Temps
Stable room temperature is adequate. No special requirements.
Humidity
No special requirements
Lighting
Mice are nocturnal, keep out of direct sunlight. Use room lighting as needed.
Water & Accessories
Mice should be given a sipper bottle, hung from the side of the cage. They also need small toys to play with and a running wheel for exercise. Keep a food bowl; chew stick and nesting house as well.
Notes and Comments
Mice are active during the night and sleep during the day (nocturnal). They are easy to handle once trust is established between you and your mice; they may become irritable and nip if suddenly awakened from a nap or startled.
Mice chew on objects to maintain the incisor teeth, which grow continuously. Use cheek pouches to transfer food from one location to another. Grooming: Mice stay clean and do not need baths. They can be spot cleaned with a damp washcloth or un-scented baby wipes.
BASIC REPRODUCTIVE INFORMATION
Mice can start reproducing at an early age. Both sexes can start breeding at 6 weeks of age and continue until they are about 12 months old. A female’s first litter often produces a smaller number of babies, as do those from female over 9 months of age. Breeding mice is an easy business as long as you remember one simple rule. That is ONLY ONE MALE TO A CAGE. Multiple males will fight and can kill each other. Multiple males cause damage to females and often kill the babies that are produced. Having multiple males also results in the males producing more scent.
If you have a single male and a few females, in a cage, they should produce babies every 18 - 28 days. Producing large number of mice is best done with the harem method. (One male to several females). I have found that 2 to 4 females to one male in a standard mouse cage works fine. How many young they produce depends on their environment and breed of mice. Most "pet shop" mice produce small litters of about 3 to 12 babies. There are some laboratory breeds of mice that produce litters of up to 25 babies every 28 days. However these laboratory mice can be very difficult to obtain.
- To Get Constant Production
To get constant production it is best to have several cages of mice at peek breeding age. ( about 3 to 9 months of age ). One way to do this is to date every cage that you set up. ( Each cage should only contain animals of the same age) As mice are weaned at 5 or 6 weeks of age I use these mice when setting up new cages. You can set up a new cage, or group of cages, every month. Once a cage is established never introduce new mice to it. The established group will attack and may kill the new "intruder". If you established a new cage every 4 weeks you would need 9 cages and have the following results.
Availalbe Documents
Click on the PDF icon to download a PDF copy of this document.
Receive special offers and discount coupons, directly to your email box, type in the security code and submit your email address. Rest assured that Petware House will not share your email address with parties outside our company.
