I started my mouse project!

[Davaroo]

Quote:
See, I am so not getting this. Were worried about fatty hearts and shortened life in geckos - from eating baby mice?

 

[OccamsTazer]

SHM, thanks for the advice, but I *do* know what I'm doing. I've been feeding a or two a week to my leopard geckoes for nearly 15 years now, along with a variety of mealworms, waxworms, roaches, crickets, and various other crawly things.
The only time I have sick lizards is when I adopt one from a pet shop after a frustrated mom dumps it there because her kid lost interest. Those guys take some nursing.
I've had long conversations about nutrition with several herpetology professors who are my scaley gurus, and I plan on going into zoology when I finish my degree in two weeks...so...y'know there is an old saying about don't teach your grandma to shear sheep, and all that.
Thanks for the concern, but it was a scootch condescending.

ANYWAY...marebear, I was looking through your mouse pictures thread, and you have some pretties! I hope the female they order for me is a cool color. I figure why not enjoy this project

I have a feeling these critters are going to be like potato chips...

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Thanks

Mice are like potato chips, you cant just have one or 2,lol.
Do you feed yours live or freezen/thawed?

When you go to get your female, get 2 instead. Females are social and do best in pairs(males live by themselves) You can put the buck in with them at the same time or just put him with 1 for alittle bit. Both does will help with the litter(even if only one has babies)

I dont spend $10 weekly on all of my mice. I buy in balk ( wild bird seed, corn flakes, splilt peas,etc)
Only 1 buck is needed and 3 females can live in a 10 gallon tank, so theres no need to spend tons on cages.

Bucks can be kept in the cage with the doe while pregnant. Generally the buck wont harm the babies, but he can( & often does) get the doe pregnant right away.

I fed pinkies to my gecko weekly and had no problem.

 

[Stina]

Bucks generally won't harm babies when they are kept with one female....but with multiple females you GREATLY increase the risk of infanticide. Male mice normally have a high level of progesterone, which makes them infanticidal. When a male breeds a female it sets off an internal clock in him that drops his progesterone level after 3 weeks so that he becomes paternal and much less likely to become infanticidal. When a male is with multiple females it tends to screw with that internal clock so that his progesterone doesn't drop when it needs to keep him from becoming infanticidal. .....hopefully that makes sense...lol It's also in the best interest of your females to remove the male before birth anyway...as its very stressful on their bodies to reproduce back to back repeatedly.

Mice are most certainly addictive...I've been breeding fancy mice for about 5 years...I've had rats for about a year now as well. There are few animals I don't love...lol I think about the only "category" of animals we don't have is hooved animals (though I'd kill for some!)...lol We have dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, rodents, amphibians, fish.....

I feed my mice and rats a mix of Harlan Teklad lab blocks (33 lb bags sold for ~$20 at most reptile shows), high quality dog food (for added protein and animal protein), and wild bird seed....I also usually have something else like scratch grain or sheep feed or smt as well. Females need a good amount of protein (18% or more is ideal) to raise a litter well. Here is a link to the mouse section in a book on lab animal nutrition....it goes over pretty much every nutrtitional requirement for mice http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4758&page=80#p200063fd9970080001.

It tends to be cheaper to buy frozen pinkies in bulk than to try to raise your own...especially if you can get them at a reptile show.

I personally wouldn't recommend feeding pinkies to most leopards regularly anyway (for multiple reasons)....but its your choice.

Here's a link to photos of some of my past and present mice... http://www.flickr.com/photos/stinaksu/sets/72157617530420053/

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I take the buck out of the does cage, but theres some breeders that dont.
I put the buck and doe(s) together for 5 days and then take the buck out.
I give my does a month long rest after weaning the litter.
I feed:
* Wild bird seed/cockatiel seed
* dog food
*ramen noodles (uncooked)
*pumpkin seeds
*whole grain cereal(cheerios/corn flakes)
*black sunflower seeds
*split peas (uncooked)
*Rice (usually brown, uncooked)

Around here I cant find lab bloacks for a decent price, so I just make my own mix.
Everyone has their own ideas on what to, so its up to you to decide what works best for you and the mice.