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Post by Chelsea on Nov 17, 2008 18:09:00 GMT -5
I just got a couple mice from the petstore to try and breed. I *thought* i had 3 girls and 1 boy, turns out there are 2 girls and 2 boys. But i know the guy at the petstore pretty well and he said no problem i can bring him in and exchange for a female. They are all kind of small, i think. They are all white, i dont know what kind of mice they are. There is another kind of mice he has there that just had babies and he said they breed alot really easily so once the babies are old enough im going to get some of those possibly. So im hoping they are going to breed... I have a few questions though for anyone who knows about this stuff They seem kind of small.. but then again ive never had mice before. How do you know when they are old enough to breed? What is the best thing to have in their cage? I just have newspaper in there now, a food bowl, a water bowl, and a little container for them to hide/sleep in. They tore the newspaper and took a bunch of it into the box and made a little nest. Since they are petstore mice im wondering if they will breed at all. Where does everyone get their mice? Is there some place online you can buy breeder mice that ships? Everyone only sells frozen rodents and buying frozen mice for them would just get to be too expencive, thats why i want to breed them. Any info welcome. thanks  |
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Post by charmantpapillon on Nov 17, 2008 18:58:55 GMT -5
my cage has about 2 - 3 inches of dirt in the bottom
im debating about wheter to plant a bit of grass in one area so i can make them a more natural habitat. but i also have some non aromatic oil wood shavings for them to use as nesting material.
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 18, 2008 0:27:32 GMT -5
Mice CAN breed as early as 4-5 weeks old, but female mice SHOULDN'T BREED until they are at least 12 weeks old. If your mice are small, they could be as young as 4-5 weeks old. (that's how old mine were when I picked them up) I would give them another 6 weeks and then introduce the male. They can get pregnant now but it will be very taxing on the females' bodies and the first litter might not survive.
I use wood pellets as the first layer of bedding with my mice. I then add a layer of aspen shavings, more aspen if they are nursing mothers. I also provide them with cardboard and toilet tissue to chew up and make into nests.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Nov 18, 2008 1:22:45 GMT -5
Hey Charmantpapillion- When you use potting soil, do you bake it first? I bought some today and I threw it in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees like another member (tss maybe?) said to do. I had to keep it in for about 45 minutes for each SMALL batch to get the soil dry... do you have any suggestions or do you use it right out of the bag? It just seemed so wet. Your mice should breed, no matter where you get them I got mine from a woman who breeds for her reptiles. I would say, add a wheel to their cage so they can get some exercise and keep from getting too bored. Mine took the their wheel right away. |
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Post by Chelsea on Nov 18, 2008 6:47:16 GMT -5
Ive heard of people putting soil on the bottom but... how do you clean it? I JUST cleaned their cage out last night and now its covered in crap again. Is that all they do? crap? Its EVERYWHERE. In the food bowl. in the water bowl. on their box, in their box. and over every spot on the floor. And thats just in one night. So how would i clean out a cage with dirt every day? I have some peat moss that i use for my reptiles... would that be okay to use?
Oh and yea i want to put a wheel in there for them, i just dont have one yet. Im getting one this weekend.
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Post by charmantpapillon on Nov 18, 2008 12:53:07 GMT -5
Well ... i scoop the potty corneres out and Animals get revenge my soil is kept slightly damp because i keep worms in the soil they have a corner that is all nesting material and a corner for food stashing but the worms pretty much help keep the waste down. which is why i am contempating putting grass seed in my box to give them a more... NATURAL setting since its almost there to begin with
Also mine wont even touch the wheel that i put in there they just knocked it over in their digging omg they LOVE digging in the dirt its awesome.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Nov 18, 2008 15:06:12 GMT -5
Charmantpapillon: So you don't bake the soil at all? With the worms, did you just grab them from outside or buy them? How big are they? The grass sounds nice. Great ideas!
A few of mine love the wheels, others won't touch it. The rats will try to run with four or five on it... its hilarious!
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Post by charmantpapillon on Nov 18, 2008 17:45:50 GMT -5
I bake it but i dont bake all the moisture out of it and i just bought regular night crawlers if it rains and i see some i pick them off the ground i change their corner bedding every 3 days and add a little fresh everyday
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Nov 18, 2008 20:44:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions!
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Post by charmantpapillon on Nov 18, 2008 21:42:57 GMT -5
any time =)
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Post by Heather on Nov 19, 2008 0:48:22 GMT -5
I have a question regarding bedding. I discovered some bedding today that said that it's pine and cedar mix (which I understand is toxic to small critters) but it's had all the oils removed making it safe for little furry creatures. Or so it said. Is this indeed so, or is it just another ploy? as they sell cedar and pine chips for bedding for mice and small animals, even though they know that it's toxic.
ciao
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Post by charmantpapillon on Nov 19, 2008 2:56:30 GMT -5
I dunno i just have aspen bedding. it says no aromatic oils and it has a smell like paper.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Nov 19, 2008 3:55:08 GMT -5
Heather- be careful for "dusty: bedding. No only do many wood chip beddings have harmful oils, but they can also have dust that is harmful for rodents...
I don't know how dusty bedding has to be to be considered harmful, since they all seem dusty to me, even carefresh.
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Post by fuzzymom on Nov 19, 2008 10:37:44 GMT -5
Aspen is pretty safe. I use it for my reptiles and rodents.
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Post by Chelsea on Nov 24, 2008 7:08:10 GMT -5
I havent put the dirt in yet (waiting for a not so freezing day) but im going to.
I have another question though... Is there anything specific i need to feed them? I have just been feeding them a variety of things but not mouse food/kibble stuff. Ive given them a bunch of different veggies and nuts. A little bit of bird seed (the sunflower seed kind.. they really liked that). Their favorite seems to be when i put any leftover bones/chicken from the ferrets dinner in their cage. They all gather around it until they get everything they can off.
And how do i know if the females are pregnant? I saw the boy chasing one of the girls around the tank one day about a week ago. Im going to get some more mice this week hopfully.
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