[Leviw05]

My male and female have decided after 4 months to up and stop breeding all of a sudden. I've paired the same two together and haven't tried to introduce another male to the female at all. They have plenty of privacy and don't even handle them unless I'm feeding them, cleaning their tank, or removing babies (3-4wks old) for separation. I'm feeding them VitaSmart complete nutrition, high protein formula. For light and dark, pretty much as the sun rises and sets. They sit on my breeding rack (that I made) fits 12. Tubs (that I made) are 17" x 11 1/8" x 6 1/2" in size and have a saucer wheel, hut, food bowl, and water bottle. For bedding I'm using Apen wood shavings, and when the females begin to nest I give them a product called "natural bedding" that resembles cotton balls but is way softer. Feeding regiment is every other day, and cleaning regiment is once a week. If there are babies present, after the first 48hrs, I change the bedding twice a week and a give the tub a rinse on the second cleaning. Um, for the most part all my females live alone except when I place them with a male for 2.5 weeks. Once separate again they 9/10 begin to nest and give birth a few days later. I don't begin the breeding process until I have separated the babbies from the mother. I'm aware that I can begin as soon as she gives birth. I choose not to. If this is a mistake, PLEASE, let me know. Um, I started the breeding process about 6-8 weeks ago. after the normal 2.5 weeks I separated the male and the female. But a few days later, no babies came. I left my female alone for 3 weeks. and still no babies. So, when I placed them together they walked up to each other did some sniffing and then they left each other alone. Usually I get squeeking coming from their tub everyday while together due to him trying to mate. But this time around nothing has accord. no squeeks, no babies, no swelling of the tummy. They are both less than a year old. I got them when they were roughly 2 months old. both from different family lines.
they are now 6-7 months old. I am running out of info that I can think of to give to you. If you want pictures of breeding tubs let me know. and pictures of the mice let me know.

 

[Onyx]

Has the doe bred from another buck, and has he sired a litter with another doe? Knowing this means you can rule out infertility. If they have bred before, it may be that the doe has been over-bred. I do not mean this as a criticism to yourself, please do not be offended. Some does just become tired of the breeding process much quicker than others and instead will make fantastic companion-mummies to other does who are nursing litters, or do best to retire as a pet mousey.
The seasons here are strange at the moment as summer turns to winter and even at midday right now it's dull and overcast, never really giving a good full day-time light and so I keep a light on near my tubs from when I get up (6-7) until I go to bed (10-11). This gives plenty of light, yet they have nesting areas if they don't want it. What is your weather like there? A change in temperature can also affect them as much as daylight hours.
Although you feed a high protein diet, the recipe used by the manufacturers may have changed without you knowing (they are good at not making it well known!), so they now might be getting less, or more, than required. You could try altering their diets to up or lower the protein in take for a few weeks and then try them together again.
Anything changed in their outter environment? Noise from drilling or sawing, kids playing more-so outside or in the house than normal? Has there been paint fumes in the air or sealants etc? Mice are hardy animals but can be awful finicky, too.
It's really hard to know what it might be and how to fix it. These are just a few things I can think of that might help, or might not.
As an fyi - For a first time breeding, I leave the buck in with a doe until I am 100% certain she is pregnant, usually as she enters that waddling around stage. I remove the buck, have a clean out, add in extra bedding (Mine seem to prefer finely shredded squares of paper for nests) and then leave the doe to it. I remove young at 3-5 weeks, depending on how they wean and what sexes there are etc and then don't re-breed until I can SEE the doe is recovered. Usually takes a good 2-3 weeks of getting her back to her old self. Mine don't seems to lose any condition when fed right, but I like to see them back to their mental selves too. Then I start again. Some breeders will wait exactly one week, some two. It's all about knowing your mice, knowing your line and your own personal preferences and timings for litters.
I hope at least -some- of that is useful lol! Good luck!

 

[SarahC]

How many litters has she had?If it's 4 or more her productive days are probably over.

 

[Leviw05]

@ Onyx
Both my female and male have never been with another mouse. I live in Central Texas. Its ubber hot summers with mildly cold and wet winters. however, I keep the room with my mice no lower than 70 degrees and no hotter than 80 degrees. Nothing has really changed in their environment. Both my current females since I've had them have given my a good 4-6 litters. with my current breeding regiment that would be roughly being mated and giving birth at least once a month. And most of what you have stated was useful.

@ SarahC
Oreo (f) has given me a good 6 litters, and Zelda (f) has given me 4. I have two males. Chocolate and Link. Chocolate is paired with Oreo, and Link is paired with Zelda. I do not mate Link and Oreo, and vise versa with Chocolate. I do this so that I have 0 inbreeding when in the future I planed on letting chocolate breed with an offspring of Zelda's and vise versa. When breeding a pair, I separate my male and female at 2.5 weeks due to the fact I've lost males due to being killed by the female (no longer have those females) if left any longer. Also as soon as I have separated the babies from the mother I introduce the male immediately. I give no "recover time". This is due to my need for a large number of mice.

I'm curious as well, do male fancy mice ever lose their desire to mate? Or is it that once the female looses the want to mate the male no longer tries to mate with that individual mouse?

From what you two have told me, I think what has happened is that I've breed my current females to the limit.
I am not going to hide this fact. I began breeding my mouse colony for feeders. I am feeding my mice the high protein and nutrition diet so my other animals benefit from this "gut load" if you will. I'm sorry if this offends anyone. But I felt the need to be honest about what I am doing.

 

[andypandy29us]

sounds like you does have given all they can give

 

[SarahC]

I've never found good breeding males to lose the ability to breed but certainly females do.I find the babies broadly speaking to be of poorer quality after 4 litter.

 

[Leviw05]

thanks for all the help guys. i'll get some new females and begin again.