Your Reptile and Amphibian Resource and Information Site

Back to Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum

Remixxx420   Jynxer50   Greatballzofire   Remixxx420   Greatballzofire   Remixxx420   Remixxx420   Greatballzofire   Remixxx420   Jynxer50   Remixxx420   Bearded_dragon_0   Remixxx420   DRW85   Greatballzofire   DRW85   EvilTrailMix   Bearded_dragon_0  
 Member  Message

 #2041288


Remixxx420
View Profile

 Starting to breed mice tips?

hi i have a savannah monitor whos eating small fuzzies right now my question is does anybody have a simple set up going that can keep producing enough mice to feed a growing savannah monitor constantly? i know i have to have atleast 3 females and 1 male just to produce enough, but does anybody have a simple set up to just feed one savannah that i can possibly get ideas from? like how many containers should i have at hand? when should i start to try and breed each female? i know i could probably figure it out with trial and error but the simpler the better right?



07/18/09  01:44pm

 #2041310


Jynxer50
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2041288


 Starting to breed mice tips?

Well, I don’t know how much a savannah monitor eats, but I’ll describe my setup. I started breeding my mice because I live 150 miles away from the nearest pet store, and I only had one corn snake. She was growing, so I needed fuzzies, but not 100 at a time. Just about a litter.

I bought two tubs from Walmart, about a foot and a half by two feet. I have 2 mice, a male and a female. I kept the male and female together until I noticed the female getting pregnant (Believe me, you’ll notice). I set up the other tub with fresh bedding, nesting material, and a nice nest. The female had her babies, and when they were fuzzies, I euthanized them and froze them. I have just continued the process like this, and my female is still going strong almost a year later. I just let each litter get older as my snake grew. I now have a ball python also, so I take the babies away from the female at 4 weeks, and let them grow until almost completely fully grown, then freeze them. Good luck!

Jake
07/18/09  03:09pm

 #2041380


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Jynxer50   In reference to Message Id: 2041310


 Starting to breed mice tips?

Jynxer50, that is a great post! Your system is elegant in its simplicity.

Alas, I have many more tubs than just two, as I got side tracked with breeding the mice for color, and then got more snakes, and then the snakes keep getting bigger, and so forth! LOL!
07/18/09  07:41pm

 #2041447


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2041380


 Starting to breed mice tips?

how many babies did your female have each litter? and how often, i know it takes around 20 days for a prego mouse to give birth but did she become pregnant right away after introducing the male again? and how long can they stay frozen before its not feedable?



07/18/09  11:04pm

 #2041452


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2041447


 Starting to breed mice tips?

My mice average about 12 babies per litter.
If you leave the male with her, she can be impregnated right after giving birth, so you will get pups in about 21 days. If you take the male out and then reintroduce him, it takes about four days for her to have estrus and mate, so about 25 days until pups are born.
Link
Is Frozen Food Safe?
Food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage. Freezing keeps food safe by slowing the movement of molecules, causing microbes to enter a dormant stage. Freezing preserves food for extended periods because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness.
07/18/09  11:16pm

 #2041521


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2041452


 Starting to breed mice tips?

ok im just putting my ideas down who knows might help somebody and tell me if you think this will work, if i get 2 males and 4 females, 8 tubs for holding, have 2 females per 1 male ratio tubs, as soon as i find out the girls pregnant remove her to a differant tank, wait for the mice to be weened, then put them in a tub, then re introduce the female back into the group once the weened get to the size i need co2 and freeze, 4 females should produce atleast 32 mice a month if they all get pregnant once a month right? or should i get more females, i need to produce atleast 30 mice a month to feed my savannah monitor should i get 5 females and 3 males just to be safe? also every year ill be switching off females and possibly males too depending or should i switch off females more than once a year



07/19/09  07:57am

 #2041526


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Jynxer50   In reference to Message Id: 2041310


 Starting to breed mice tips?

another question i have is how much are you spending on feed and bedding a month? i know you only have two and thier offspring but i can refferance that to my needs, im just seeing if its even worth breeding them or if its cheaper to buy my mice already frozen



07/19/09  08:24am

 #2041530


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2041521


 Starting to breed mice tips?

When you have a group of females that are compatible do not separate them, as they form strong bonds but absence breaks these bonds, and they will be strangers if reintroduced, hence squabbling in the nest. Leave the females together. They will help raise each others’ babies and the babies will profit from the extra maternal care.

You only need a couple of males. Males are stinky, so the fewer the better.

When the litter sizes begin to decrease you can get new females. The males last much longer as they don’t have to endure the rigors of pregnancy.

It takes approximately two months to get a weaned mouse from estrus and conception to adult size. My friend keeps Savannah monitors and they eat adult mice; they are big lizards!



07/19/09  08:29am

 #2041620


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2041530


 Starting to breed mice tips?

ok thanks for the help and yeah my monitors only a baby right now eating fuzzies but i know in a few months hes going to need larger pray



07/19/09  12:47pm

 #2041755


Jynxer50
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2041620


 Starting to breed mice tips?

I mix my own food, so $0 there, and I buy big bags of pine bedding at walmart for about $5. With only 2 tubs, it works well, and I have to buy bedding about every 2 months or so.

My female always has at least 14 babies. She hasn’t had a smaller litter yet, even with different males. So when she gets old, I’m going to keep one of her female babies and try to continue with the large litters.

Jake
07/19/09  05:06pm

 #2041836


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Jynxer50   In reference to Message Id: 2041755


 Starting to breed mice tips?

yeah i heard newspaper shreds works good too for bedding? and what do you feed them? the cheaper the better lol thats whole reason why im wanting to breed them is for cheaper feed for my larger animal
07/19/09  08:30pm

 #2042357


Bearded_dragon_0
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2041836


 Starting to breed mice tips?

I have always fed my rats and mice a mix of cat, rabbit, and the special rat food. $7 for bedding, $15 for rabbit food, $8 for cat food and $4 for rat/mouse diet.
07/20/09  06:40pm

 #2042406


Remixxx420
View Profile



   Message To: Bearded_dragon_0   In reference to Message Id: 2042357


 Starting to breed mice tips?

how many mice does that feed and for how long bearded dragon?



07/20/09  07:59pm

 #2044304


DRW85
View Profile



   Message To: Remixxx420   In reference to Message Id: 2042406


 Starting to breed mice tips?

If you leave the male with the females, won’t the male eat or kill the babies? Last time I tried to breed mice the male and female mated and after the female gave birth, the male killed all of the babies so I just fed both to my buddies snakes. Would it be ok to put 3 females in one tank and the male in another one and just introduce the females one at a time to the male to get pregnant and then put them back in their cage?
07/23/09  10:11pm

 #2044312


Greatballzofire
View Profile



   Message To: DRW85   In reference to Message Id: 2044304


 Starting to breed mice tips?

A good male should not kill his own young. None of my males have ever killed their young, although I have had the occasional female kill her young, usually with the first litter, in rare cases the second, too, in which event she becomes snake food.
You can put each female with the male in his tank until you are certain they have bred, but afterward put her in her own cage, not back with the other females. Removing a female makes her a stranger right away so putting her back with the others generally does not work out.
07/23/09  10:21pm

 #2044322


DRW85
View Profile



   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 2044312


 Starting to breed mice tips?

so it be easier to introduce the male to the females all at once or separate? Or should I just have a cage for each female? And can you keep more than one male in a cage together or will they fight for dominance?



07/23/09  10:38pm

 #2044380


EvilTrailMix
View Profile



   Message To: DRW85   In reference to Message Id: 2044322


 Starting to breed mice tips?

Just put all the girls in the cage with the male at the same time. Like Greatballzofire said, if you take just one out the others will forget her and then treat her like a stranger when you put her back in. (Aggression, fighting) No, you can’t keep mature males together because they will fight. But you only need one male anyway so that shouldn’t be an issue.
07/24/09  02:43am

 #2044866


Bearded_dragon_0
View Profile



   Message To: EvilTrailMix   In reference to Message Id: 2044380


 Starting to breed mice tips?

The rabbit food lasts for ever. I used a bag of the the rat/mouse deit about every 6 weeks. I mixed 1 whole bag of that with 4 cups of rabbit food and 4 cups of cat food. That was for 5 adult rats but I don’t know how long it will last for a few mice.
07/24/09  10:11pm


Back to Rodents-Keeping and Breeding Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area