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Post by fuzzywozzie on Feb 21, 2011 15:52:24 GMT -5
So what i want to know is at what age (abouts) do mice become;
Pinkies
Fuzzys
Hoppers
Small
Medium
Large
I'm thinking of breeding mice to feed for my future ferret and need to know how long they will need to be housed after weaning to get to a good size.
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Post by goingpostal on Feb 21, 2011 16:24:46 GMT -5
Well as far as how long you want to hold them after weaning, most don't add a huge amount of size, for example I wean at 4 weeks or so and they are 15-25 grams then, even hanging onto them for several months after they aren't likely to exceed 40 grams unless you are breeding them. Or if they are fatty brindles. If I have many litters going on, I feed off males at 3 weeks, usually 12-15 grams, and hold the females until I need them, anywhere from 1-3 months old usually. I only feed pinkies or fuzzies when the litters are over 10 babies per mom (I run 2 females per tank), they are more of a treat anyways.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 17:29:05 GMT -5
You don't really want to feed pinkies/fuzzies often. They are low in nutritional value.
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Post by fuzzywozzie on Feb 21, 2011 21:05:12 GMT -5
I was thinking at 4 weeks I would seperate the males and house them till they are 8 weeks old (would this be ok or would this be keeping the males together to long - they would be litter mates from the same tank) and then culling all the pups at 8 weeks. After looking at sizes online to order frozen mice i wondered what age they would need to be kept till to get to a good size. What you have said sorta clears that up for me. Thank You
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Post by katt on Feb 22, 2011 20:32:37 GMT -5
Ok lets see if I can get this right.  Pinkies - at birth Fuzzys - approx 1 week of age Hoppers - approx 3 weeks of age. Small - approx 1.5-2 months Medium - appox 2.5-3 months Large - I notice my mice take several months to reach the "large" size. I would say 4-6 months? I loose track of time often with my growers so I am a bit fuzzy on the size-times for the adult mice. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am a bit off. Weaning takes place at 3-4 weeks. I wean at 3 weeks and have not had problems. I will occasionally leave the runts in the cage for an extra 3-6 days to give them a boost, unless mommy mouse is on the verge of having her next litter. (I sometimes breed back to back as I find it removes the social issues of removing and reintroducing the male). I house my mice for about 2 months or so after they are weaned to let them get nice and juicy fat. Sometimes less, sometimes more. The beauty of multiple breeding groups, or breeding back to back, is that you always (after you get up and running) have new ones coming in so after the initial batch, you can start to rotate through and have a fairly constant supply. Also, keep in mind it is good for the ferrets to get prey of varying ages as well. Adults are the most nutritious, but feeding younger mice here and there is good. But, as mentioned pinkies and fuzzies are more of a treat than a nutritious meals they lack proper calcium levels. I hope that helps!  |
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Post by katt on Feb 22, 2011 20:34:01 GMT -5
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Post by fuzzywozzie on Mar 24, 2011 18:36:55 GMT -5
Thank you all for the info, I'm looking to feed medium to large mice to get the most from them. hurricanekatt - those websites are great, my fav one was the fancymice.info lots of really good information, although I'll have to revise my set up after reading up I think I'll cull the males at 8 - 12 weeks but allow the females to grow to at least 4 -5 months. Would this be an adult? Suitable to be able to feed twice weekly. |
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 24, 2011 19:47:34 GMT -5
It's up to you how long you want to raise them, but a 5 month old mouse is probably going to weigh the same as a 3 month old one. If they are breeding they get quite a big larger but otherwise 25-30 grams is norm.
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