Pixie
01-18-03, 08:44 AM
Who would have thought breeding mice would have been this complicated, it all seemed so simple before I started! It's been almost a year that I've been trying and only now is my colony really rolling and productive.
At first I started too small, 1.2-3 mice. Got a couple of litters but then my male ate one of my very pregnant females so I feed him off and lost a girl along with a whole litter. My next male was a dud. Had him with 3 females for 3 months and nothing. He was fed off. The next male finally got things going but only 2 out of my 3 females were producing.
By then, I had a few more snake mouths to feed so I expanded my colony. Every week I would get another enclosure (I use large kritter keepers for my mice) and a few more mice. I've had a lot of problems with canibalism which is beyond gross and really frustrating cause you want more mice, not less! My females have been really hard to match up as they eat each others babies or fight between themselves a lot. So far I have 2 great mom duos that help each other out, all the others have to be housed alone to have their litters...
It's been a lot of work and I've thought of giving up on them many times, the stinky buggers! But I'm so happy that things are rolling now! To the point I'm starting to have extra and will be able to sell off little lots now and then. I'm up to 3.10 producing mice now and it's amazing the quality difference between feeders and the ones I buy from the store.
At first I started too small, 1.2-3 mice. Got a couple of litters but then my male ate one of my very pregnant females so I feed him off and lost a girl along with a whole litter. My next male was a dud. Had him with 3 females for 3 months and nothing. He was fed off. The next male finally got things going but only 2 out of my 3 females were producing.
By then, I had a few more snake mouths to feed so I expanded my colony. Every week I would get another enclosure (I use large kritter keepers for my mice) and a few more mice. I've had a lot of problems with canibalism which is beyond gross and really frustrating cause you want more mice, not less! My females have been really hard to match up as they eat each others babies or fight between themselves a lot. So far I have 2 great mom duos that help each other out, all the others have to be housed alone to have their litters...
It's been a lot of work and I've thought of giving up on them many times, the stinky buggers! But I'm so happy that things are rolling now! To the point I'm starting to have extra and will be able to sell off little lots now and then. I'm up to 3.10 producing mice now and it's amazing the quality difference between feeders and the ones I buy from the store.