My holding bins runneth over

My ASF & Mice have decided to breed me out of room. These are from 6 groups each and they spit out babies faster than I can whip up holding tubs.

damn!!!!

Those asf's.... do they not smell like everyone says?

ASF don't really smell at all. They pick one spot in the tub and use it for a toilet instead of all over too.

yikes!! every time I try to breed mice they end up eating the babies. Got any pointers for me?? a tutorial on mouse husbandry?

Make sure you put the group together when they're pretty young--all the females should be related or have been raised together, and simply add an unrelated male. Make sure they have enough room, and don't feel overly stressed. Never switch males out, if you leave the group together all the time (otherwise, if you remove the male, don't put him back until the pups are weaned).

If you get pups being eaten, and you don't know who's doing it, it's best to just scrap the entire group and start over with new mice. Putting unrelated females together, or adding any new mice to an already established group, can result in bloodshed and mayhem.

The above is also true of rats--don't add females to an established group, or switch males.

Thanks for the help WW. I spend a small fortune in purchasing mice at the pet store. It would be nice to have some breeding at least during hatchling season.

Looking great---rodentlicious!

Do you separate the ASF's by sex at that age to grow them out or can you leave them together for a while?

Mice are very ornery critters...I have only one group of them, and I was raising up some females prior to 'retiring' the adult breeders. One of the young upcoming girls chewed the face off of one of the adult females, killing her. All we can figure is that they had dominance issues as she was reaching sexual maturity. Ironically, the usurper is fantastic producer, and currently looks like she swallowed an entire hacky-sack--we can't believe she hasn't exploded yet, she has so many babies in there. lol
(She takes great care of her pups, too).

Originally Posted by WingedWolf

Make sure you put the group together when they're pretty young--all the females should be related or have been raised together, and simply add an unrelated male. Make sure they have enough room, and don't feel overly stressed. Never switch males out, if you leave the group together all the time (otherwise, if you remove the male, don't put him back until the pups are weaned).

If you get pups being eaten, and you don't know who's doing it, it's best to just scrap the entire group and start over with new mice. Putting unrelated females together, or adding any new mice to an already established group, can result in bloodshed and mayhem.

The above is also true of rats--don't add females to an established group, or switch males.

I've picked weaned mice from various tubs to put together a group without any problems. I've also replaced males before , only waiting for any babies to be weaned and pulled prior. I've also added females with little to minor issues.

Rats are so feakin easy its unreal. I pull preggo moms to brood out and toss another female into the group to replace her. Anytime I have a female die for any reason or get retired for poor production I have easily replaced them without a problem. Many rat breeders introduce new males and females at any time. I generally replace my males at 6 months.

ASF .... once a group is set and dropping babies they will fight or kill any new comer.

Originally Posted by mvite

Looking great---rodentlicious!

Do you separate the ASF's by sex at that age to grow them out or can you leave them together for a while?

I rarely separate the sexes in the holding bins. Unlike standard rats , ASF seem to grow at or close to the same rate.