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Post by harrisi on Jan 22, 2009 18:35:51 GMT -5
Yup, that should help. Also if you have any left over meats (chicken, lamb, beef and turkey are best) they are gd to feed. I would just keep an eye on the "killers". Whilst it is harsh if they kill they're litters everytime they are not worth keeping if you plans are breeding. Sounds like you are doing everything right though.
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Post by nwheather on Jan 23, 2009 15:46:45 GMT -5
Ok, I did lose that one litter. I still have 5 in the other one & verified there are 13 in the big litter! I also discovered 2 babes that must have been born about the same time as the big litter, that I didn't see, because they are about as big as the big litter, trying to crawl around & all wiggly, like little pigs. =-) The other mom in with the 2, I just discovered looks pretty big, I am guessing she will have a large litter soon. =-)
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Post by nwheather on Jan 30, 2009 0:53:37 GMT -5
I lost one litter of 5, but just had a litter of 5 born. That momma was pretty big, I thought she'd have more...o'well. The litters that are doing really well are the ones in the big bins, so I made a few more big bins & moved to those. I will use the little ones for separating out babies, I guess. There's still 13 in the big litter,& the little of 2 that was born the same time,all have fur, really wiggly. LOL I know I'm just getting started, so I will be patient. =-) I have a few other pairings that are not really getting fat, so I will watch them for a bit then maybe replace some males or something.
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Post by harrisi on Jan 30, 2009 5:05:33 GMT -5
The litters that are doing really well are the ones in the big bins, Mother mice often kill or abandon part of the litter to stop overcrowding if they find where they are too small .
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Post by nwheather on Feb 4, 2009 12:15:11 GMT -5
The other female in with the momma who had 13 babies had a litter of about 5-7, I didn't want to touch them yet. I found two more in another tank that I thought only had 5 babies, now has 7 & they all have fur. I found another brand new litter, within the last day or so, in a nother bin. The female with the litter of 13 is prego again, so I culled some of the older babies for less stress on her feeding & such. "Flea stage" is right! They are pretty fast too. LOL
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Feb 4, 2009 12:43:16 GMT -5
Sounds great! Your colony is chugging along. How many breeding females do you have?
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Post by nwheather on Feb 4, 2009 19:59:44 GMT -5
I have 15 females, but there's two groups with no babies, so either the male is still not mature, or just not getting them prego. I will watch them for a bit, then look into replacing the males that are not effective & go from there.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Feb 5, 2009 1:53:41 GMT -5
Right now I have 7 breeding females, but it sounds like you have a lot more litters coming in! I have 6 weaned females waiting to mature and then become breeders, and 2 litters (about 20 total) that I'll pull the females out of for breeding.
BTW I can't do rats anymore... I wish I had brought them back to where I got them like you did!
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Post by nwheather on Feb 6, 2009 9:20:18 GMT -5
I am waiting to see how some of these females & males do that have not yet produced, & I would like to make some of my new females breeders once tehy are old enough. I want to have a closed colony, ultimately, so I don't plan on buying any more mice, just using babies I have, putting them with non-relatives, to establish a good, working colony. I read recently that it takes several months to get the working colony up & running, (maintaining steady production of babies). I have a ways to go before mine is operating smoothly, but that's ok, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. LOL I haven't stopped reading up on it, I keep researching the topic, to see if there's anything I can do better, or more efficiently.
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Post by nwheather on Feb 14, 2009 16:17:14 GMT -5
I have Valentine's Day babies!!! 14 of them!! I went in to clean/feed & sure enough, 14 new babies! I had a litter of 10 born a couple days ago, as well as a litter of 4. The mom who had 14 was the same mom who gave birth to 13, one of my first litters. =-) She's definitely a good momma! I have less than two weeks before my original two litters can be weaned & put into their own bin to finish growing. I may set up the dry ice euthanization after all, if I end up with high numbers of mice. I don't want to sit around & wait while four ferrets dispatch multiple mice. I will just freeze the batches of mice & then treat them like the ones I was getting from the store.
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Post by harrisi on Feb 14, 2009 17:50:24 GMT -5
Thats great to hear ! Though I might add, be careful with dry ice. It is VERY difficult to avoid "suffocation". It was considered a humane method but needs to be controlled and it is very difficult to use, if you can get CO2 cannisters, much more humane most of the time.
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Post by nwheather on Feb 15, 2009 15:28:32 GMT -5
Ok, thanks for that info =-)
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Post by fuzzymom on Feb 16, 2009 12:09:56 GMT -5
Dry ice isn't hard to use. I use a simple method and I've had great results. I use an igloo cooler and a small plastic container (like a kritter keeper) and place the rodents inside the cooler. I then add a chunk of dry ice to the kritter keeper and place that inside and close the lid. Come back 5-10 minutes later and you have dead rodents.
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Post by harrisi on Feb 16, 2009 16:21:15 GMT -5
But if you just put in a piece of dry ice here and there you will most likely suffocate the rodents, as opposed to them "falling asleep" and it is definitly not a humane method. Its simple as if all you are bothered about is killing the rodents but if you do want humane effects then cannisters are MUCH better, unless you want to be dealing with crushed dry ice and risk fainting yourself Lol.
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Post by luxuriousferret on Feb 16, 2009 17:02:22 GMT -5
I read about the dry ice method once, and pics. anyway this was for rats, but I think it would be the same. a large kritterr keeper fillde with a large hunk of dry ice, and put into a cooler on its side (lid on). add rats. Another way is to take a large plastic bag, like a large lip-lock bag, but baking soda on the bottom and a measuring cup with vineigar, seal and put a hose, about 2 feet long, and put in sealed container, add bedding and seal. pour the vineigar through the bag, and wait about a halfhour or so. I have heard it works well.
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