems to be bringing her food

7/17 : male has used a paper-towel roll, completely shredded it, and built a nest of it around the female

7/20 : female is gaining weight and appears to be pregnant. still stays in den constantly. we moved her to a separate 10-gal tank with new bedding and a larger den

7/22 : male refuses to leave den in his own cage. is no longer shredding cardboard when provided. we wonder if he's upset. still eating.

7/23 : female has built herself a new "nest" with bedding, entirely filling and padding her den. seems to leave only at night to get food/water. she is obviously pregnant at this point and seems healthy.

7/25 : (today) posting on forum for comments, suggestions, and any other advice! I've never helped raise a litter of small mammals, but I've read some of the forum posts and I think separating them at this stage was preferrable. I think she might do better with other females for company but introducing them at this stage is not an option, as I feel it would only make her scared.

Currently, she is eating a generic pet-store brand feed, using pine bedding and drinking tap water from a drop bottle in her cage. Is there anything I need to change or anything I can do to help her through her pregnancy?

I have been gently handling her on a regular basis. She is still skittish and timid around me, particularly now. Should I keep handling her, so she doesn't freak out if I do so after her litter arrives, or should I leave her to it and only check on her if I feel something is wrong?

Thanks for your feedback, everyone!

[gfountain]

No mice breeding here, but I do have gerbils. My males have always gotten upset at being removed from their female, so I don't separate them unless they show an inclination to harm the babies. In all the years (35 more or less) I've had gerbils, I've only had to remove 1 or 2 males. The males help take care of the babies. I try to find time to handle my gerbils every day, pregnant or not. The pinkies are handled within a couple of days of birth. I've only ever had 1 female object to me handling her babies; most are quite proud of their accomplishment and want to show them off to me. But woe to anyone outside my immediate family who dares to put a hand in the cage before the babies are scooting around outside the nest!

[Deleted]

gfountain Thank you, good advice. I've always heard to separate the male. Would you recommend putting him back in at this stage?

[gfountain]

I don't know how different mice and gerbils are, so I really can't say. Someone on the forum breeds mice, but I can't think who it is right now. Ask on the FB page. You'll probably get 4 or 5 different answers, but it will be quicker than waiting for me to remember who to message on the forum, lol.

[RedSky]

Mice and gerbils are very different in behaviour. Gerbils partner up and will live together and really bond as a pair. The male will help raise the babies and should take good care of them and the female. Any male who doesn't shouldn't be bred from again.
Mice live in large groups where the males fight to mate with as many females as possible. They can react very differently to babies and the female could get very aggressive and defensive too with him around.
Another difference is the handling of the babies, gerbil pups can be handled from a very young age if the parents trust you and allow you to do so. Mice are very different. Do not handle the babies until they are leaving the nest. You can cause the mother to kill her litter out of fear.
If she is skittish and due soon then she may be best left to her own devices rather than being handled. Same as when she has the babies, leave her alone. Just add food and clean water.
Might be a good idea to give her some extra protein to help her stay strong while raising a litter. Some mealworms, scrambled egg, cooked chicken ect would be good, just don't over do it.

[Deleted]

The males actually make great fathers. The big reason for separating them is because he could impregnate her again almost immediately. The strain on her body of nursing and being pregnant will leave you with smaller, unhealthy litters. When she's pregnant and nursing I suggest giving her a little extra protein. That'll help her stay healthy, keep her weight on and produce more and better milk for the pups which leaves you with better feeder mice. I bred rats for years and did a few mice litters for pets, not feeders,but it's pretty much the same idea.

[Deleted]

Also, if she isn't skittish with you and isn't afraid you can actually handle them from a few days old and on. I'd handle mine daily to help socialize them. Never once had a female cull her litter. But if she is nervous and scared of you wait until after they are a little over a week old. I know you're breeding feeders but it makes it easier to be able to handle them when you need to. If they don't have human interaction as babies they will be terrified and skittish.

[Deleted]

Thanks so much for the advice! With the different answers I got, I went ahead and did some more research, and thought about what felt right in my specific situation. Here's what we did last night:

- Moved male back in with female (names are Theresa and Dude, btw)

- Cleaned male's old cage and added 6 new mice to our setup

Clockwise from top left you see Misses Spring, Lisa, Cuppa, Mr. Pal, Misses Rissa, and Faye.

Tomorrow, we're planning to start building a breeding rack, and I think we'll start with 3 females per 1 male. This means we already have 2 groups and we're going to do 2 more for a total of 4 groups. We'll wait until Theresa's pups are out of the nest before moving her and Dude, of course.

Any other advice in regards to this?

[gfountain]

No advice but how are they doing since putting them back together?

[Deleted]

gfountain Doing well, lots of squeaking, but nothing violent.

[Deleted]

1 am now completely enamoured of Theresa and Dude. Obv1ously, 1'm go1ng to have to reth1nk breed1ng and ra1s1ng Whole Prey. 1'm hav1ng lovely v1suals of a D1sney style baby shower for Theresa, and lot's of charm1ng l1ttle apartments (n the th1rd bedroom) for all the cute young m1ce couples, who are happ1ly ra1s1ng the1r sweet "country mouse" fam1l1es. :hug2:

[katt]

Currently, she is eating a generic pet-store brand feed, using pine bedding and drinking tap water from a drop bottle in her cage. Is there anything I need to change or anything I can do to help her through her pregnancy?

See here: www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/3182/natural-mouse-diet

I have been gently handling her on a regular basis. She is still skittish and timid around me, particularly now. Should I keep handling her, so she doesn't freak out if I do so after her litter arrives, or should I leave her to it and only check on her if I feel something is wrong?

I didn't spend tons of time handling my mice, but I did handle them. It is good to get them used to you being in the cage though.

[katt]

There's info in here you might find helpful: www.naturalrodent.proboards.com/

[RedSky]

Do you not find it difficult to feed them to your ferrets once you have named them and bonded with them? I know I couldn't bring myself to do this, especially if I were holding the babies from being so tiny and they got really tame.

[katt]

I treated my breeders like pets - they were all named. The feeders were not named.