Pet Mice Forum banner

I dont want to do it.

718 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  DomLangowski
I am not happy, I have a buck heavy litter, 6 pups only one of them is a doe. I have another 2 litters which have had to birth together as I ran out of cages :roll:
anyway I can't give bucks away I've tried and tried but no one wants them, so my husband and I have come to a big decision, we will have to cull the bucks, I feel so bad I have never done it before Dom did 2 for me last time as I couldnt bring myself to do it, but I can't keep taking them to him. One litter is 5 days old and they all ready seem to have their own little characters which makes it quite hard the other litters are 1 and 3 days old which I can cope with doing as they seem so less aware, but their colour hasnt come through, oh its so hard to know what to do. Depending on how many does are in the latest litters I will have to foster some over to the mum with one baby doe I think. Can anyone make me feel better about what I am going to have to do? :cry:
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
It's sort of an essential part of breeding if you are concerned with the welfare of your does.

If you really have a problem doing it yet are unable to deal with the males that you produce maybe you need to think about whether you can continue to breed or in the least think about how many litters you can cope with.
i would aggree with ian on this. as a responsable breeder you either have to know you have homes lined up for these bucks, have room (and want to) keep them all yourself, or cull them. why not think about sexing at day 1 and taking the bucks out before they look like mice, at this age you can pop them in the freezer (i wouldnt do it over day 2) otherwise you need to sort out a chamber, or a method of culling. - do you know anyone with reptiles? you could always try finding a feeder breeder in your area who can do the culling for you and then can feed the mice (as long as they arent live feeding)

otherwise, like ian said perhaps you ought to limit the amount you breed and how often, as imagine if sods law would have it that the next load of litters you have have got 14 bucks in each! Big problem!

It is sad, and its never nice to cull an animal but you have to decide why your doing it and if its worth it. I would say dont let them get bigger than you need to. if you take them at a couple of days or wait till the markings come thru if u need a good marked buck then take em out - u will also notice a difference in the other babies size as bucks tend to be greedy sods.

failing all that, save a load up, any age taken and drive to the south east and i'll take em off your hands for food (snakes not me)
;)

good luck
See less See more
Well I did it :( still feel a bit numb but I'm sure it will ware off. I kept a few bucks as most of the litter will go to the pet shop, but even the pet shop doesnt like taking too many bucks.
Out of the two latest litters I had 14 does and nine bucks which is quite amazing as one doe had 14 pups and the other 9 pups! Will check again in a few days to check I havent got any hidden bucks. The bucks I kept I fostered off to Velvet who had one doe.
Well done, it gets easier too. The pet shop near me wont take any bucks at all so I reduce right down at the very start but Im still left with some which I have to send off to my friend to turn into snake food as they get older. I have tried CO2 as well and didnt like it much, really i need to be able to cull adults or juveniles myself but I dont trust myself to do it confidently enough. Thank goodness for my friends huge collection of snakes, she takes all of mine and Daisys spare and always needs more!
I had to culla pregnant doe today :( she had been in labour for 2 days straight and every time a baby did pop out it was dead, i could clearly see she was having problems delivering but because of my recent job loss couldnt get her to the vets so i had to do it myself, anyway after shed gone she "loosened" up a bit and baby was coming legs first ( breached ) so i guess that is what had caused her the problems.

Anyway it gets eaiser trust me ;) my first time was horrible i had to get my dad to do it for me and i just left the house. LOL bit wimpy lol
Nothing wimpy about that Mark, I use CO2 as I don't trust myself to do it right EVERY time with the physical method. At least this way I know it is quick and definite. I also agree with Ian about taking out any babies you don't want as soon as you can - there's no point leaving them when they can be sexed from birth and markings checked by day 3-4.
Glad you managed to do it Rachael, It does get easier, but if it don't then you know we don't mind doing it, all our pinkies go as snake food so they are not wasted. :p
Dom,
Where do you send them?
I have a friend who has a snake but I don't think I would have enough to justify supplying him, shall have a word.
My uncle has a snake. I just give them to him ;)

He said they are like sweets to his snake haha :lol: :lol:
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top