Breeding Mice
A Few Tips About Breeding Mice
Breeding mice can be done either out of love and hobby, or out of necessity for feeding stock. Either reason needs to be carefully considered and ethically executed, as the health of both mother and pups is always at stake. Mice are known in the wild to be strong breeders, often punching out up to eight litters within their ten month to one year life span. The information left out of this figure, however, pertains to the many dangers and deaths associated with mouse pregnancy and delivery. The litter sizes are so varied, and the sizes of each individual pup as well, that the birthing process often kills her and her babies. Even in a controlled setting, breeding mice can be just as challenging, so giving your mice a great head start and plenty of time to recoup after each birth will be the best way to go about it.
There are many factors to consider when breeding mice, such as the appropriate age and dietary needs of your little mother to be. Being housed permanently with a male is never a good idea for her, as he will normally have his way with her at every turn. She should never be bred before she has reached the age of eight weeks, but you are encouraged to put off her first breeding experience until she is a healthy, active three month old. At this point she is fully developed and in her prime, making the next four months of her life the best that she will experience.
Once you are ready to begin breeding mice in your home, you will want to adjust the diet of your female just a tad. Just as a pregnant human does, the mouse needs protein and iron building nutrients that exceed those found in the normal pellet diets offered. She will also need help with lactation, as the pups immerge hungry and grow quickly based on her milk alone. If she isn’t fully prepared nutritionally, the pups will deplete her own nutrient resources and ultimate cause her to suffer an early death. High protein and calcium content can be added to her diet in the form of plain dog biscuits, cooled scrambled eggs, cooked chicken or beef, and even oatmeal. Remember to remove all spoilable food sources after an hour or so, as bacteria could cause an even more harmful fate to the pregnant or lactating mother mouse.
Breeding mice can be quite rewarding, especially for young children who are innocently learning about the cycle of life and caring for living creatures. There are no guarantees where birth is concerned, not for any animal, so try to take every precaution against incident and accident for your charges. As a last note, most father mice make very doting daddies, but in rare instances they can cause deadly injury to pups that they do not recognize as their own. This can also happen when the male feels pressure to mate and needs the mother to be free of her current offspring. As the male is not needed for the care and nurturing of the pups, it might be a good idea to remove him completely from the birthing cage until the babies are mature.