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Blake182

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well i want to start breeding mice
1. i need a project for AG at school
2. cheap snake food
3. to sell to pet shop
i only want 1 coloney so
just 1m and 2f
i was talking to the my LPS
and they have adult pairs for
20 bucks
so i was just going to
get a the pair and put them
in a 32L tub
and the bet shop said if i can give them 10 mice every 2 weeks thay will give me food for them and a ext of 5 bucks so
tell me how you do
post pic if you like
and ill only be doing it for a little
bit as i need to do it for ag
and help would be NICE
 
STOP! You are doing the right thing.... do some research first, as you are.

You will need at least 2 tubs...32L is ok for mice. You will need a mesh top (12mmx12mm minimesh from Bunnings @ $16) because if you melt holes in a tub lid, the mice will prolly chew thier way out of it. A weight on top, like a house brick to keep mesh in plase. You will need a small tip (mouse size) drinker bottle that can hang from the mesh (with a little tang & hole on drinker bottle) and breeders choice paper litter (woolies $18) or hi-absorb shavings ($15 pet or feed shop) for bedding. Dont use any clay or crystal type kitty litter in case mouse eats it, then snake eats mouse.... bad! You will need a little house in each (icecream container with hole in side). As the females become pregnant, put them in the tub without the boy. When both girls are pregnant, put 2 houses in girls tub. When the babies ween at about 21-24 days, you will need a 3rd tub set up the same. After the babies ween, give the mother a weeks rest, before putting back with boy. Mice usually sell around here for $6 each, twenty for 2 is too dear.

Dont do any deals like that with pet shop... they are ripping you off. It will cost you hardly anything to feed the mice, I feed mine woolies homebrand frozen (but thawed in microwave then cooled) sweet corn ($2.95 for 1kg) and peas ($2 for 1kg) This will last you about a month. You can also give the mice anything you eat.... rice...pasta....vegies.... carrots..... broccoli (cooked), bread crusts.... anything (but not meat) dog biscuits, cat crunchies (not too many too salty... but 1 or 2 each each day or 2)

You dont need to buy mouse/rat/guinnie pig mix.... they are expensive and your mice will do better on fresh (frozen) veg.

Tell the pet shop they can buy the mice for a dollar or 2... you will make a bit of money this way, if you do the work for the mices food, the petshop will make all the money.... not you!

Do you realise, for snake food, you will need to euthanise (kill) the mice babies? If so, you will need a soda stream system ($74 woolies) a plastic tube and another tub (@ 10L)

Best of luck, PM me if you need any advice ;)
Will you be ok to kill them? If you live at home, will mum let you keep them in the freezer? you better check

Edit: Dont agree to supply the petshop 10 every week.... mice arent like clockwork! Assuming you buy 2 female (not pregnant) and 1 male, the mice have to be about 8-10 weeks old at least to breed. Dont let the petshop sell you some old mice as breeders, mice can only breed successfully up to a year and a half or so. Buy some youngish mice... preferably girls from one place.... boy from another (to avoid inbreeding.... 3 from one shop will prolly be brothers and sisters :shock:) From when you get them home and put them together in 1 tub, you could expect your first litter in about 3-4 weeks. Feeding corn & peas (and other stuff) the eyes will open at about 2 weeks, they will ween at 3 weeks (+ a day or 2) When weened, you will need a boy tub and a girl tub (especially for ones to go to pet shop) Keep some female babies to grow and become breeders. SO, there is no way you can be contracted to supply the petshop 10 per week (or fortnight) you wont be able to supply that many regularly until you are well established (about 2-3 months all going well)

When you have live stock to sell, put an ad on IGA, Woolies & Coles notice boards & Gumtree. I would then advise you to subscribe (or become power seller) here on APS, to support this great site, and allow you to place advert on here.... then you will be all set :)

Again, best of luck

If you are living at home, get your folks to read this, I am happy to advise you (and them) as you go. Dont AGREE TO ANYTHING WITH PET SHOP!
 
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yeah it good that i have my own shead so they can stay in there my mum does no care as long as she cant see them dead.
i might see how i go with 1 coloney
and might move up to 2,3,4, coloneys
caues a pinkie mice is 1.90 and a fuzzy mice is 2.80 and an adult mice
is 8-10 bucks
ill keep u up yo date and might put some pic up
would it be alright to give them bones as i work at a buchers
 
All good mate. If you have one boy and your first 2 girls, then keep back another 4-5 girls from your babies to grow to breeders, you can, when established, expect to have a litter every week + or minus a day or so. Once your male starts looking shagged out, get a new male from somewhere else (not from where you got yours... to change blood line)
No, a little bone to chew on is ok, but dont feed mice (or rats) meat as such. It makes thier poop smell and makes cage cleaning more important/regular (you dont want rotting bones or meat or mouse poo attracting flies etc). Keep them vegetarian in my opinion, they seem happy with (thawed) frozen peas and corn, bread and stuff. Mine love rice, pasta, old apples, carrots.... you can tell what they like and how much they like it, by how fast/hard they snatch it :shock: especially rats:shock: hand food.... count fingers :lol:

Your pinkie and fuzzy price is about correct, a little rich, but good luck getting $8-$10 for an adult :shock: Maybe sold privately, alive as a pet, but snake food buyers wont pay that much per mouse... not around here anyway ;)
 
yeah i know i was in there last weeken and i ask how much for and ault mice
''ill just look for you''
''$9''
me facepalm and left
so im going to try and breed them to try and make a little cash
but is it all right to put them in the frezer to kill them
 
For a live one to get started, I would pay $9 rather than trapse around looking (wasting petrol). I needed a boy rat recently and payed $20 :shock: for it, but I needed one in a hurry. Like I said, get boy and girls from different shops/places (so they arent brother and sisters) When you buy, try to get big mice (for mice) rather than teeny weeny ones (unless they are just young)
 
You can get some duds.... genetically too close... some of the offspring dont look quite normal. some may die for no apparent reason... we call them 'lethals'

Its just better to have new genes in the bloodline.

No, I am not going to crack any 'tassie' jokes :shock:;)
 
Hahah
Do u have any pics of your set ups just to give me an idea
 
The soda stream method is alot more humane then putting them in the freezer to kill them, so don't.
Great advice captain Ratbag.:)
 
As to breeding mice- that side I have no experience with. But, regarding euthanasia- no, do NOT just put them in the freezer to kill them. Ever been outside on a cold winter night, for hours on end? imagine that but worse, with your cells and blood turning to ice and being so cold it hurts... It is NOT quick, and iss far from humane... If you do decide to breed and you don't have the confidence and anyone to show you the correct technique for CD for example, invest in sodastream/CO2.
 
for mice i use a 50lt tub , for the lid i cutout a section and used gutter wire [ i got this from bunnings its 12mm square x 10 meter long ]
u can either bolt it in place - heat glue - or use silicone [ even liquid nails would do the job] .
 
Thanks for your help guys
Insted of a soda stream
I can get these home bruw co2 thing
And there 20c each
So I might get some of them and get a soda stream
If I expand
 
Rats and mice are omnivores, it is beneficial to feed them meat occasionally. Mine get chicken carcases, bones and leftover scraps. They'll clean carcasses completely, including the marrow.

You are much better off inbreeding than outcrossing when establishing a colony. You will be able to weed out unwanted traits and selectively breed for the positive ones (good health and calm temperament) Everytime you bring in new blood, you are potentially bringing in new problems along with the positive traits, which you will then have to breed out again.

I've been breeding my colony since 2008 with only one injection of outside blood and that was only to get a few specific alleles I wanted to play with, took about 6 months to breed the poor temperament out of them, I'm still working on breeding out the male aggression.

Inbreeding is sorely misunderstood. I'd suggest reading this, saves me babbling on about it. Inbreeding, Linebreeding & Outcrossing

Oh, and for Gods sake don't freeze them alive. Its a hideously painful and traumatic way for a mammal to die. If you can't afford a soda stream to c02 them, man up and donk them. They might be food, but they should still be treated humanely.
 
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Mice can run straight through 12mm x 12mm wire mesh, so that will soon get your mother offside. You need 6mm x 6mm mesh to stop mice. If you can find a petshop that will take your surplus mice, that is a lot easier tha n dealing with the inconsistency of the public.
 
Well I am off to have a look at some mice tomorrow and I will have get bro and sis as there only one pet shop that's sells mice
And I can get a soda stream
 
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Whatever appeals to you. My colonies are mainly snowtigers and c-dilutes because that's what I like. Its more fun if YOU find them attractive as opposed to what other people like. Makes cleaning the smelly little buggers out that little bit less of a chore LOL!
 
^^^^ what Saz and Wokka said, but in all seriousness if you only have a small colony that you are talking about getting.... don't worry about the soda stream just 'zonk' them on the head and freeze them once deceased. $8 to $9 bucks a mouse ??? ( $20 a pair ) is seriously over rated. Ask around for private breeders in your area and it'll be half the price im sure, I dont even sell my super mice for those inflated prices.
BTW with 1M + 2F's depending on their age at purchase...... you'll be lucky to get 10 live fuzzys with in the first two months of owning them. You will be better off with 2M's and 6F's in two tubs in the long run due to their breeding cycle and caring for each others young.
Mice come into heat 2 hours after giving birth but within 24hrs of birth matings....embryos conceived during postpartum estrus will not develop at the usual rate due to delayed implantation. Thus their is a variable to when the next litter will be laid.
 
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