Breeding Mice

[tai_pan1]

OK, I have my 1.3 mouse breeding colony going, and within the last 10 days, all three females have given birth. The first on the 5th, the second on the 10th and the third today. I was doing some reading online, and there was a thing from Stanford University that said I should not keep different litters in the same cage. I am a bit suspect of this information. Does anyone in this forum know why I should NOT keep the different litters together? Also, how long do mice live? How long should I expect my females to produce? Should I start culling out replacements for future colonies? Any info would be appreciated.

Mike

[casacrow]

Sometimes if one group of babies is larger than the other they will push the others out of the feeding circle. This will lead to the smaller babies maturing slower or even possibly death. When I notice too many babies in a colony ( more than 40) I freeze off the pinkies to feed smaller snakes.

[Zoe]

Hi,
The only problem I have had when keeping many litters together, is one gave birth a week before another, and all those babies crushed the new babies. Since, I kill all but 6 babies per litter and have timed my females to give birth around the same time, and have had no more problems. I have never had a problem with babies being eaten.
I believe mice live for 2 or 3 years. Your females will show signs of deterioration (for example, smaller litters) when they are starting to get old, and then you can start choosing babies to become new mommies.

Zoe

[Linds]

I run my rats 1.2 - 1.3 per tub and my mice 1.5. I've had babies 3 weeks old in with newborns and so forth, I've never encountered any problems as a result of keeping litters of all different ages together, though I can understand it is a definite risk.

[tai_pan1]

Thanks for the info. I didn't think I had much to worry about.

Mike

[JasonBrennan]

Zoe, I am curious. Why do you kill all the babies in a litter except for 6? The mice that I am breeding have an average of 10 to 12 babies at a time, and I have not had any problems with the mothers raising them. I have only lost a few due to the mothers eating some of them, but each time that has happened, it was the mothers first litter.

Like I said, I am just curious.

[ReneeB]

I "cull" my rats litters too.. with 5 adult females I keep btn 20 and 30 babies. The rest get feed off right away or frozen.
[although I've adopted a smaller prey a few times a week rule and my snakes are growing like mad.. shedding every 3-4 weeks