1 male, 3 females-- breeding

Question
I want to be able to breed my mice with the male i'm getting. I have 3 females
and i don't know if i should just put the male in the same cage or take one
female out and put it in another cage with the male. also, is it safe to put 1 male
in a cage a females? will they fight? i'm new at this.

Answer
Dear Natalie,

Three females and one male will not fight; they will mate.  If you are new to this then the last thing you want is 3 simultaneous litters of babies!  Did you know that there can be up to 16 pups per litter?  Do you have a safe place to give them without them being fed to snakes?  Once babies are 4 1/2 WEEKS old they can already mate, so if you have 3 litters of 12 pups each, and the kids mate at age 4 1/2, assuming 1/2 of the babies are each sex, you will have 4 mice this week; in three weeks 40; in 4 1/2 more weeks a total of 600 mice.  That makes 600 mice in the first 2 1/2 months.    Since boys generally don't live well together, that could be, um, 350 cages worth!!  Of course that is a liberal scenario, but I hope it gives you a little caution!!

First I would recommend reading a couple of mouse books.  It will also be very helpful to you to read my old answers:  On the mouse experts page, by my name, click on View Past Answers.  Not every question will pertain to you but there is a lot on mating, getting along, pregnancy, babies, and caging.  The titles are pretty accurate, so you don't have to read every question.  By the way, the last letter I wrote to 'Kahla' a day ago has a bunch of links to youtube videos of mice mating, giving birth, and babies at various ages.

Once you have acquainted yourself with the fundamentals of mouse rearing and understand what it entails, put your boy with the healthiest or favorite female alone in a cage.  They will probably mate within a week.  Because it takes 21 days for mice to give birth, before 20 days are up -- and she will be very fat like a large pear-- separate them and keep him in his own cage.  This is because he will mate with her again the day she gives birth!   Be sure to keep the cages within squeaking distance (a foot or two) so he does not get lonely.

The three girl mice can live together with no problems.  The other two will likely help raise the babies, making life easier on the mom.  Don't touch the babies in the first week.  At the end of the first week they will have fur.  This is when you may start to gently handle them (with clean hands- of course that goes for all mice).  At the end of two weeks their eyes will open and they may become very scared and hop a lot.  Don't let them escape.  At 3 1/2 weeks they will be weaned and by 4 1/2 weeks they should be separated into boys and girls.  Girls will get along.  Boys may eventually start to fight.  Many times a boy will have to live alone, but you can try putting a baby boy in with Dad to keep him company.

Have fun, read my archives, and write back with any other questions.

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha