Mice Colonization Help

[fogg849]

well i do not know if this is the right part of the forum to post this on if not let me know where to post it. but i recently bought 1 male and 3 female albino fancy mice to breed for my snakes my current housing setup is 10 gallon tank excersise wheel because my girlfriend made me put one in, block feed, standard water bottle and a hide. my question is it has been 1 month since i got them and i have been wondering why i have no babies. they are all the same age young adults, i am harem breeding them. is my cage setup not right? i tried setting up a second tank the same as the first but i also have no luck with the second group as well. what can i do or should i be doing something else.

Thanks in advance all opinions are greatly accepted.

 

[Twizted Paths]

You're doing better than me, every single breeder colony I've set up for the last four/five years has cannibalized itself. Mice, rats, gerbils, degus all of em.

 

[Shadera]

Are you sure they didn't sell you old, worn out breeders? I'd recommend small weaners to start with, so you know for sure how mature they are. And I don't mean to be insulting here at all, but are you sure you've got the sexes you think you have?

I've got 3 mice colonies going, in 10 gallon tanks. Very similar setup to what you have, including numbers of animals. If I remember correctly, it's been a while ago, they did take a little while to settle in and get going, but now they all consistently crank out lots of babies. Maybe they're pregnant now and just aren't showing it yet?

 

[bokuza]

Your set up is fine (as long as they arent on pine) right now. I know that my own colony didn't give me any pups until the 2nd month of having them. Sometimes its a matter of them becoming comfortable enough to mate. You may want to keep them somewhere dark and quite. Revisit them to refill water and food but other than try to clean the cage only when needed and let them be. The hide was a great idea, mice tend to mate more when they have a set area to create a nest or feel secure in.

I find that adding too young of males with females (same age or females older) often times leaves me waiting for pups. However if you pick out a male larger than the females and a little older all seems to go as planned. If you male is older but smaller you could be having becuase of that. Check out your males behavior, if he is trying to mount or chasing them around the cage they may already be pregnant, if not keep watch over him for the next week and replace him with another slightly larger male if possible. When replacing him with a new male dont wash down the tank or remove the smell. The smell of a another male could motivate the newest male to claim territory and mate with the females vigorously.

You can also try these methods to check if they are pregnant
Flip you females over, or put them in a see threw container and closely looks at their undersides for hair clearing around the nipples or if they look larger. The easiest way to know would be weigh them with a food scale from the grocery store. But thats a little out there for some folks. I like it though, because if I know a litter is going to be later than I want I can at least go out and buy some pinks ahead of time!

 

[fogg849]

to answer your questions 1. both my male and females are the same age 2. i know the sex of my mice due to the fact that the male has his testicles dropped 3. my male is always chasing and sniffing the females butt. i also out of curiosity was wondering why not to use pine everyone i talked to has said pine is fine, but i personally use shredded paper. also i will try to do your ideas on seeing if they are prego. any other advice would be greatly appreciated as well

 

[Shadera]

Kiln dried pine is just fine, as long as it's not dusty. There are people out there who have been keeping snakes on pine for forever, as well as the rodents who feed them, with no ill effects. I use pine myself for my feeder colonies. There are a lot of regurgitated rumors out there on the net, go with what works best for you.

 

[bokuza]

Kiln dried pine is just fine, as long as it's not dusty. There are people out there who have been keeping snakes on pine for forever, as well as the rodents who feed them, with no ill effects. I use pine myself for my feeder colonies. There are a lot of regurgitated rumors out there on the net, go with what works best for you.

Yes, kiln dried is better that just normal pine however even kiln dried pine can still have Phenols. Any local petshop or feed store can sell you several different variations (shredded, pellets, chips, shavings) of Aspen in large quantities that can suit your needs. I know some think that pine frankly is fine for the animals and that the label toxic is just built up by concerned pet owners but the endless amounts of studies clearly state that pine bedding (even kiln dried) can have negative effects.

Phenols come off of Ceder and Pine bedding, it smells good but for smaller animals its pretty irritating since its also a toxic acidic compound. Is causes the nasal passages ways, lungs and sometimes the oral cavity to become irritated and inflamed, eventually becuase it cant be filtered out it leads to liver damages. Both rats and mice (domesticated) are prone to develop URIs and bacterial infections, the irritation from the pine can easily raise those already high chances. A URI and some forms of bacteria infections are highly contagious and you could wind up with an entire room of very sick and dieing mice & rats. (for those who have larger breeding plans)

I dont know the effect of pine on reptiles, I never received the details on it becuase ive never used it (never will). The reaction I received after asking about it was rather severe and stern, I assume its not healthy.