Breeding Mice

[GarterGeek]

I raise mice year round, and used to raise them for Ohio State University for student use. But I used to raise them seasonally as you are thinking of doing.



The females should continue to produce babies even when the entire litter is taken from her, but if this is done repeatedly, long term, she becomes more likely to eat them at birth. I generally harvest half the litter, and leave the rest of the litter for ten days, when I harvest half of what is left... then when the pups are about 20 days old, I harvest the rest. I have a friend who uses the 10 and 20 day old pups, and this gives me a chance to replace a mouse that is not producing, has an illness, or etc, with one of the pups.

So it would be smart for me to leave a pup or two for her to raise? How likely and commonplace is cannibalism? I don't know how much I really need to worry about it.

The key to odor control with mice is how often you change the substrate, and how many square inches you allow for each adult mouse. I have a 55 gallon tank with ten mice in it, and change it weekly. I use pine shavings that I purchase in bales at the Tractor Supply store. If you do have to leave them outdoors, they are best in a non-humid area that is shaded all the time. You also need to ensure that raccoons and other vermin cannot open the cage. In the fall, why not find a snake owner who has a boid or something like that, and give away the adult mice?

I have 4 mice in a medium tupper-ware container. I use newspaper bedding, which I change daily. I don't think it smells that bad, but I still live with my parents who aren't too keen about it.

I didn't think about giving away the adult mice! That's a great idea, I may even already know someone who could be interested.

WARNING... SQUEAMISH PEOPLE SHOULD STOP READING HERE.

Humane killing of mice up to the seven day old stage can be done in the freezer. At ten days, you should switch to cervical seperation, if you are not too squeamish to do it. Cervical seperation involves placing the baby mouse on a flat hard surface, place a pencil between the base of the skull and the shoulders, and push the pencil downward against the surface that the mouse is resting on, in a very rapid motion. The skull will seperate from the neck, the mouse will kick a couple of times, and be gone. The mouse will lose conciousness instantly, as long as the motion is quick and sudden.

The other method is a blow to the head, but in mice with a soft skull, this can be messy.

Cervical separation it is! I may try a blow just to see how it really works. I don't want to freeze because the fuzzies are larger and have some fur so their suffering would be prolonged somewhat.

Thank you for the great advice! It's such a great help.