Breeding Mice

[GarterGeek]

Hm i've never heard of that. If you took one mouse and separated it and gave it a try,I don't see a problem with that (separate just in case the mouse like dies or something from an unseen circumstance). Really never noticed the smell of urine to strong with the mice, only the rabbits.

How deep are the shavings your putting in? You may need to add more to absorb it better. I doubt your over crowding. Since we all know petstore crowding is just awful, i'll share this with you, Our tanks were MAYBE 20 gallon and we would have maybe 40 mice in the tank (with babies). The shavings were kept at about three-four inches thick and I never experienced a horrible odor. W used a metal lid that had holes in it on a glass aquarium.

Thank you! You've already been very informative and I appreciate it.

I've been using the vinegar, I don't know if it's working but I'm too scared to stop just in case it could get worse. It hasn't been causing any problems as far as I know.

I'm using shredded newspapers. I change the bedding everyday (unless there are newborns). I don't use a lot of paper and the mice often stack it all on ones side of the box. I keep them in a tupper ware (about 10gal) container with holes drilled all over the sides and lid. I only have four adult mice. I'll try using a thicker layer of newspaper.

I'm supplementing their diet with dog food and sometimes celery or lettuce, could this have a negative effect on the odor?

[TheArtist]

I could see dog food adding to the odor. Just thinking about a nutty-berry-few meats diet and a diet made of horse and cow parts, and having both consuming animals in my home (i don't think that sentence even made sense to me!) I can defiantly tell the difference in diet, but that may just be me. I dislike telling people to buy certain stuff from the petstore because it's so over priced but I've seen pet stores like Petsmart and Petco have sales on mouse food and a bag that could last you about two months selling for 3.95. Looking at it, it is a bit more expensive than probably a bag of dog food, but if you see it on sale, maybe try buying a little bag and see if the smell goes away more? Diet will affect smell, to what extent i'm not 100% sure, but i'd say it defiantly would affect it a bit.

Have you tried adding a little bit of papertowel in there to adsorb it extra? Thickening the substrate and adding a bit of paper towel may also help with the general smell.

If you manage to get everything balanced out right you may only need to change the substrate every two days. And there is no way four adults are over crowding a 10 gallon tank in my opinion, however i'm not a complete mouse expert, just sharing what I learned in my job

[KITKAT]

Newspapers are a very poor substrate for mice. The paper has less absorbancy and less oils to control odor, when compared to shavings. Newspaper, unless it is a product called "Yesterday's News" or similar, tends to stick together, which makes it get wet and smelly quickly. (see below)

This increases the odor. Try getting your pine shavings in a bale - a bale costs around $14, but lasts a LONG time unless you are producing lots of mice. If you are giving your mice adequate space per mouse in their enclosure, you can change shavings once a week without the odor being overwhelming.

Also, researchers have found that too much bedding actually increases odor and moisture. Less is more with mice, because the mouse likes to dig around in the bedding, and the action of them doing that will cause evaporation, which dries the bedding and allows it to last longer. Bedding that is too deep cannot be stirred around by the mouse, and you end up with wet, stinky corners in the enclosure.

If you want to feed mouse chow (purina) you will have to special order it, but it is the best food for mice, hands down. I don't use it, because I am going for cheap. Grocery store dog foods that are extremely low in cost and lower in protein, with corn as the first ingredient, is my staple food, with wild bird seed added. My mice also get apple cores and skins, and other garden produce occasionally... but not too much, or stools are loose!

[GarterGeek]

I could see dog food adding to the odor. Just thinking about a nutty-berry-few meats diet and a diet made of horse and cow parts, and having both consuming animals in my home (i don't think that sentence even made sense to me!) I can defiantly tell the difference in diet, but that may just be me. I dislike telling people to buy certain stuff from the petstore because it's so over priced but I've seen pet stores like Petsmart and Petco have sales on mouse food and a bag that could last you about two months selling for 3.95. Looking at it, it is a bit more expensive than probably a bag of dog food, but if you see it on sale, maybe try buying a little bag and see if the smell goes away more? Diet will affect smell, to what extent i'm not 100% sure, but i'd say it defiantly would affect it a bit.

Have you tried adding a little bit of papertowel in there to adsorb it extra? Thickening the substrate and adding a bit of paper towel may also help with the general smell.

If you manage to get everything balanced out right you may only need to change the substrate every two days. And there is no way four adults are over crowding a 10 gallon tank in my opinion, however i'm not a complete mouse expert, just sharing what I learned in my job

Based on your advice, I tried adding more bedding and it worked!! The smell has lessened by a noticeable amount. Prior, I had been using just enough so that the mice could create a little nest and remain comfortable. You were right, I need a more substrate. Thanks!!!

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. I use mouse food for the most part but add just a sprinkle of dog food on top. I want my mice to have a wide variety in their diet (better for the snake ) so, I add about 4-5 kibbles to their food. What you said makes sense though, and I'll remember it. I'll add smaller amounts of dog food.

[GarterGeek]

Newspapers are a very poor substrate for mice. The paper has less absorbancy and less oils to control odor, when compared to shavings. Newspaper, unless it is a product called "Yesterday's News" or similar, tends to stick together, which makes it get wet and smelly quickly. (see below)

This increases the odor. Try getting your pine shavings in a bale - a bale costs around $14, but lasts a LONG time unless you are producing lots of mice. If you are giving your mice adequate space per mouse in their enclosure, you can change shavings once a week without the odor being overwhelming.

Also, researchers have found that too much bedding actually increases odor and moisture. Less is more with mice, because the mouse likes to dig around in the bedding, and the action of them doing that will cause evaporation, which dries the bedding and allows it to last longer. Bedding that is too deep cannot be stirred around by the mouse, and you end up with wet, stinky corners in the enclosure.

If you want to feed mouse chow (purina) you will have to special order it, but it is the best food for mice, hands down. I don't use it, because I am going for cheap. Grocery store dog foods that are extremely low in cost and lower in protein, with corn as the first ingredient, is my staple food, with wild bird seed added. My mice also get apple cores and skins, and other garden produce occasionally... but not too much, or stools are loose!

Hmmm, I was wondering whether newspapers were the best substrate. I guess you've answered that for me!! I'll stick with newspapers until I expand more. It's cheaper.

I thought about using wild bird seed but was worried about the bug-killer they put in it. Is this a real concern?

[KITKAT]

I thought about using wild bird seed but was worried about the bug-killer they put in it. Is this a real concern?

Well, so far I have not had a problem. I have two aquaria full of breeding mice. The 55 gal. colony is going great. The 20 high colony keeps getting tumors... but this is a different color strain, and I already know that they are prone to fertility problems, etc... so the tumors showing up does not really surprise me.

So I don't think the tumors are due to chemicals in the food... since the 55 colony does not have these problems and eats the same thing.