Breeding mice?

[nessanicolle]

I've been wondering about breeding my own mice. Does anyone do this?

 

[HeatherN]

i did it with rats. its easy and theyre cute, just be warned that you will have to kill them or watch them be maimed and eviscerated. and its stinks to high heaven if you dont clean often. i kept mine outside.

 

[nessanicolle]

Ive read about it, it's just confusing. Like how do you know when the female is pregnant.

 

[Ntyvirus]

Yea be prepared to go though lots of bedding. It can get pretty smelly if u let things go for too long

 

[Neeko]

I worked in a pet store, we didnt breed mince or rats but the amount of waste they can make in a day is ridiculous also very smelly.... if you do, make a comfortable wire bottom and place the cage over a hole, that way you can just keep burying all the waste and move the cage around outside.

 

[HeatherN]

shell get a big ol' belly when shes pregnant, and will start nesting, like most other mammals. idk where youve been reading about mice breeding, but its actually very simple if youre willing to put in the work. ill try and break it down, the way i did it with rats that is.

materials:
-several tough rubbermaid bins/glass aquariums
-aspen bedding
-wire mesh
-water bottles
-dog food (i have a dog)
-a harem of mice/rats

how i did it:

-first, i cut out squares in the tops of the bins and replaced them with the wire mesh

-i cut holes in the mesh to stick the tips of the water bottles through. that provided ventilation and water

-i placed several inches of aspen bedding on the bottom of each of the bins

-you can provide the food however you want. they dont need bowls or anything, they like to hide their food lots of the time anyway. if you want, you can provide hides for nesting and security, easily made out of cardboard or plastic containers like sour cream containers.

-i suggest providing something for them to chew on, like harder nuts or blocks of wood to keep their teeth from overgrowing

-i then put in the animals. when i say a "harem", im referring to the naturally occurring situation of a group of females all bred with by a single female. you can put a harem in each bin, or keep certain bins empty.

- mice are small, and breed very quickly. you can tell females are pregnant by their large, oversized bellies. i moved my pregnant females to a separate bin, my "birthing bin", since some males will kill the babies. often enough though, you could keep them together, but its taking a chance with the male's personality.

-keeping multiple birthing females together is fine, sometimes theyll even take care of each others litters

-cleaning when using bins is as simple as dumping out the waste, rinsing the bin, then putting in new bedding. i did this about once every week depending on how much i had. with an aquarium, its harder to clean, but its a personal preference.

-remember, they stink! as long as theyre in a relatively stable temperature, its possible to keep them outside or in the garage. i kept my rats outside since the weather where i live is incredibly mild. i took them inside if it dropped below 67 degrees at night.

-the only money i spent on this project was buying the actual animals. i had all these items laying around, and i fed them small amounts of dog food and the leftovers from my animals. theyll eat anything, just remember, they need protein for proper breeding!


in conclusion, its up to you to decide if you want to put in the work or if this will cut down on costs. the more you raise at a time, the more money you save, as with any breeding project. many shops around here breed their own rats and mice, and do sell them for cheap and make a profit. i preferred my own though, since i knew mine were parasite and disease free, as well as gut-loaded. i most likely will start back up my little project to go with my dubia colony when Tarot, my extreme, gets larger. i hope this helps you understand and make a decision for yourself.

 

[nessanicolle]

I'm definitely going to try this in the future thank you!