Breeding mice

[jcuk94]

so what do i need to kepp them in feed them on?
what do i do with the babys how do i cull them?
what do i keep them on?

[LoveForLizards]

Originally Posted by jcuk94

so what do i need to kepp them in feed them on?
what do i do with the babys how do i cull them?
what do i keep them on?

Feed on alot of things. Lab blocks is easiest but a mix of oats, dog food and sow (breeding pig) rolls if up to protein/fat standards will do ok, along with veggie scraps every now and again.
You can cull the babies many ways again, but the easiest and quickest would be CO2 (Step by Step how to CO2 chamber http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/feede...aking-c02.html) or severing of the spinal cord.
Again, you can keep them on many things! I have found by far the best is wood pellets (not shavings). It keeps in smell and is easy to spot clean, and good for the mice. Next to that would be compressed newspaper/straw bedding wich is much the same as the wood pellets but more expensive. Then wood shavings, kiln dried or not has the potential of giving RI's but it is very slim. I found the smell quicker/easier and go moldy quickly, quite cheap in price though. Make sure its kiln dried if you use it at all.

[jcuk94]

ok could i keep them in my shed or would they die?

[9Red]

For baby mice I would always recommend cervical dislocation (neck-breaking) rather than CO2. This is because young mice have a built-in 'anti-smother' mechanism that prevents them from suffocating if they get laid on by their mum. This mechanism can make CO2 gasing ineffective, and may result in prolonged respiratory distress rather than a painless 'falling asleep' euthanasia. Because of this I would not use CO2 for any mice smaller than a large hopper size.

Cervical dislocation is easy once you've got the hang of it. The main thing is to make sure the head/neck is firmly pinned and to commit fully when you pull the tail - if you're squeamish and don't pull firmly enough you can end up crushing the spinal column rather than severing it which causes a great deal of pain. So when you do it - go for it and pull hard!

[jcuk94]

can i keep them in the shed

[SnakeBreeder]

Originally Posted by jcuk94

can i keep them in the shed

YES, but you may need to heat it, in cool weather, or they will stop breeding.
If the temp gets too low they will simply die, unless you have a very big cage and a ton of insulating bedding.

I breed mine in my loft and heat it with a fan heater.
The loft is very well insulated
They are fed on several animal mixes ( rabbit / guinea pig / dog etc) with added nuts.

Stephen

[jcuk94]

what shoiuld i heat them with ie. bulbs, heatmats

[LoveForLizards]

9Red - sorry was totally out of it yesterday good point about the co2

Originally Posted by jcuk94

what shoiuld i heat them with

Ermm..A heater?
But in all seriousness a heater would be best. A heat mat is a maybe, but it would need to be controlled by a stat, aswell as the fact they will chew it to peices if its not protected. Or "snuggle safe" heat pads, Something like this would do as long as the temp is controlled.http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...t%3EHEATER.htm or
http://www.snugglesafe.co.uk/heatpad.htm or tubular heaters http://www.alertelectrical.com/Elect...-DIMTUX120.asp

[jcuk94]

ok so how would i use these in the tank or outside of it?

[LoveForLizards]

Originally Posted by jcuk94

ok so how would i use these in the tank or outside of it?

Snuddle safe heat pads go inside in the bed spot.
Tubular heater or heater fan can be put on the wall in the shed. If you are using glass tanks then I suggest putting them on a table and having the heater fan underneath it, or with the tubular heater putting it over the top/on the ceiling as opposed to on the side wall.