10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Breeding Mice!

In this video I'll share a few things I wish I knew before breeding mice. Click here to subscribe to my channel!
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[@paulhausser3852]

I have been breeding mice for about three years and hated it when the new moms ate their young. I learned that if you add about 10% of a high protein quality cat food to their diet and give them a hide at the back of the tub they don't eat the babies. It works instantly. I haven't seen even new mom's eat a single baby since I started doing this.

[@heathergarrity1889]

Thanks for the tip I have 2 females about to be new moms any day now I will definitely be getting more hides for them

[@newsunalliance]

I agree with you. 💯💯💯

[@newsunalliance]

I use the all natural chicken and eggs Purina

[@Skewer-rat]

Oh wow! I think I did this on accident. My girl’s hide was at the back and I gave her egg and dog food before the pregnancy because I knew she needed the extra nutrients. She did refuse to care for one baby and buried it far away from the rest but I believe that was a peanut, sadly.

[@ldslimes3924]

I just bred mice and the babies are gone, what happened

[@pennypaton3079]

Hi Just watched your video and you mentioned that the mice bedding needs changing frequently due to smell. The more you change it the more they will leave their scent around to feel safe. When you change the bedding, keep about 1/4 of the old stuff to mix in with the new stuff and they'll feel safe immediately and stop scent marking their home. Less smell ..👍 Also pine shavings will give them respiratory problems/infections so I don't know if that will affect the snakes.

[@karigarcia8316]

I found that giving pregnant mice dried up mealworms that come pre package, minimise mom's killing/eating the babys.

[@taniecortazar506]

Usually there are reasons mice eat their babies whether it be stress or a deficiency of some kinds usually protein or calcium, so supplementing their feed with something higher in protein than just the chunks like dog food can help with that.

[@missymimies333]

@@taniecortazar506 canned food? Or dried?

[@Bildgesmythe]

The main reason I can't breed rats or mice is I would make pets of them all.

[@heathergarrity1889]

Yep.. I got a few feeders and a breeder sets and they are now all pets lol but the offspring are now feeders

[@BM-rd7vq]

Running wheels help fighting too. News paper ink is toxic. We had a pet goat that ate a bunch of news paper and died.

[@showmekitties]

Great video! Been breeding mice for a few months and the all white thing might be a good idea for me.. I'm starting to hold the cute ones back, lol! Thanks for making such detailed videos!

[@joannturner7119]

I could watch your videos 24/7 lol 💁🏻‍♀️ I told you that a long time ago

[@austin4x]

In all the breeding videos I've watched, none of them mentioned the first litter canibalism deal. Thanks for the heads up. It's insane thats not the first thing in every mouse breeding video. 😂

[@melteague117]

Just stopped by a petco today and got me two female mice and on male to start my breeding colony again!

[@afkfromawake]

Yes, commence the mice orgy!

[@andWaiting]

Be careful of parasites when getting mice from pet stores

[@dankslurp]

@@andWaiting Where else would you get mice from? Can’t get them shipped lol.

[@georgeschannel6168]

Incredibly informative, very nice video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@LeviathanSnakes]

We had the cannibalism problem and didn’t realize it was normal until this video. Now we feel bad about feeding off the mom but at least now we know!! Really appreciate your content!

[@angelamerkel3373]

It isn't normal. You just need to give them more protein and a hide.

[@venustrap3030]

You sentenced a mother to death… and she deserved it

[@ericwilson2320]

Great video Chris keep it up you're doing great

[@dulius6922]

Really good video man thank you!

[@joal9541]

Excellent video as usual Chris! Well organized. I'd like to comment on point #2; I've been breeding mice (both domestic & wild) for much of the last 40 years, both as pets & feeders. Mother mice need to feel safe & secure in order to nurse their pups. I stuff a paper towel inside empty soup cans and lay them with the open ends facing the back corners of the tubs. When changing the bedding I don't touch these cans. These cans may violate your point #4; but I keep only 1 male per tub and nursing females (especially sisters) won't fight amongst themselves if each has her own nesting can. Give this a try - I think you will see a reduction in cannibalism even amongst 1st time mothers.

[@katrinadixon7710]

Im a mice breeder and I think thats a great idea

[@katrinadixon7710]

Where are you located sir good advice

[@jeremiah986]

Awesome videos! Really enjoy watching them. How did you learn about the Ball Python breeding process and the way to calculate the possible offspring outcomes?

[@michaelpryor78]

There's a ton of info out about the breeding process, but if you want to know the chances of various morphs appearing from pairings, morphmarket's genetic morph calculator is the simplest way. Just enter in the specific parent genes and you'll see. www.morphmarket.com/c/reptiles/pythons/ball-pythons/genetic-calculator/

[@m.r.snakes1907]

Chris, have u tried pdz and pine pellets under pine bedding to control smell? I use on asf and they don’t have any smell after two weeks. I change out just to clean on a regular basis.

[@CC-wq8yz]

Reminds me of the movie “The Matrix” great video!

[@wildandwackywade]

The reason the mice got sickly looking in newspaper is because of all the ink and treatment they do to the paper In the production process of the news paper making.

[@jcs6206]

I really appreciate all the advice you've given on feeders, it's helped many of us.

[@bigdogggaming4775]

Great videos man been watching for a while I have 4 ball pythons it's so addicting

[@nerdynibblersratterynelson99]

You can try adding a scoop of pine pellets and then the flakes on top. Keeps it smelling good for a week

[@trevorsbrew]

how much does one of those racks cost brother??? looks very nice!!!

[@Luvlens]

I LOVE how cool and BLAZED this dude is!🌲🌿🍀☁️☁️☁️

[@bambitazzilla9377]

I want to breed mice just for the sake of breeding but i just don’t have enough reptiles.

[@kylelapoint4187]

Make a business out of it

[@kylelapoint4187]

Maybe

[@bluecollarGSD]

I remember a video like that you said the guy shorted you but you had more than 40 hatchlings

[@etf_da12bt91]

Can you please show me how you did your water setup please as I also breed Mice and rats but would like another water system for them

[@katedudman282]

Mice and smell. When I kept pet mice I kept them on a branded cat litter to deal with the smell: catsan. Not a cheap way to do it though.

[@XRKGX]

The dyes and stuff that are in newspaper are actually bad for rats birds and mice and pretty much any other pet newspaper is one of the worst things that anybody can use for any pet it can make them sick and die

[@Upper_echelon_exotics]

I'm trying to learn up because I want to breed hognose and when I have enough snakes I would like to breed my own mice too...

[@hognosefever123]

Great video

[@stopminormutilation]

I just got to the point I have to breed my own LOL, I haven’t started but that’s why I’m here. (:

[@trapier1381]

lmao.. i know what you mean by keeping the kool ones. I switched over to all whites a few months back after see'n one of your videos. That was for the mice.. I still cant bring myself to get rid of my quote n quote "pet" style rats though. I do have an odd question though about color.. Have you ever heard or seen a BP only eat a certain color n wont touch anything else? Started selling n by word of mouth ive got a few customers now n a couple of them request a certain color n size n when i asked they said a picky snake..lol.. just wondering because i havent seen it at all in my snakes.

[@coldbloodedkidz860]

My fancy mice as adults aren't as big as your white. I am still using water bottles for them, but I want to go to the brass nipples like the rats use.. I'm just wondering if the hoppers and weaned will be able to activate them.

[@kv2isgod290]

Where can I find a mouse/rat rack similar to that one?

[@shaungip4611]

Ive been getting live mice and rats from my local pet store for awhile. One of my ball pythons stopped eating so on two different occasions i took the rat weanlings and put them in a 10 gallon tank woke up the next day and both times they died overnight. Was something wrong with the rats or ?????? Does anybody know

[@chasenovelli9848]

Where do you get the shelf and bins?

[@aisfocus]

What name that food for feed your mice?

[@zoeysophiasohns98]

So true! Now it's up to $5 each - CRAZY!

[@christopherologist]

How do you dispose of the shavings after cleaning the rodents? Also, what feed are you giving your rodents?

[@jhill2042]

Spread the shavings all over your lawn so you can see snakes in the wild.

[@missymimies333]

I have 1 male to 4 females right now! I had to feed my other male to my snake cuz they were fighting! But now I hear my male in there with the females and they are squeaking and he is grooming them a lot and sniffing at them and mounting them! Is it normal for all the squeaks? He was a little riled up from that other male! Or is there a hidden male amongst the females?

[@charlesware4584]

From about 1976 till 1978 I bred mice. I would make a pen from hardware cloth and use plywood as the top and bottom. I did have to keep males in their own enclosures. Males would fight other males and would cannibalize litters. However, never did I see a female cannibalize her own litter. I used newspaper as bedding. I would just tear it into strips by hand. The mice would tear it up further to make their nests. If the mice had created a nest, I would try not to disturb it when changing the bedding. I never saw any females cannibalizing young mice. Seems like respecting their nests reduced their stress and thus the cannibalism.

[@missymimies333]

I put some felt cloth in with their bedding and made a hide underneath! Should I just leave it be for the females to have their babies in? It seems when they have babies tucked underneath in their hides they are less worried about them being disturbed! Also my male is grooming all 4 of my females and he’s sniffing at their bottoms and trying to mount them and I hear squeaks! Is this all part of the breeding process?

[@micahmould18]

Nice video

[@roserice2332]

what kind of racks are they in

[@devanayotte3843]

Do you sell the asf if so how can I purchase them from you?

[@waldronbeatsandproductions5975]

Say I wanted 25 snakes and the hatchlings how many mice/rats should I be breading but say I wanted to sell some as well

[@waldronbeatsandproductions5975]

I’m trying to plan this out

[@TheB33Hiv3]

I’m a new ball python owner and even though I asked the popular pet chain store for rats I found out they have been giving me mice the whole time. I do frozen thawed. How do I switch? I heard I should switch because it’s better for them.

[@michaelpryor78]

Switch from F/T to live? You don't really have to "switch" them to live the way you would have to switch one feeding live to F/T. If your snake's hungry, it should be as simple as throwing the rodent in with them. I've heard of it not happening once or twice, but virtually all ball pythons won't hesitate to eat live. As for the nutritional benefits of live vs. F/T, yes there are some. However, if you just have a normal snake that you're not breeding or anything, they'll be just fine on F/T as long as the rodents haven't been sitting in the freezer for more than a few months. The only time you might want to consider live feeding is if you're dealing with a female who just laid eggs and is a bit depleted. However, one thing I've come to discover is that once you introduce live feeding, the snake might not want to go back on F/T.

[@commercialelectrician133]

Can I move male from tub to tub

[@samanthawayne728]

Hi there. At what age can they breed already 6 weeks old? And how quick can they breed after giving birth? And retired at 8 months old. Does that mean they will breed 5 or 6 times only? Thank you.

[@TheDreadedJuggernaut]

It depends on the mouse. They are ready to breed as early as 4 weeks, but it's best to wait 6-8 weeks until they are large enough. By 8 weeks the litters are too small and they reach menopause, so it's around 5-6 litters total. They can have around 7-16 babies on average, but you have to cull large litters so you can get around 40 large mice per female plus some extra pinkies/hoppers.

[@heathergarrity1889]

Hello, I have just started breeding my own mice for my snake and my females are due any day

[@djg4653]

Put your food on top it will keep your bedding cleaner. The mice can eat through those grates it also provides enrichment for them!

[@Shayzshitshow]

I was wondering about that in some other videos. thank you!!

[@Upper_echelon_exotics]

I think Emily from snake discovery said that if you take a pinky out and put it back the mom will kill all the babies...is this true? From what you said it doesn't sound like it. I've also heard if you have a mouse that is a bad mom you can give the babies to a mama rat and she will take care of them...do you have any experience with that? I can't remember where I heard that...

[@carltify]

Rats eat mice so no,just no.

[@joshuabridges8708]

One of my big rat females produces 17per litter

[@jajatus2002]

Where did you get your racks from?

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

They are all from ARS Caging.

[@thedumpyfrog6329]

Hey question here. I’m a first time breeder of pet mice. Should I separate my pregnant female mouse from the other females so the others don’t eat each other? She is due soon and I want this to go smoothly. This is also her first litter. Please help

[@heathergarrity1889]

Yea I am wondering the same thing mine are due any day now

[@angelamerkel3373]

@@heathergarrity1889 just let them stay together, all females will care for the babys, if they have got everything they need.

[@Skewer-rat]

It’s a natural behavior for cagemates to become “nanny” mice and help out the mom. However, there are cases of the nannies stealing the babies and inadvertently starving them. I had no nannies for my mouse’s first litter because she has maternal aggression and she attacked her cagemates when they were reintroduced and tried to go into her “nest”. However, maternal aggression is a genetic thing and not seen in every mouse. So there are drawbacks but it’s very natural and can be beneficial for mom. But having her all alone is also okay.

[@morgonaarchuleta2690]

How old are they when you sepperate the babies from each other so they don't breed?

[@babygrl14]

Babies can start reproducing as early as 4 weeks old

[@Skewer-rat]

21 days at the earliest and 28 days at the latest is the standard I know

[@Owenfb-fd2ff]

my fancy mouse is pregnant

[@EliteExoticsBp]

Lol ya the male mice smell bad , 🤙🐭take care Chris ✌️

[@HighClassPythonS]

Well while watchin this vdeo i had just gone thru wat u said i have a brown female and she ate all her babies she had about 10 and the way i foound out was i heard the baby screamin she had ate all them ecept 3 i was gonna give her another chance but u knw wat fuk her lol she ate the babies she gettin eatem rn as i type its true thou i have a female that gives me 15 to 20 babies and shes a good mom the best i had i have the spotted ones black n brown spots..i dnt like breedin mice i keep one pair to feed my hatchlin but i prefer rats

[@ock538]

JBLOCK JBLOCK

[@michi8832]

3:18

[@ock538]

JBlock jblock

[@codyosborne9307]

So... feed the males first, got it! LOL

[@philliparguello8521]

H

[@leroymasten5104]

You need a intro lol

[@commercialelectrician133]

Great video