# Mouse Factory



## Yellowtail (Feb 16, 2019)

It's hard to understand why frozen pinky mice are so expensive in pet shops when they breed like this?
These 4 mums were in a batch I had set aside for live sale and obviously pregnant, I was a bit late separating them into breeding tubs and they all gave birth between Feb 14th and now so they are 1-3 days old. No idea how many bubs but I will leave them together for now and post more photos as they grow.


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## LilithLeChat (Feb 16, 2019)

I’m finding it hard to imagine how could all of those babies fit in inside their mothers before they were born!


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## Yellowtail (Feb 16, 2019)

The mothers look like a blimp before giving birth, the smaller ones in the photo above are just born, the larger ones 2 days old, they grow like crazy. I'll post a photo in a few days and you will be amazed. It's more amazing how they produce enough milk to feed them all.


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## LilithLeChat (Feb 16, 2019)

When you’re a small, nutritious meal to so many different types of predators, you need a lot of offspring and accelerated growth to sexual maturity.


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## Yellowtail (Feb 16, 2019)

LilithLeChat said:


> When you’re a small, nutritious meal to so many different types of predators, you need a lot of offspring and accelerated growth to sexual maturity.


Normal mice have litters of 8 - 12, these are Quackenbush lab mice, the strain has been selectively bred over thousands of generations to produce large litters, 20 plus is common, and accelerated growth rates so any experiments using them produce results faster.
The point I made at the beginning is why are frozen pinky mice $1.50 each in pet shops? The price of frozen rodents in Australia, like $15 - $20 for a large rat, is an impediment to keeping pythons as pets.


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## Herpetology (Feb 16, 2019)

You’re not wrong about them looking like a blimp when they’re ready to pop, I’ve had a few squeeze someout while being changed over to diff tubs. This is after she gave birth


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## LilithLeChat (Feb 16, 2019)

How do they manage to feed them all?


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## Yellowtail (Feb 21, 2019)

2 of the mothers dragged some away to the other end of tub so this photo is only a bit more than half but shows the growth rate in 4 - 5 days and none have died.


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## Ella C (Feb 22, 2019)

Why do the mothers separate them? (move them around the tub.) Any particular known reason, or just to make more space?


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## Yellowtail (Feb 23, 2019)

Not sure, usually I have them in trios and this lot have 4 mothers, maybe it's to make sure all are being fed? took these last night.


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## Herpetology (Feb 23, 2019)

Big mama


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## Yellowtail (Feb 28, 2019)

Now 10 days old, changed the tub and bedding so they are busy moving them around.


[doublepost=1551346281,1551090343][/doublepost]2 weeks old


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Feb 28, 2019)

Time to break out the soda stream.


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## Yellowtail (Feb 28, 2019)

I'll grow this lot for a while to get more photos


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